(Skkn 2023) using reading progress tool in tracking tenth graders’ reading fluency and progress at quynh luu 1 upper secondary school

However, there is not enough time for teachers to let all students read out loud during class and give feedback to their reading speed, fluency and pronunciation accuracy.. It not only m

NGHE AN DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING

QUYNH LUU 1 HIGH SCHOOL

Teacher : Nguyen Thi Phuong Lan & Vu Thi Nga

School : Quynh Luu 1 Upper Secondary School

Group : English

School year : 2022 - 2023

Phone number : 0982423616 & 0383655547

TABLE OF CONTENT PAGE

1.5 The Feasibility and Science Validity of the Study 2

Chapter 1: Theoretical background 3

1.1.3 Measures to teach and nurture fluency in reading 4 1.1.4 Problems in mastering reading Fluency 5

1.2.1 Introduction of Reading Progress Tool 5 1.2.2 Benefits of Reading Progress Tool 6 1.2.3 Set up a Reading Progress Assignment 6 1.2.4 Review and Return students’ Works in Reading Progress 8 1.2.5 How a student can complete Reading Asignment 10

Chapter 2: Practical Background 10

Chapter 3: Applying The Reading Progress Tool 14

3.1 Introducing the Reading Tool to the students, creating reading groups 14 3.2 Introducing the ways to practice reading 16

3.4 Some tips to choose reading material 22

Chapter 4: Survey on the urgency and feasibility of proposed solution 23

4.1 Practical background of the Survey 23

4.1.1.The Increase in students’ reading percentage 23 4.1.2 Students’ change in their confidence 24

4.4 Method of the Survey and rating scale 26

4.6 Outcome of the Survey on the Feasibility and the Urgency of the

propose solution

28

4.6.1 Outcome of the Survey on the Feasibility of the Proposed Solution 28

4.6.1.1.Data obtained from the Google Form Survey 28 4.6.1.2 Average Scores from R Software 28 4.6.1.3 Comment on the Feasibility of the Proposed Solution 30

4.7 Outcome of the Survey on the Urgency of the Proposed Solution 30

4.7.1 Data obtained from the Google Form Survey 30

4.7.3 Comment on the Feasibility of the Proposed Solution 32

In education, English subject now is of great importance It is compulsory not only

in teaching and learning but also in many examinations However, it is not easy to master a foreign language Becoming proficient in English is not an exception Learning English means that students have to learn many sub-skills such as speaking, listening, reading and writing Like other skills, reading is a very important skill Reading not only helps students widen their knowledge, but also enables them to develop other language skills

Like other English skills, reading skill, especially reading fluency, is paid much attention to when being taught at school However, there is not enough time for teachers to let all students read out loud during class and give feedback to their reading speed, fluency and pronunciation accuracy It raises a question for the teachers: “How to track and support students’ reading fluency and progress at home?” Using Reading Progress Tool- a free tool built into Assignments in Microsoft Teams- is a great way for this problem It not only motivates students into reading, helps students build pronunciation accuracy, fluency and confidence through personalized reading experiences, but helps teachers to evaluate students’ progress, and therefore, to encourage them in time as well

In addition, according to the new general education program 2018 issued by the Ministry of Education and Training, one of the common competencies required to

be formed and developed for student is autonomy and self-study ability This tool will provide students with a method to practice and consolidate these abilities at home, which has opened up a more flexible learning space and more comfortable study time Therefore, students can absorb knowledge more easily, skip the distance limit, save time, improve efficiency Furthermore, the application of this tool has perfectly exemplified the digital transformation in education, which helps create a safe learning environment where everything connects, as a result, contributes to bridge geographies, create learning experiences and increase students' interactions This is also the duty of teachers in the era of digital transformation, which has been set out by the Ministry of Education and Training recently

Last but not least, the authors have applied this Reading Progress Tool as Reading assignments at home for the students in different classes of grade 10 at Quynh Luu

1 Upper Secondary School The effectiveness of this method encourages the authors to share this teaching experience with other colleagues, hoping to receive many comments from them

For the reasons mentioned above, the authors decide to choose the topic: “Using

Reading Progress Tool in Tracking Tenth Graders’ Reading Fluency and Progress at Quynh Luu 1 Upper Secondary School” for their teaching

experience

The study suggests a refreshing combination of technology and a free way for teachers to apply in helping high school students improve not only their reading skill but also their speaking skill and vocabulary Besides, this tool automatically marks students’ performance, which helps teachers save time while tracking students’ attendance as well as their improvements

The study is expected to research the effectiveness of this tool in helping students improve their reading skill (especially reading fluency) Theoretically, this study will be helpful and have a contribution for further researches in the field of reading fluency teaching Practically, this study will give general description about students’ reading ability at high school level and their improvement after practicing reading through the tool The result of this study can be used as a consideration to improve language teaching to students, especially for teaching reading

1.3 Scope of the Study

This study focuses on applying Reading Progress Tool to improve reading skill Due

to the lack of time, in this study, we will just focus on the effectiveness on the 10th

graders (based on the text provided in the textbook English 10 Global Success) in the school year 2022- 2023

The study is well organized with 3 main parts: the rationale of the study, the content and the conclusion Hopefully, the study provides a useful access to most of the teachers in teaching language

- In terms of economy, this is a completely free tool, so both teachers and students

do not need to make an economic investment to be able to use it

- In terms of technique, the application is easy to use, because it has been integrated into Ms Teams, which students have used before, or students only need

to register for an account to be able to use it

- In terms of universality, just know how to hold the mouse, anyone can access it,

so it can be used for all levels, all ages

- In terms of science, the research is clearly presented, the illustrations are impressive, the language is easy to understand, and the tools used by the authors have been tested around the world

PART II CONTENT Chapter 1: Theoretical Background

1.1 Reading Fluency

1.1.1 Definition of Reading fluency :

According to Ofsted, Research Review Series: English (July 2022)- Office for

Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills, “Reading Fluency is the

ability to read a text accurately, quickly and with expression” Children, and

people in general, must be able to read fluently in order to understand what they’re reading This applies to both silent reading and reading out loud When doing the latter, fluent readers are able to read phrases and add in proper intonation when needed As such, their reading becomes smooth and expressive Oral reading fluency describes a student's ability to read aloud based on three primary characteristics:

• Accuracy—The student correctly identifies and pronounces words as they come across them in the text

• Speed—The student reads sentences at a rate of speech quickly enough to maintain comprehension of what is being read In contrast, students with low oral reading fluency may need to slowly sound out each individual word, which can cause them to lose the meaning of the sentence

• Expression—The student recognizes proper phrasing of questions, statements, and other types of expression as they read, and they read aloud with proper expression including phrasing and intonation

1.1.2 Importance of Reading Fluency:

Reading fluency is important because it is one of the most reliable determiners of a student’s ability to comprehend text In fact, reading fluency has been called the bridge between decoding and comprehension (Chard & Pikulski 2005) Therefore, the ability of reading fluency brings

leaners great benefits:

• Improves comprehension: When readers can read fluently, they can focus on the meaning of the text rather than spending time decoding individual words This

leads to better comprehension of the material

• Builds confidence: Fluent readers are more confident in their abilities and are more likely to enjoy reading This positive attitude towards reading can lead to a

lifelong love of learning

• Enhances vocabulary: Fluent readers are exposed to more words and phrases,

which can help them develop a larger vocabulary

• Improves writing skills: Fluent readers are more likely to be good writers, as they have a better understanding of sentence structure, grammar, and syntax

The graphic below contains data from years of research and a study published in the Scientific Studies of Reading (Fuchs, L S., Fuchs, D., Hosp, M K., & Jenkins, J R 2001) The following data expresses the correlation strength of each of these measures to reading comprehension and their conclusion:

“ Finally, we have oral

reading fluency The ability to

read fluently had the strongest

1.1.3 Measures to teach reading fluency in students

Padeliadu and Giazitzidou’s review of research on reading fluency identified

several strategies to support fluency development Here are some measures that

can be helpful in teaching reading fluency to students:

• Model fluent reading: Teachers can model fluent reading by reading aloud to students, demonstrating how to read smoothly and with expression This can also include shared reading, where the teacher and students read together

• Provide ample practice time: Students need plenty of opportunities to practice reading fluently Teachers can provide independent reading time, small group reading instruction, and partner reading activities

• Use repeated reading: Repeated reading involves having students read the same text multiple times This can help build fluency and improve comprehension Teachers can use timed readings and graph student progress to track improvement

• Incorporate audio books: Listening to audio books can help students build fluency and improve their comprehension Teachers can provide access to audio books for students to listen to independently or as a group

• Use sight word recognition activities: Students who struggle with decoding can benefit from sight word recognition activities Teachers can use flashcards, games, and other activities to help students quickly recognize common sight words

• Provide feedback: Teachers should provide feedback to students on their reading fluency This can include correcting errors, modeling proper intonation and expression, and providing specific praise for improvement

• Use technology: There are many technological tools available to help students improve their reading fluency, such as reading apps and online reading programs

Overall, teaching reading fluency requires a combination of modeling, practice, feedback, and the use of effective strategies and resources

1.1.4 Problems in mastering reading fluency:

There are several problems that students may face when trying to master reading

fluency Here are some common issues:

• Decoding difficulties: Students who struggle with decoding words may have difficulty with fluency because they need to spend more time decoding individual

words, which can interrupt the flow of their reading

• Lack of vocabulary knowledge: Students who have limited vocabulary knowledge may struggle with fluency because they need to stop and figure out the

meaning of unfamiliar words, which can slow down their reading

• Poor comprehension skills: Students who struggle with comprehension may have difficulty with fluency because they are focusing too much on individual

words and not enough on the overall meaning of the text

• Limited exposure to reading: Students who have not had many opportunities to

read may struggle with fluency because they have not had enough practice

• Anxiety or lack of confidence: Students who feel anxious or lack confidence in their reading abilities may struggle with fluency because they are hesitant to read

aloud or may rush through their reading in order to finish quickly

• Lack of motivation: Students who are not motivated to read may not be as

invested in improving their fluency, which can hinder their progress

• Lack of support: Students who do not receive support from their teachers, parents, or peers may struggle with fluency because they do not have the resources

or encouragement they need to improve

These problems can be addressed through targeted instruction, practice, and support Teachers can provide individualized instruction, offer opportunities for practice, and provide feedback and encouragement to help students overcome these

challenges by taking advantage of advance technology

1.2 Reading Progress Tool

1.2.1 Introduction on Reading Progress Tool:

The Reading Progress Tool is a digital tool designed to help teachers assess and track the reading fluency of their students It is a feature in Microsoft Teams for Education that allows teachers to assign reading activities and monitor their students' progress in real-time The tool uses speech recognition technology to analyze students' reading and provides feedback on their accuracy, speed, and expression

The Reading Progress Tool also provides teachers with data on individual student performance, allowing them to identify areas of strength and weakness and adjust their instruction accordingly This tool can be particularly helpful for students with reading difficulties or for those learning English as a second language The tool can also be used to create a more personalized reading experience for each student,

by allowing teachers to set reading goals and track progress towards those goals

Overall, the Reading Progress Tool provides teachers with valuable insights into their students' reading abilities, helping them to better support their learning and growth

1.2.2 Benefits of Reading Progress Tool

There are several benefits to using Reading Progress Tool as an assessment tool for

reading development in students Some of these benefits include:

• Accurate assessment: Reading Progress Tool provides accurate assessments of students' reading skills, including fluency, accuracy, and comprehension, allowing teachers to identify areas of strength and weakness and tailor their instruction

high-quality instruction and supporting student learning

• Accessibility: The tool is designed to be accessible to all students, including those with learning disabilities or who may be struggling with reading, allowing

teachers to provide targeted support and accommodations as needed

• Integration with Microsoft Teams for Education: Reading Progress Tool integrates with Microsoft Teams for Education, making it easy for teachers to assign reading tasks, monitor progress, and communicate with students and

parents

Overall, Reading Progress Tool is a powerful assessment tool that can help teachers improve the effectiveness of their instruction and support student achievement in reading Its accurate assessments, personalized feedback, real-time data, remote monitoring capabilities, and time-saving features make it a valuable resource for educators

1.2.3 Set up Reading Progress Assignment

Prepare the Reading Material in Word Format, base on our students’ ability, the authors use the reading paragraphs in the text book -English 10 Global Success, then follow these steps:

4 Select Attach Then select Reading

Progress from the dropdown menu

5 To select a passage for your students:

▪ Choose Upload Word or PDF to use your

own files,

▪ Select Browse sample library to use

passages provided by ReadWorks

6 (Optional) Complete the additional fields to

create more data sorting opportunities when

reviewing student work

▪ Reading level: Identify reading levels in the

way that works best for your class Any reading

level you enter will be searchable in Insights

▪ Genre: Select Fiction or Non-fiction

▪ Number of Attempts: Choose Unlimited to

allow students plenty of opportunities to practice,

or select any number to limit attempts

strict you'd like Auto-detect to be when listening

and estimating errors Choose Less sensitive to

leave more flexibility for pronunciation,

and More sensitive to demand more exact

reading performance This setting is adjustable

when reviewing student work

▪ Require video: Select No to give students

the choice to submit audio only

create a Reading Progress assignment

▪ Edit your passage: If you've uploaded a

Word or PDF document of your own, you can

edit the passage right in Reading Progress

Select Edit, then make any changes you'd like in

the document

▪ Select Edit language to adjust the language

Auto-detect will listen for

▪ Select the checkmark when you're done

editing

Note: ReadWorks passages are not editable

Passage details like title, reading level and genre

will populate automatically

▪ Student View: Select student view to trial

the student experience

7 Select Next

8 (Optional) Edit additional aspects of your

assignment by adding Instructions, changing

the Points or extending the Date due

9 Select which student's you'd like to have

complete this assignment, then select Assign

Your students will be notified of their new

assignment, and it will appear in your

assignments list

Beside the textbook, the teacher authors can help nurture the students’ interests in

reading by diversifying the reading materials basing on the Lexile Framework for

Reading ( see Appendix 1)

1.2.4 Review and Return students’ works in Reading Progress

1 Navigate to the desired class, then select

the Assignments tab at the top of the page

2 Under Assigned select the assignment you're

ready to review

3 Assignments are sorted by To

return and Returned

4 In Returned, select a student who has turned in

their assignment Their recording and the text they

were assigned will open in your grading panel

5 Press Play on your student's recording to hear

them read the passage

6 Mark and categorize student errors by selecting

any word they misread Use the dropdown menu to

mark words as correct or categorize an error

Reading Progress will collect and tabulate the

errors in the Accuracy rate and Correct words

per minute cards at the top of the review panel

Error types include:

- Omission: a word in the passage that the student

skipped

- Insertion: a word not written in the passage that a

student added

- Mispronunciation: a word that wasn't

pronounced clearly or correctly

- Repetition: a word that a student reads more than

once

- Self-correction: when a student reads incorrectly,

recognizes their mistake, and reads again correctly

7 If the student has added additional words, you

can insert them in the body of text

▪ Select the word closest to where you would like

to insert text

▪ Choose Edit text from the dropdown menu

▪ Select where you would like to insert text, then

type in what you heard the student say

8 To view the words the student practiced with

Reading Coach, select Practiced words

▪ Attempts shows how many times the

student practiced, with stars to indicate how well

they performed

▪ Tools used indicates where students used tools

to help them practice and which tools they used

9 Decide what you would like students to see in

their report

▪ Select Edit next to Return full report to

student

▪ Choose Full report to include the

student's Correct words per

minute and Accuracy rate, as well as their

marked errors, or Simplified report to return just

the color-coded mistakes

▪ Select Custom report to select for yourself

exactly which datapoints you'd like your students to

see then select Save

▪ Decide if you'd like this change to apply to

future assignments or select Just this once

▪ Select Save

10 Enter written feedback and points for the

assignment, then select Return

11 Press the arrows next to your student's name to

quickly navigate to the next student

*Link Video: https://tinyurl.com/yc5j6vjm ; Qr code:

1.2.5 How a student can complete Reading Assignment

1 Select View Assignment

2 Select the document under My work to open

Reading Progress

Note: The first time you complete a Reading

Progress assignment, you will need to

select Allow so the app can access your camera and

audio recordings

3 Ready to read out loud? Press Start to begin

4 Students can select the Immersive Reader

and choose the settings that help you read best

5 When students finish reading, select I'm done

6 If students'd like, they can review the recording

they made Press Play to review their recording

7 If their educator allowed more than one try, they

can choose Try again to create a new recording

8 Select Use this recording to attach the students’

recording to the assignment

9 Don't forget to select Turn in to submit the

assignment to the educator

*Link video: https://tinyurl.com/3faknkjx or Qrcode

Chapter 2: Practical Background

2.1 The Survey

In the school year 2022-2023, we have carried out the survey containing multiple choice questions for 75 students from 2 classes 10B, and 10A02 of our school Most of the chosen students from these classes major in natural science subjects and their English skills are rather weak as shown by their scores in the 10th grade entrance exam

The survey was done twice One was at the beginning of the school year (before integrating some activities) and the other was in April (after using these activities), providing teacher with more in-sight information about the students’ habits, abilities and difficulties in reading fluency (see the appendix 2 for questions of the survey for the first time)

2.2 Survey Result and Data Analysis (Before applying teaching experience)

According to the survey result, students practice reading English outside of class not very frequently More than a half practice twice or three times a week and about one fifth rarely do that Only twenty-four percent of students practice reading English every day

Students have used a variety of strategies to practice reading in English The most popular strategy that more than 54% students use is reading aloud with audio recording/ online sources About two thirds of them often practice Reading aloud There are some other methods such as practicing reading with friend and participating in a reading club

The pie chart shows how long students typically read Nearly a half of the students spend less than 10 minutes reading English during one sitting, nearly one third read for between 10 and twenty minutes and nearly one fifth read from twenty to thirty minutes and only 8% spend more than half an hour practicing reading

Lack of right strategies and practicing time may be some of the reasons for their lack of confidence in their fluent English reading ability 16% of the students say that they have no confidence at all More than a half are not very confident whereas only 6,7% students feel confident of this skill

When improving their English reading skill, students face a lot of difficulties More than a half students admit that the factor that affects their reading skill most

is their lack of vocabulary range Difficulties in reading comprehension, pronunciation and concentration also account for not a small percentage (42,7%, 40% and 33,3% respectively)

One third of the students feel that their English teachers provide enough opportunities for them to practice reading in their class and most of the students want to have more chances to do this

Beside the chance to practice reading in class, students also express their expectations to receive more support to improve their reading fluency in English More details are shown in the chart below: 52% of the students would like to have specifed exercises or drills and more English reading materials More than one third think that they need assistance with pronunciation and more one-on-one time with teacher

For the last question in the survey, students have come up with some ideas that they think would be useful for teachers such as: Give out readings more often, at least finish 1 lesson before giving out a reading; Recall the vocabulary that we studied in previous lesson; Give students lots of homework on reading and test regularly; Add more vocabulary; Call to read the lesson regularly in class, etc

Chapter 3: Applying The Reading Progress Feature in Class 10A02 and 10B:

To address the above problems, the authors have applied the Reading Progress features in Microsoft

3.1 Introducing the Reading Tool to the students, creating reading groups

To introduce the Reading Progress feature on Microsoft Teams to students, the

teacher authors have done in the following ways:

▪ Direct Instruction: Introduce the Reading Progress feature and demonstrate

how it works We share the screen and show them step-by-step how to use the

▪ Provide written or visual instructions: Create a document with step-by-step

instructions on how to use the Reading Progress feature on Microsoft Teams Share the document with our students through Microsoft Teams, Zalo or email

▪ Offer support: Let your students know that you are available to answer any

questions they may have about using the Reading Progress feature Encourage them to reach out to you if they need any help

▪ Create a video tutorial: Create a short video tutorial explaining the Reading

Progress feature on Microsoft Teams then share it with our students through zalo, facebook or message groups

*Video tutorial on how to create an account:https://tinyurl.com/yrkfva3p :

Sample of Screenshot of Reading Progress Assignment Group:

3.2 Introducing the ways to practice reading

Teacher provides videos to practice the IPA Sounds in English and video or audio

of the reading passages

according to IPA

- IPA Video 1: Mouth

Shapes of 44 IPA Sounds in

- IPA VIDEO 3: Phát âm

tiếng anh 44 âm IPA

https://tinyurl.com/mra7p84v

3.3 Delivering the Reading Assignment:

Each week, the teacher authors have assigned one Reading Challenge Students practice reading with audios or videos provided by teachers for them to listen and practice before they record their recordings With a view to supporting and motivating students to review new words, practice pronunciation at their own pace through their self-studying, the authors carry out this activity after the reading passage has just been learned in class

The following are the content and illustrations for ten weeks of reading practice, the author would like to quote one student's reading activities, Luong Thi Linh- class 10A02, from week one to week ten to illustrate

Week 1: READING CHALLENGE 1:

Week 3: Reading Challenge 3:

Save the Children started its work in Viet Nam in 1990 It provides practical support in different areas One of the areas that the organisation particularly focuses on is education It has organised different training courses to help teachers improve their teaching skills and use digital technology in their classrooms It is also working on projects that create more opportunities for children in remote areas to go to school By providing these children with books and other school materials, Save the Children makes sure they have access to learning In addition, the organisation offers training on life-saving skills for both teachers and students in case of disasters Children and households in need can also receive support from Save the Children

UNIT 5 LESSON 1 GETTING STARTED

Phong: Dad, I've saved some money since Tet holiday I think I'll buy

something new for my studies

Dad: Good idea, Phong What do you want to buy?

Phong: I'm not sure It's hard to choose between a smartphone and a laptop

They're both useful and I've wanted either of them for a long time What do

you think, Dad?

Dad: Perhaps a laptop is a better choice Since laptops were invented, they've allowed us to study better and work faster They've completely changed our

lives in the last 20 years

Phong: That's true, Dad But smartphones have also improved the way we

work and study

Dad: Really? I didn't know smartphones were suitable for learning