Running head: LITERATURE REVIEW 1

Literature Review

Nuong Nguyen

California State University, Monterey Bay

Cohort MIST XII

IST 511 Writing Workshop

Professor Sarah Tourtellotte

Fall 2017
LITERATURE REVIEW 2

Literature Review

This capstone project stems for a need for explicit instruction of first graders on reading

strategies to help students improve their fluency and decoding skills. In order to meet the

Common Core State Standards (CCSS) for reading, the students should be able to read short and

long vowels, digraphs, words with inflectional endings, and two syllable words by the end of the

school year (2017). However, the majority of first-grade students are only able to read short and

long vowel words at John Steinbeck School. Therefore, the studies focus on various types of

reading instruction such as phonics, whole language, authentic literature, peer mediation, and

station teaching, which will help the students’ reading achievement.

In Foorman, Liberman, Francis, and Novy’s (1991) research, the results showed that

classrooms with more letter-sound instruction helped students improved their reading and

spelling. This shows that it is important for teachers to dedicate time to teaching phonics in the

classroom. In another study, Beverly, Giles, and Bucks (2009) supports the position for teaching

phonics with the addition of decodable texts for struggling readers and authentic text for average

readers. Decodable text allows students to sound out each letter as well as have repetition of

common sight words, like “see” and “have.” In first grade, students are started to learn how to

read and need to make the connection between sounds (phonemes) and letters.

In contrast, Reutzel and Cooter (1990) points out teaching students the whole language

approach yields greater results in reading, vocabulary, and comprehension. The whole language

approach focuses on context and meaning. Students read the word in authentic literature and not

in isolation as a way to learn how to read. The students are only looking at the first and last letter

of the word along with the context to help decode the word. For my capstone project, the
LITERATURE REVIEW 3

students will use strategies from both approaches where they can sound out the word and look at

context clues and meaning.

In another study, Fuchs et al (2001) showed students build fluency through peer

scaffolding and repeated reading. The “peer assisted learning strategies” or PALS with the

fluency component had statistically significant results on the reading fluency and comprehension

assessment. This shows that it is beneficial for peers to work together and that reading the text

multiple times can not only help build fluency but also help with reading comprehension. One of

the reading strategies for my capstone project is to have the students reread the section. Also,

students are encourage to work with their partners.

In Suprabha and Subramonian (2014) article, station or rotation teaching in small groups

can benefit the students immensely. In rotation teaching, students rotate in small groups to

different learning areas. The benefit is that it targets student needs, and teachers can differentiate

instruction in reading or any other subjects. Therefore, for my capstone project, students are

working in multiple grouping structures: whole group, small group, and partner pairing.

When teaching students how to read, the teacher has to consider the type of instruction as

well as effective grouping arrangements. Struggling readers would benefit from decodable texts

and phonics instructions whereas average readers would benefit more from whole language

instruction with authentic literature. Furthermore, students would benefit from peer scaffolding

with repeating reading, as well as small flexible group that target learning. In order to meet the

literacy needs of the students, the teacher has to be flexible and differentiate instruction.
LITERATURE REVIEW 4

References

Beverly, B.L., Giles, R.M., & Buck, K.L. (2009). First grade reading gains following

enrichment: Phonics plus decodable texts compared to authentic literature read aloud.

Reading Improvement, 46(4), 191-205. Retrieved from

http://eds.a.ebscohost.com.library2.csumb.edu:2048/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=6&s

id=039835ea-e62d-4a8d-ae15-fb04a7e8b4c5%40sessionmgr4007

Foorman, B. R., Novy, D. M., Francis, D. J., & Liberman, D. (1991). How letter-sound

instruction mediates progress in first-grade reading and spelling. Journal of Educational

Psychology, 83(4), 456. Retrieved from

http://eds.b.ebscohost.com.library2.csumb.edu:2048/ehost/detail/detail?vid=2&sid=5ab8

66f5-8ad9-4460-bd2a-daa7e1f3147a%40pdc-v-

sessmgr01&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#AN=10420293&db=aph

Fuchs, D., Fuchs, L., Yen, L., McMaster, K., Svenson, E., Yang, N., &…King, S. (2001).

Developing first-grade reading fluency through peer mediation. Teaching Exceptional

Children, 34(2), 90. Retrieved from

https://search.proquest.com/openview/fc6ef5c23feea55b5f4a9e1406c7ac15/1?pq-

origsite=gscholar&cbl=7737

Reutzel, D. R., & Cooter, R. B. (1990). Whole language: Comparative effects on first-grade

reading achievement. Journal of Educational Research, 83(5). Retrieved from

http://eds.a.ebscohost.com.library2.csumb.edu:2048/ehost/detail/detail?vid=0&sid=eb929

f9a-e414-4e76-930a-
LITERATURE REVIEW 5

a6e27aa5a915%40sessionmgr4006&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#AN

=5005186&db=aph

Suprabha, K., & Subramonian, G. (2014). How does station teaching effect language learning?

Journal on English Language Teaching, 4(3), 21-25. Retrieved from

https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1068439