Action Research

Initial Meeting with Teacher

Students Chosen
Student A: After talking in depth with Mrs. McAdams, Student A struggles the
most with letter recognition and letter sounds. Mrs. McAdams stated, letter recognition
is crucial for Student A because she cant advance in English without knowing the
foundation of our language. Currently, Student A is doing lots of blind writing
(meaning she doesnt know what she is writing about) and doesnt realize letters have a
purpose or meaning.

Student B: Student B struggles with letter recognition and letter sounds.

Students B can identify some of the letters in the alphabet, but not enough to be sufficient
in letter recognition. Student B does realize that letters have a purpose, but cant correlate
letters and the letters meanings. Focusing on identifying all the letters in the alphabet and
understanding their purpose will be key for Student B to gain letter recognition
knowledge.

Student C: Student C struggles in all aspects of letter recognition and speaking

English in general. Student C can carry a conversation, but his English is difficult to
understand. Student C lacks letter recognition and letter sounds, Students C also struggles
with looking at a picture and identifying the letter that goes with the picture. It is
important for Student C to practice consistently with letter recognition and focus on the
sounds of letters.

Action Research
The Question:
After Mrs. McAdams determined which students should be a part of the action
research group, we determined what the common area of struggle was among these three
students. We decided this question would be the focus of the action research: What does
the research say about strategies for increasing letter recognition with kindergarten ELL
students? This question was decided on because each one of these students comes from a
non-English speaking home/background and/or English is their second language. Letter
recognition is one of the first components of reading and these students lack to ability to
know their letters. By working with letters, letter games, and strategies that promote letter
recognition, the students should make progress towards knowing their letters and how
these letters relate to multiple aspects of reading.

Timeline
Pre-Session
Initial meeting with Mrs. McAdams
o Choose students to work with
o Determine the essential question
o Discuss individual needs of each student chosen
Identify the essential question

Session 1
Initial Assessments: (Four different types of assessments will be used in order to
determine the needs of each individual student.)
o Action Research Group Assessments:
Letter/Sound Assessment
Uppercase Alphabet Assessment
Lowercase Alphabet Assessment
Letter Identification Assessment

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Session 2
Action Research Group:
o The Alphabet Matching Activity (Uppercase and Lowercase Letters)
Uppercase/Lowercase Assessment
o I Can Trace Letters worksheet
o Send home ABC Flash Cards with each Student (at home practice)
Repetitive Practice Strategy
o Childrens Literature that Focuses on Letter Recognition (Read Aloud)

Session 3
Action Research Group (Mid-Point) Assessment Checks: (Initial Assessments will
be used to determine growth or what strategies need to be revised.)
o Action Research Group Assessments:
Letter/Sound Assessment
Uppercase Assessment
Lower Assessment
Letter Identification Assessment

Session 4
Action Research Group:
o Letter Bingo Worksheet
o Matching letter with a picture
o Letter Recognition iPad Games

Session 5 (Final Assessment)

Final Action Research Assessments: (These are the initial assessments and they will
be reassessed at the end of the action research to see if there is letter recognition
improvement.)
o Final Assessment Check:
Letter/Sound Assessment
Uppercase Alphabet Assessment
Lowercase Alphabet Assessment
Letter Identification Assessment

Initial Assessment Reflection

Administered: October 16, 2015
Student A: After assessing Student A, I discovered in depth the struggle she faces with
identifying letters and understand letters in general. On all four assessments, Student A

Action Research
lacked any knowledge of letters. She blindly guessed and asked me for assistance.
Student A really does lack all knowledge of letters and there purpose. Student A doesnt
even recognize the letters in her name and that that mean something. Student A will need
lots of assistance in improving letter recognition and growth over the span of weeks I am
at Trace Crossings.

Data Scores:
o Uppercase Assessment: 9/26
o Lowercase Assessment: 7/26
o Letter Sounds Assessment: 8/26
o Picture Assessment: 3/4

Student B: Student B did a decent good job on her assessments. She was doubtful about
her answers and looked to me for assistance when she didnt know. I think Student B
understands that letters have a purpose, but she is still blindly writing, which is not okay.
On the flip side, Student B knows a good bit of her letters and there sound, which is
great. We will have to focus on learning the entire alphabet and learning that letters have
a purpose and are important for reading.

Data Scores:
o Uppercase Assessment: 11/26
o Lowercase Assessment: 10/26
o Letter Sounds Assessment: 9/26
o Picture Assessment: 4/4

Student C: Student C is much like Student A in that he doesnt understand letters at all
and struggles greatly with recognizing letters. Student C will look at a letter and say
whatever comes to mind because he doesnt know what he is looking at. For example, if I
point to the letter B, he will just spat off the letter S because he knows that one letter. He
is very unsure about all letters and the letters purpose, he also struggles recognizing the

Action Research
letters in his name. Student C will need lots of attention and practice with letters, so that
he can understand and state the letters of the alphabet.

Data Scores:
o Uppercase Assessment: 2/26
o Lowercase Assessment: 3/26
o Letter Sounds Assessment: 3/26
o Picture Assessment: 2/4

Research Data Collection

Date/T
ime
Spent
Octobe
r 20th

Strategy
Description

Anecdotal
Observation

Alphabet
All three students
Matching Activity struggled with
organizing ABCs
15
and matching them
minutes
with their pair
(uppercase/lowerca
se). All three
students are shy, so
it is going to take
time for them to
warm up and feel
comfortable with
me and knowing
failure is okay!

Plan for Next Session

Reflect/Respond

My plan of action for

my next session is to
engage the students
and make them feel
more comfortable with
me. I think they will
show confidence and
improvements when
they know I care about
them.

I need to find a way to

engage the students
and have them feel
more comfortable with
me for assessing and
overall learning. I
dont want the
students to feel like
they have to be there,
but rather get this
opportunity to grow
and learn more.

Action Research
Octobe
r 23rd

ABC Baseball
Flash Cards

ABC baseball
flashcards tend to
be very helpful in
quick
reorganization of
letters. The students
seem to enjoy the
flashcards and can
practice with them
independently,
without consistence
guidance.

I think my plan
regarding the next
session is to provide
the students with
resources that they can
work on outside of the
instructed learning
time in regards to letter
recognition.

I am please to see
slight improvements
in all the students and
I believe the
continuous of drilling
with help. I think
taking something unfun and making it
engaging creates a
happier and more
successful learning
environment for the
students.

I use three books to

practice read aloud
strategy with and
promote letter
recognition: Chicka
Chicka, Boom,
Boom, Have you
Ever Seen?, and
finally Come
Rhyme with Me!
The students tried
as best they could
to read along with
me. The students
enjoyed the reading
and getting to
response with
having to apply
pencil to paper.
This worksheet
focuses on having
the students
physically write the
letters they are
learning. I had the
students repeat the
letter as they were
writing it too; so

I think for my next

session it would be
good to have the
students again work
with childrens
literature that uses
alphabetic principle,
but incorporate a
worksheet or
questioning that will
deeper the students
understanding of their
ABCs.

I am real pleased with

the improvements I
have seen over the
span of my first
couple of weeks. We
still have lots to
achieve, but at this
point the strategies
and resources I have
been using have
helped the ELL
students letter
recognition.

I think during the next

session it would be
important to focus on
continuing to
recognize letters, Im
sure if the students are
ready to begin writing
the letters down
because they seem to

I am real impressed
with the growth I am
seeing, even though
this strategy wasnt
necessarily effective. I
think the students are
finally starting to
remember there letters
and pick up on letters

15
minutes

Octobe
r 27th
20
minutes

Novem
ber 3rd
15
minutes

I Can Trace
Letters
Worksheet

Action Research

Novem
ber 17th

iPad Letter
Recognition App

15
minutes

Decem
ber 1st
10
minutes

Letter Bingo
Worksheet

that they would

understand what
they were writing
meant something.
They struggle with
this worksheet
because I dont
think they correlate
letters with sounds
and their name,
which makes them
understand the
purpose of the
writing.
This is by far the
most engaging way
I have found to
encourage letter
recognition with the
ELL students. They
response
immediately to the
app and can
actually interpret
what is being asked
of them. I think
because technology
is such a large part
of learning, the
students just adapt
quicker and more
easily to learning
through technology,
rather than
traditional paper
and pencil.

have taken a step back

when I asked them to
write them down. It
could simply be
nerves, but I think the
students need more
just drilling of their
letters.

that they can relate

too; like their name,
important friends,
family, etc. This is
exciting to see and I
am hoping in the next
couple of weeks to see
great strides in letter
recognition.

I believe implementing
more opportunities for
the students to work
with iPads and pieces
of technology with
improve their overall
learning in all levels.
For the next session, I
want to incorporate
iPads again and
reinforce what they
have practiced today
with the apps.

I am so impressed
with the overall
improvements I have
seen the students make
in the last week. They
are understand letters
better and are
recognizing them
without me having to
assist. I think a
continuation of letter
recognition drilling
and free time iPad
work is key to honing
their skills.

Letter BINGO was

successful because
the students are
grasping their letters
at this point. They
can play and
understand what is
being asked. They
response with correct
answers and shows
me they understand

This was their last

session, so there will
not be another session!

Today was my last day

working with the
students and the
amount of growth they
have made is
tremendous. I am so
pleased with their
growth in letter
recognition and they
have so much to proud

Action Research
what I am saying.

Decem
ber 1st

Picture with
Initial Letter

10
minutes

Students identify
with this strategy
immediately
because they
understand that an
apple starts with an
A. Often times,
they can hear the
sound in the initial
picture and I
believe that helps
them know the
letter. Also, a
picture helps them
see what they are
looking for. It is
interesting to watch
the students
response and see
how they are
quicker and have
grown over time
with confidence.

of.

This was their last

session, so there will
not be another session!

Strategies Used

Alphabet Flashcards
ABC Bingo
Alphabet Childrens Literature
Matching ABCs
Alphabet Tracing Worksheet
iPad Alphabet App
Matching Picture with Initial Letter

Seeing how much the

students have grown
over this semester is
incredible. Almost of
the ELL students
know all the letters
and have a confidence
about themselves that
they lacked earlier in
the semester. I am so
proud of the
improvements they
have made and I know
they are so proud of
themselves.

Action Research
Lessons/Assessments Used
Uppercase Letter Recognition Assessment
Lowercase Letter Recognition Assessment
Letter/Sound Assessment
Letter Identification Assessment

Necessary Instruction Changes

To gage if I needed to make instructional changes, I used a mid-point assessment.
During this assessment I saw growth in all three ELL students (Student A, B, and C). I
believe that conferred that I was on the right track to letter recognition improvements and
the strategies I was using were effective. My data showed growth on all four assessments
for each student, so when thinking about the strategies after the mid-point assessment I
wanted to gear my strategies towards reading, use of technology, and drilling techniques.
I also used a writing tool for tracing letters, but I quickly learned this was not effective in
teaching letter recognition. The students begin to blindly write and could not repeat back
what they had written on the paper. I took this has a bad sign and transitions to more
direct teaching methods, where I interacted with the students because the individual work
didnt work or show growth/understanding. I continued to have the students work with
letter BINGO, baseball flashcards, and I incorporated the use of iPads. This quickly
became a sign of improvements and the engagement of the students increased. I think the
biggest instructional change made was my direct teaching method and interacting with
the students, rather than simply giving them something to do. The students responded
better and correctly when I was involved with them in the learning process. The students
also worked better in a quiet space alone, with me rather than with the other Action

Action Research
Research students. All the changes and improvements to the Action Research helped the
overall achievement of each individual student in one way or another.

Final Assessment Reflection

Administered: December 1st, 2015
Student A: Student A made the biggest improvements of all the Action Research
students. I assessed her using all four assessments that I originally used for the initial and
the mid-point assessment and she did awesome. Student A had confident and knew what
she wanted to say when giving her answers. Student A was great and I am so proud of her
improvements. Below are her listened final assessment scores.

Data Scores:
o Uppercase Assessment: 24/26
o Lower Assessment: 22/26
o Letter Sounds Assessment: 22/26
o Picture Assessment: 4/4

Student B: Student B did a good job on the final assessments. Student B started out as
the most advanced in the Action Research group, but I think being easily distracted
caused her to slip on the final assessment. Student B did make improvements, but not
what I thought you would make. Below are her listed assessment scores for the final
assessment.

Data Scores:
o Uppercase Assessment: 24/26
o Lowercase Assessment: 17/26
o Letter Sounds Assessment: 22/26

Action Research
o Picture Assessment: 1/4
Student C: Just like Student A and Student B, Student C made improvements over the
semester with his letter recognition. I believe Student C struggles from a learning
disability and is easily distracted in all types of settings. Student C did make good
improvements though and now knows more letters than he originally did, especially those
letters in his name, which he originally didnt. Below are Student Cs data scores from the
final assessment.

Data Scores:
o Uppercase Assessment: 16/26
o Lowercase Assessment: 8/26
o Letter Sounds Assessment: 13/26
o Picture Assessment: 2/4

Student Progress Monitoring Chart

Initial Data

Action Research
60%

50%

40%

30%

20%

10%

0%
Student A

Student B

Final Data

Student C

Action Research

Data Analysis & Additional Reflections

Over the span of the semester each student increased his or her percentage of
improvement from the initial assessment to the final assessment. Student A had a
percentage increase of 48% in knowledge of letter recognition. Student B had an increase
14% knowledge of her letters. Finally, Student C has an increase in letter recognition of
28%. Obviously, Student A made the largest improvements with letter recognition.
Student A came into the Action Research group as a quiet, very passive girl. Student A is
now talkative and confident in all aspects of learning and interacts with peers and myself.
She has been the biggest surprise during this research. Student B came into the Action
Research group knowing the most letters and was very verbal. I believe Student B is a

Action Research
prime example of being easily distracted and focusing on everything but the learning
objective. She did make improvements, but not as many as Student A. I believed going
into this Student B would make the large strides, but that proved to be on wrong analysis.
I am happy though with her growth over the semester. Student C made a 28%
improvement in letter recognition over the span of the semester. I am proud of Student C
and his hard work. I believe Student C might struggle with a learning disability and he
struggles pronouncing words and letters. He made great strides for learning his letters and
knows many more than he originally did.
Initial Data:
Student A: 42%
Student B: 53%
Student C: 20%
Final Data:
Student A: 90%
Student B: 67%
Student C: 48%
Percentage of Improvement:

Student A: 48%

Student B: 14%

Student C: 28%
Self-Check Chart for Students

Action Research
Name:

Date

Today, we did

I feel that I

Miss
Bowden
feels that
I

I
improve
d in

I need to work
on

Action Research

Research for Improving Letter Recognition with ELL Students

Chelsea Ann Bowden
Samford University
Orlean Bullard Beeson School of Education

Action Research

Abstract
Letter recognition is the first step in reading comprehension and writing. By developing
skills and strategies over time, students can recognize letters, their sounds, and letter parts
that help enhance letter recognition and overall reading comprehension and writing skills.
Keywords: sounds, parts, letters, writing, and comprehension

Action Research
Letter recognition is an essential component in reading and writing skills. As a
kindergarten student, letter recognition is one of the first aspects of learning, which
carries over to other facets of reading and writing. Most students enter kindergarten with
letter recognition knowledge or a sense of the alphabet and what it pertains to. On the
other hand, ELL (English Language Learners) students do not enter school with that
background because they were taught Spanish, Mandarin Chinese, or another type of
language in their home. Teaching letter recognition is the foundation of our language, so
establishing and practicing researched based strategies that improve letter recognition for
ELL students is key their success in the classroom.
Being able to name and recognize letters is proven to be an indicator of future
reading success. That is why it is crucial that ELL students develop letter recognition and
understanding. With new letter learners, begin very simple, as children become more
familiar with letter shapes, progress to different fonts that may present letters slightly
differently (Reading Rockets). An example of this would be using sand, play dough, or
flour to make letters. Letter formation helps ELL students use tactile skills and
manipulation, which is turn, helps them create a more concrete way of interpreting and
learning their letters. Two researchers, found that children who did not know letter names
had more difficulty learning sounds. Knowing the letter names correlates with letter
sounds and recognizing them is a piece of reading (Ehri and Wile, 1979).
Research based strategies that promote and improve letter recognition are learning
the alphabet through song, matching letter shapes with letter names, letter sequencing
(alphabetizing), and building fluency in letter recognition and naming. (Sylvan Learning)
For letter recognition instruction to be effective, children must first understand the

Action Research
relationship between sounds of words and the alphabet (Torgesen, 1998). Using strategies
that promote sound recognition and letter recognition help students understand the
correlation between the two and help them better understand letters. As children become
developing readers, they use several strategies to read words: Decoding, analogy,
prediction, memorizing sight words, all of which require the mastery of letter-sound
correspondences (Ehri, 2003). That is why students, especially ELL students need to
develop a mastery of phonemic awareness and alphabetic skills at a young age. All
children, particularly preschool and kindergarten age children can benefit from letter
recognition instruction.
Children must be expert users of the letters they will see and use to write their
own words and messages (Lyon, 1998). Without a firm knowledge of letters, children will
face difficulties in other aspects of literacy. The NCES (2000) reported, 34 percent of
children entering school cannot recognize letters of the alphabet. This portion of students
is astounding, but that is why learning letters and recognizing there purpose is so crucial
for ELL students and students in general. Another factor that contributes to ELL students
letter recognition learning is a parents education level and minority language status (Hart
and Risley, 1995; Bradly and Stahl, 2001). To make this statistic obsolete, teachers need
to teach ELL students their letters and hopefully that will improve all other areas of
literacy for the individual child. The more ELL students are exposed to literacy activities,
they will begin to discriminate and recognize their letters. Researchers have concluded
that learning letter names and shapes can serve as a mnemonic for letter-sound
associations, which then allows young readers to devote more energy to the critical tasks
of decoding and comprehension (Adams, 1990). ELL students need the foundational

Action Research
skills to build letter name knowledge and letter recognition, so they can translate that
understanding to other aspects of literacy.
Building a solid letter recognition foundation for ELL students is important for
their future reading and writing comprehension. Classroom strategies that promote letter
recognition are vital to there overall growth in reading and writing comprehension. As
research as stated time and time again, letter recognition and knowing the letters of the
alphabet is the foundational ground for future reading and literacy knowledge in students.
Teachers need to emphasis and teach to all students the basics to be successful in all
future areas of reading and literacy.