Running head: EFFECTS OF PRIMARY READING INTERVENTION

The Effects of a Reading Intervention Strategy on First Grade Students

Reading Below Grade Level

A Paper
Presented to the Faculty of
Viterbo University
in Partial Fulfillment
of the Requirements for the Degree
Master of Arts in Education

by
Jennifer A. Campbell
July 2015

EFFECTS OF PRIMARY READING INTERVENTION

The Effects of a Reading Intervention Strategy on First Grade Students

Reading Below Grade Level
The ability to efficiently read sight words and high frequency words plays a key role in
students reading ability. According to Sherman (2011), accurate recognition of sight words can
greatly facilitate fluency, and in a fluent reader, less cognitive energy is spent on decoding and
more is spent on comprehension.
In primary classrooms, there are typically word lists that students are expected to master;
instruction is done in class and students are encouraged to practice at home. However, for some
students, the typical classroom word work and occasional review at home is not sufficient in
providing enough practice for mastery, so it is important that additional instructional strategies be
utilized with these students.
There are limited time and resources available to teachers for providing interventions;
therefore, it is critical that teachers are able to identify the most efficient and effective
instructional strategies available. Many teachers are aware of the instructional strategy Read It,
Build It, Write It, but it is not necessarily utilized with fidelity as part of a specific intervention.
For these reasons, I have chosen to conduct a quasi-experimental case study that examined the
effects of the reading intervention strategy Read It, Build It, Write It on first grade students
reading below grade level.
Statement of the Problem and Purpose of the Study
In my experience, students who are reading below the grade level benchmark often
struggle with developing automaticity in high frequency word recognition. The first grade
curriculum in my school district introduces three to five new high frequency words per week
throughout the school year. Students are expected to read the words automatically as well as

EFFECTS OF PRIMARY READING INTERVENTION

write them as a part of the weekly spelling assessment. Students who are behind grade level
benchmark in word recognition continue to fall further behind as more words are added each
week. I believe it is necessary for those readers to have additional opportunities to learn and
work with the words in order for them to master automaticity in recognition. The purpose of this
study was to examine the effects of the reading intervention strategy Read It, Build It, Write It on
the achievement of first grade students reading below grade level.
Research Question and Sub-questions
The primary question that guided the study was: What are the effects of the reading
intervention strategy Read It, Build It, Write It on the achievement of first grade students reading
below grade level? The independent variable was the reading intervention of Read It, Build It,
Write It and the dependent variables were high frequency word automaticity, retention, and
spelling, as well as student attitudes. I examined four sub-questions that include: (a) What are
the effects of Read It, Build It, Write It on the automaticity of high frequency word reading?
(b) What are the effects of Read It, Build It, Write It on students retention of high frequency
words? (c) What are the effects of Read It, Build It, Write It on students spelling of high
frequency words? and (d) What are the effects on student attitude towards Read It, Build It, Write
It?
Limitations
Several limitations affected this quasi-experimental case study. First, the sample was
chosen for convenience and not at random. The study started at the beginning of the school year,
when students are still becoming familiar with their new classroom environment, expectations,
and procedures. Time in the intervention was limited due to the constraints of the class schedule.
Lastly, student attitudes are impacted by more variables than just the intervention.

EFFECTS OF PRIMARY READING INTERVENTION

Definition of Terms
The terms high frequency words and sight words are used interchangeably and refer to the
most commonly used words in reading and writing, many of which do not follow typical phonics
patterns. The term automaticity refers to the ability to orally identify high frequency words
within three seconds.
Literature Review
Introduction
The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of the reading intervention strategy
Read It, Build It, Write It on first grade students reading below grade level. Part one of this
literature review examines the importance of high frequency word development. Part two
investigates instructional intervention strategies for high frequency words. Part three focuses on
multisensory reading interventions. The following is a summary of the related professional
literature and a synthesis of its pertinence to this research study.
Importance of High Frequency Word Development
In his study of instructional strategies for students with autism to learn sight words, Akcin
(2013) concluded that components of a literacy program include vocabulary, fluency, and reading
comprehension. Reading fluency plays an important role in the ability to make meaning of text.
In a study conducted by Basaran (2013), 90 fourth-grade students comprehension and fluency
were assessed. Students read passages aloud while researchers observed oral reading prosody.
As students completed each passage, researchers assessed their comprehension of the text using
both multiple choice and open-ended questions. Results of the study indicated that by helping
students to acquire fluent reading skills, you also help them to develop skills regarding reading
comprehension (p. 2290). Furthermore, Hudson, Torgesen, Lane and Turner (2012) conducted

EFFECTS OF PRIMARY READING INTERVENTION

a study on the relationship between reading skills and text-level reading proficiency in second
grade students in a Florida school district. Outcomes from this study suggested that the
relationship between fluency and comprehension is reciprocal, with the greatest relation being
text fluency as a predictor of comprehension.
Fluent reading includes effortless decoding of words using phonics skills and identifying
sight words automatically. In a case study of sight vocabulary acquisition in students with
autism, Yahya and Yunus (2012) described sight vocabulary acquisition as being a significant
predictor of successful learning for students in the primary grades. Research conducted by
Zumeta, Compton, and Fuchs (2012) on word identification fluency (WIF), which measures
fluency in reading words in lists, found that WIF growth explains significant variance in first
graders reading achievement (p. 218), suggesting the correlation between high frequency word
acquisition and reading achievement. Additionally, when conducting a study on the most
predictive screening methods utilized with first graders in Pennsylvania, Clemens, Shapiro, and
Theommes (2011) found that WIF was the single most accurate predictor of overall reading skill
level. As students move beyond primary grades, their skill sets must provide them with adequate
sight vocabulary in order to read fluently to learn new information.
Instructional Intervention Strategies for High Frequency Words
Students in primary grades often receive high frequency word exposure as a part of whole
group instruction, yet some students continue to struggle acquiring automaticity with high
frequency words. A study conducted by Watts and Gardner (2013) with eight year one students
demonstrated that participants who were reading at a lower level than their peers made
significant progress in reading skills, including fluency, after receiving an intense five-week high
frequency word intervention that used the look and say method of practice using flashcards. The

EFFECTS OF PRIMARY READING INTERVENTION

results of this study suggested it is necessary for teachers to incorporate explicit instruction for
teaching high frequency words and furthermore, teaching high frequency words should be an
integral component of early literacy instruction.
Flashcards are a commonly used method for practicing high frequency words. Kupzyk,
Daly III, and Andersen (2011) compared the flashcard instructional method, incremental
rehearsal (IR), to strategic incremental rehearsal (SIR) to determine which was more effective
with four first-grade students. During the IR sessions, students were shown three unknown
words and nine known words. In contrast, during SIR sessions, students were shown 10
unknown words, with the instructor beginning the lesson by telling the students each word.
Kupzyk and colleagues concluded that both methods led to increases in students high frequency
word knowledge, but SIR was a more efficient method, since a greater amount of time was
devoted to words that had not already been acquired. In a separate case study of three thirdgrade students conducted by Albers and Hoffman (2012) over 21 sessions, the strategy of folding
in unknown word flashcards to known word flashcards (ratio of seven known to three unknown)
resulted in a high percentage of vocabulary acquisition, producing similar results to that of
Kupsyk and colleagues.
In addition to flashcard methods, there have been other instructional strategies studied for
their effectiveness in improving high frequency word fluency. In a study that compared the
effectiveness of two sight word fluency drill formats, reading racetrack and list drills, on eight
second-grade students, Sullivan, Konrad, Joseph, and Luu (2013) found students improved their
sight word fluency in both drill formats, with reading racetrack yielding slightly higher results.
The authors noted that when given the choice, more students chose reading racetrack over a list
drill format. These findings suggest that reading racetrack was more motivating and enjoyable

EFFECTS OF PRIMARY READING INTERVENTION

for students in addition to being effective. Similarly, McGrath, McLaughlin, Derby, and
Bucknell (2012) investigated the effects of using reading racetracks for teaching sight words to
third grade students with learning disabilities in a low-income school, and results indicated a
relationship between the use of reading racetracks and students sight word fluency achievement.
Multisensory Reading Interventions
There are multiple instructional intervention strategies for teaching high frequency
words. Some, like reading racetrack, appeal to students because of the engaging format
(Sullivan et al., 2013; McGrath et al., 2012). Moreover, learning style preferences also play a
role in student engagement with the intervention and its effect on student learning (Andreou &
Vlachos, 2013).
It is important that teachers consider the various learning styles of their students when
planning instructional intervention strategies. In a study focused on the correlation between
learning styles and students with dyslexia, Andreou and Vlachos (2013) examined the learning
styles of 129 secondary school students, 43 of whom had dyslexia, using the Visual-AuditoryKinesthetic (VAK) learning styles assessment that focused on the different ways information is
taken in and given out. Results indicated that learning style preferences varied for each student
and there was no one particular learning style common among students with dyslexia.
With learning styles varying and many students having more than one preferred style of
learning, it is important to consider the use of multisensory instruction (Andreou & Vlachos,
2013). Giess, Rivers, Kennedy and Lombardino (2012) examined the effectiveness of a
multisensory supplemental reading instruction program that utilized visual, auditory, tactile, and
kinesthetic senses with nine adolescents who attended a charter school for students with reading

EFFECTS OF PRIMARY READING INTERVENTION

difficulties. The authors noted that students posttests demonstrated gains in word recognition,
word attack, and spelling, suggesting the value in a multisensory instructional approach.
Flashcard interventions can be effective at developing sight word fluency (Kupzyk, Daly
III, & Andersen, 2011; Watts & Gardner, 2013), yet do not appeal to a variety of learning styles.
In her study, Sherman (2011) compared the use of traditional sight vocabulary flashcard
instruction to sight vocabulary instruction using American Sign Language (ASL) and found that
the use of ASL was more effective and the level of enthusiasm for learning the ASL vocabulary
words was extremely high (p. 35). Similarly, Phillips and Feng (2012) studied the effectiveness
of sight word instruction using traditional flashcards versus a multisensory approach with
Kindergarten students in a southeastern suburban title-one school. The results of this study
indicated that students learned more sight words using a multisensory approach compared to the
traditional flashcard method. Furthermore, when asked which way they preferred to learn sight
words, 100% of students indicated they liked the multisensory method best.
Conclusion
High frequency word acquisition is a significant component of literacy development and
instruction should be provided in an effective and efficient manner. While there are many
valuable interventions used in classrooms, multisensory instruction engages students with
varying learning styles and is appealing to students. This review of literature indicated my topic
of implementing Read It, Build It, Write It as a multisensory reading intervention for first graders
reading below grade level was worthy of being studied. The following section will describe the
design of this study.

EFFECTS OF PRIMARY READING INTERVENTION

Method
Procedure
This was a quasi-experimental, action research case study generating qualitative and
quantitative data. I analyzed a convenience group of approximately three students examined the
effects of the reading intervention strategy, Read It, Build It, Write It on the achievement of first
grade students reading below grade level. Students were selected to participate based upon
baseline high frequency word data for the 2015 - 2016 school year. Those students identifying
the fewest number of high frequency words were invited to participate in the intervention.
To develop the control period, I administered an oral pre-test (Appendix A) on the first
set of high-frequency words that were to be covered in class over the next four weeks. During
the control period, students received whole-group instruction of the words with no additional
interventions. At the end of the four weeks, I gave students an oral post-test (Appendix A) on the
same words. Two weeks later, they were given a second oral post-test (Appendix A) on those
same words to check for retention of the material. Additionally, at the end of every week during
the control period, I administered a curricular spelling test that included the weeks high
frequency words.
At that time, I formulated a treatment group with those same students who met two times
per week for four weeks for approximately 15 minutes per session. Students were given a pretest (Appendix B) on a new set of high-frequency words that were covered over the next four
weeks. Students then began the instructional intervention Read It, Build It, Write It. We focused
on three to five new high-frequency words each week. The intervention sessions consisted of
students reading a high-frequency word flashcard aloud, then building that word using magnetic
letters on a dry-erase board, writing the word below the magnetic letters on the whiteboard and

EFFECTS OF PRIMARY READING INTERVENTION

10

then reading the word one last time aloud before moving on to the next word. Students repeated
this process three times during each intervention session. At the end of the four-week
intervention, I gave students an oral post-test (Appendix B) on the same words that were
covered. Two weeks later, they were given a second oral post-test (Appendix B) on those same
words to check for retention of the words. Additionally, at the end of every week during the
treatment period, I administered a curricular spelling test that included the weeks high frequency
words.
Following the intervention post-tests, students were asked to complete a survey
(Appendix C). The survey indicated their attitudes towards the Read It, Build It, Write It
intervention.
Participants
I studied a convenience sample of three students in my first grade class who tested below
grade level benchmark. The participants attend a three-year old kindergarten through first grade
school in a small Midwest town. According to the Wisconsin Department of Instruction (2015),
the school population is approximately 94.3% White, with the remaining population identified as
Asian, Black, American Indian, and Hispanic. Approximately 55% of the school population is
economically disadvantaged. Students who have exceptional educational needs (EEN) make up
15% of the school population.
Materials
The materials I used to gather data included the high frequency word pre and post-tests
(Appendices A & B). I also used curricular weekly spelling tests, as well as a researcherdesigned Likert-like survey (Appendix C) that indicated students attitudes towards the
intervention strategy.

EFFECTS OF PRIMARY READING INTERVENTION

11

Data Analysis
The research data that were analyzed included both quantitative and qualitative data. I
analyzed quantitative data by comparing the amount of high frequency words identified in the
treatment group with those identified in the control group. Additionally, I analyzed the number
of high frequency words that were retained in the treatment group compared to the number of
high frequency words retained in the control group. I also examined students weekly spelling
test results to determine the effect of the intervention on students spelling of the words. I
compared the amount of high frequency words written correctly in the treatment group compared
to the amount of high frequency words written correctly in the control group. I analyzed
qualitative data by examining student survey results to determine student attitudes towards the
Read It, Build It, Write It reading intervention. All of these data helped me determine if Read It,
Build It, Write It was an effective intervention for first grade students reading below grade level.
Results
The purpose of this quasi-experimental, action research case study was to examine the
effects of the reading intervention strategy Read It, Build It, Write It on the achievement of first
grade students reading below grade level. I compared a six-week control period where no
interventions were administered to a six-week treatment period implementing Read It, Build It,
Write It. I examined four sub-questions that include: (a) What are the effects of Read It, Build It,
Write It on the automaticity of high frequency word reading? (b) What are the effects of Read It,
Build It, Write It on students retention of high frequency words? (c) What are the effects of Read
It, Build It, Write It on students spelling of high frequency words? and (d) What are the effects
on student attitude towards Read It, Build It, Write It?

EFFECTS OF PRIMARY READING INTERVENTION

12

Effects of Read It, Build It, Write It on Automaticity of High Frequency Words
The first question I examined was what are the effects of Read It, Build It, Write It on the
automaticity of high frequency word reading. In order to track the students progress, I averaged
the percentage of words that were read correctly in the beginning and end of the control period
and compared it to the average percentage of words that were read correctly in the beginning and
end of the treatment periods. Figure 1 shows the results of those findings.
45
40

40

35
30
25
Percentage 20
15
10

29

29

32

21

Control Period
Treatment Period

13

5
0
Student A Student B Student C
Figure 1. Percentage of High Frequency Words Read Correctly by Each Student.
Effects of Read It, Build It, Write It on Retention of High Frequency Words
The second sub-question focused on the impact Read It, Build It, Write It had on
students ability to retain high frequency words taught. To address this question, I compared the
percentages of words read correctly in the control and treatment period second post-tests, which
were administered two weeks after they were taught. The results are show below in Figure 2.

EFFECTS OF PRIMARY READING INTERVENTION

13

70
60
50

65

60
50

50

40

50
40

Percentage 30

Control Period
Treatment Period

20
10
0
Student A Student B Student C
Figure 2. Percentage of High Frequency Words Retained by Each Student.
Effects of Read It, Build It, Write It on Spelling of High Frequency Words
Next, I examined the effects the intervention had on students spelling of high frequency
words. To do this, I compared the average percentage of words spelled correctly on weekly
spelling tests during the control period to the treatment period. Figure 3 shows these results.
100
90
80
70
60
50
40
Percentage
30
20
10
0

90

90

50

44
31

50

Control Period
Treatment Period

Figure 3. Percentage of Words Spelled Correctly on Weekly Spelling Tests.

Student Attitude Towards Read it, Build It, Write It

EFFECTS OF PRIMARY READING INTERVENTION

14

The final sub-question was to determine students attitudes toward Read It, Build It, Write
It. Students were given a researcher-designed Likert-like survey (Appendix C) at the end of the
treatment period to measure their attitude toward Read It, Build It, Write It. Students had to
circle the face that best described their feelings towards the intervention. All three students
chose the smiling face, indicating they liked doing Read It, Build It, Write It.
Conclusion
The results of this research indicated that Read It, Build It, Write It may be an effective
intervention for primary students who struggle with high frequency words. In comparing the
control and treatment groups, it was noted that there was an increase in high frequency word
automaticity for two out of three students. The results after the retention period indicated an
increase in high frequency words retention for two out of three students. All students
experienced an increase in the percentage of high frequency words spelling correctly on weekly
spelling tests. Lastly, the student surveys indicated that Read It, Build It, Write It can be a
positive reading intervention for high frequency word acquisition. The following section will
present a discussion of the research findings.

References

EFFECTS OF PRIMARY READING INTERVENTION

15

Akcin, N. (2013). Comparison of two instructional strategies for students with autism to read
sight words. Eurasian Journal of Educational Research (EJER), (51), 85-106.
Albers, C. A., & Hoffman, A. (2012). Using flashcard drill methods and self-graphing
procedures to improve the reading performance of english language learners. Journal of
Applied School Psychology, 28(4), 367-388.
Andreou, E., & Vlachos, F. (2013). Learning styles of typical readers and dyslexic adolescents.
Journal of Visual Literacy, 32(2), 1-13.
Basaran, M. (2013). Reading fluency as an indicator of reading comprehension. Educational
Sciences: Theory and Practice, 13(4), 2287-2290.
Clemens, N. H., Shapiro, E. S., & Thoemmes, F. (2011). Improving the efficacy of first grade
reading screening: an investigation of word identification fluency with other early
literacy indicators. School Psychology Quarterly, 26(3), 231-244.
Giess, S., Rivers, K. O., Kennedy, K., & Lombardino, L. J. (2012). Effects of multisensory
phonics-based training on the word recognition and spelling skills of adolescents with
reading disabilities. International Journal of Special Education, 27(1), 60-73.
Hudson, R., Torgesen, J., Lane, H., & Turner, S. (2012). Relations among reading skills and sub
skills and text-level reading proficiency in developing readers. Reading & Writing, 25(2),
483-507.
Kupzyk, S., Daly, E. J., III, & Andersen, M. N. (2011). A comparison of two flash-card
methods for improving sight-word reading. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 44(4),
781-792.

McGrath, G. L., McLaughlin, T. F., Derby, K. M., & Bucknell, W. (2012). The effects of using

EFFECTS OF PRIMARY READING INTERVENTION

16

reading racetracks for teaching of sight words to three third-grade students with learning
disorders. Educational Research Quarterly, 35(3), 50-67.
Phillips, W. E., & Feng, J. (2012, October). Methods for sight word recognition in kindergarten:
Traditional flashcard method vs. multisensory approach. Paper presented at the 2012
Annual Conference of Georgia Educational Research Association, Savannah, Georgia.
Sherman, J. (2011). Signing for success: Using American sign language to learn sight
Vocabulary. SRATE Journal, 20(2), 31-38.
Sullivan, M., Konrad, M., Joseph, L. M., & Luu, K. C. T. (2013). A comparison of two sight
word reading fluency drill formats. Preventing School Failure, 57(2), 102-110.
Watts, Z., & Gardner, P. (2013). Is systematic synthetic phonics enough? examining the benefit
of intensive teaching of high frequency words (HFW) in a year one class. Education 3
13, 41(1), 100-109.
Wisedash: Wisconsin information system for education data dashboard. (2015). Retrieved from
http://wisedash.dpi.wi.gov/
Yahya, S., & Yunus, M. M. (2012). Sight vocabulary acquisition in ESL students with autism: A
case study. International Journal of Learning, 18(7), 367-384.
Zumeta, R. O., Compton, D. L., & Fuchs, L. S. (2012). Using word identification fluency to
monitor first-grade reading development. Exceptional Children, 78(2), 201-220.

Appendix A

EFFECTS OF PRIMARY READING INTERVENTION

Pre and Post-Test

Control Period

Student: __________________________

pull
out
school
what
down
not
the
very
come
does
up
make
good
too
Appendix B

Pre and Post-Test

Treatment Period

Student: __________________________

17

EFFECTS OF PRIMARY READING INTERVENTION

18

want

eat

help

of

call

then

who

again

use

there

could

new

live

day

one

all

no

under

three

her

Appendix
Student
Survey
Read It, Build It, Write It

C
for

Did you like doing Read It, Build It, Write It?

EFFECTS OF PRIMARY READING INTERVENTION

19