Home journal entries were used as data. There were eighteen journal entries in all. I measured how student writing had changed over the course of the study. I used the same rubric that the countywide benchmarks were assessed with. I used the rubric to collect data on students’ mechanics, voice, and creativity.
Data Analysis
Student surveys were given twice, once before writing in home journals began and once when the study ended. The data gathered from the survey were entered into a table. The table …show more content…
I completed a lesson modeling writing a letter with students, along with reviewing what was being taught that week, after which, students completed the first home journal entry. Before sending the first journal entry home, a word count was taken on each student’s first entry. Students counted up the words that were written and wrote the number at the bottom of the page. I recorded the individual word count amount for each student and the mean score for the class when home journals were returned. While students completed their first entry, I tallied observations and recorded data on the chart. In January students wrote in their journals four times, at the beginning and end of each week. Before students made an entry, I conducted a mini-lesson on how to write a letter and reviewed material that could be included in student’s letters. I also observed and record important observations on the chart. I coded the observation data once in January. I also completed a rubric on each student’s last entry in his or her home journal in January. The data was recorded in the form of a mean score for the whole class for each section of the rubric and individual student scores were recorded for each …show more content…
Student completed eight entries in February. Each time students made an entry; we discussed what we had learned the previous week and topics that we were going to be learning about throughout the next week. I also conducted a mini lesson on how to write a letter. Mini lesson were conducted because observations demonstrated that students were confused about how to format a letter and what to include in a letter. I also collected observation data on a chart each time students wrote and coded the data twice this month. Students helped collect word count data on their first writing in February. Student’s individual word count amounts were recorded and the class’s mean score word count was reflected. I completed a rubric on each student’s last entry in his or her home journal in February. The data was recorded in the form of a mean score for the whole class for each section of the rubric and individual student scores were recorded for each