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Running Head: ACTION RESEARCH

Action Research Project

Allyson Kuntz

Franciscan University of Steubenville

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Action Research Project
In order to teach all students, while understanding that all students learn differently,

educators must be willing to adjust their lessons and accommodate their traditional teaching

strategies when needed. Teachers can accommodate their teaching strategies in many ways, but

the most common accommodation I have recognized is the transition from traditional approaches

to online. Children today are more exposed to technology and electronics, and because of

technological advances, educators have more opportunities to engage students in their learning,

as well as, create more beneficial learning experiences. According to Herrera and Kidwell

(2018), “the use of technology offers students the possibility of drawing on their multilingual

skills as a resource for improving their learning proves.” However, along with the possibilities of

more advanced learning experiences comes the possibilities of decreasing the educational

benefits of the lesson, including technology in a lesson when it is not needed, and making

technology the main focus of the lesson instead of the content. In order to transform a traditional

teaching strategy into a technology-based strategy, educators must consider all of these

possibilities and ask, “Is this improving or impairing my students’ learning experience?”

Some common reasons for integrating technology into the classroom include assisting

students with disabilities, assisting English Language Learners (ELL), incorporating visual aids,

increasing communication opportunities, and educating the students on technology use.

Technology is used in most, if not all, career fields in some form. Although young children use

technology mostly for entertainment, we can also begin teaching them how to use technology

responsibly and in ways that will improve their education. Slowly including technology in young

students’ learning experiences could open up a variety of possibilities in their knowledge, skills,

and technological abilities.

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Purpose

For my action research project, I decided to explore the benefits of taking a traditional

teaching strategy and modifying it with the use of technology. The teaching strategy I thought

would have the most promise when integrating technology was literature circles. Literature

circles, according to Herrera and Kidwell (2018), are “a technique that brings small,

heterogeneous groups of students together to discuss texts of their own choosing.” Literature

circles have many educational benefits in both elementary and high school classrooms. Bowers-

Campbell (2011) suggests that literature circles “increased motivation, influenced positive social

and communicative skills, and allowed students to gain vital understandings.” This literature

strategy helps students grow in many ways including their reading comprehension, social skills,

and oral language. To effectively participate in a literature circle, students must use both

expressive and receptive language (the abilities to put their thoughts into words and decode

someone else’s words), and this may result in the growth of students’ oral language and social

skills (Reutzel & Cooter, 2019). As both a future educator and a student, I have witnessed the

effectiveness of the traditional approach to literature circles, and I have also witnessed this

strategy used ineffectively. The need for structure in the traditional approach formed my research

question- Could implementing different forms of technology in literature circles create a more

collaborative and beneficial learning experience?

After completing research regarding my research question, I intended to complete

research on this topic by interviewing teachers and elementary students. Many literature teachers

use the traditional literature circle approach, and I wanted to conduct a survey with some of these

teachers regarding their experience, if they included technology, and their professional opinion
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on modifying the approach to literature circles. I also wanted to ask a few elementary students

about their experiences with literature circles.

Based on my knowledge of technology, accommodating lessons to teach all students, and

literature circles, my hypothesis is technology can improve the overall learning experience when

using literature circles in elementary classrooms. If used correctly, I think technology could help

educators maintain an organized classroom, assist in progress monitoring, and engage students

when using the literature circle approach. The traditional approach to literature circles has been

used in classrooms since 1994 (Herrera and Kidwell, 2018), but updating the strategy by

including technology could make the approach a lot stronger.

Review of Literature

Technology is innovating many well-known teaching strategies. One way that technology

has improved a classic teaching strategy is through the use of online blogging and literature

circles. This technique was researched by Stover, Yearta, and Harris (2016). The purpose of this

article was to provide information from teachers, and their experiences, that have used blogging

to assist in the effectiveness of literature circles. The many positive findings that came from the

study conducted were found within Ms. Whitmore’s third grade classroom. Ms. Whitmore

created a classroom program that involved the students participating in “book club blogging.”

This entailed the students reading a book, posting their reflections, and commenting on their

peers’ posts. While Ms. Whitmore was able to more effectively monitor her students’

participation and understanding of the readings, she had the help of a university’s pre-service

teachers. After this study, the findings suggested that blogging assisted in the students’ reading

comprehension, provided detailed feedback for differentiated instruction, and increased

independence in the students’ reading.

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The authors of the article explained the use of blogging with literature circles very

thoroughly. The most beneficial pieces of information that were received from this article were

regarding how Ms. Whitmore included technology into her literature circle practice, figure one

which included an example of blogging between a pre-service teacher and two students, and the

rubric Ms. Whitmore used to assess the students’ blogging. One thing that was difficult

throughout the article was the lack of statistics regarding student success rates during this

activity. Having statistics would show exactly how successful using blogging was in the

classroom. For some students, it may have been more difficult to comprehend, and the statistics

would have been helpful when considering those possibilities. This article is relevant to my

research because blogging is one technology type that I want to explore in regards to improving

literature circles and other well-known teaching strategies. This article provides many positive

characteristics to consider when using blogging. However, for this to be something I am

completely comfortable with integrating in my classroom, more research needs to be done on the

difference between completing literature circles verbally and online, and how this strategy could

be modified for students that require more reading and writing help, or for students with

disabilities and language barriers. Overall, this article assists my idea that technology can

improve literature circles, and it also confirms the effectiveness of blogging, specifically,

improving literature circles.

Many classrooms lack the idea of democracy and developing individual ideas. Using

media and digital texts to create transaction circles is how Brown (2015) introduced democracy

in her classroom. Brown recognized the lack of critical thinking and deeper conversations within

literature circles and guided reading. Transaction circles were developed by Brown with the

intention of encouraging the students to use their voice and critical thinking, which is important
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due to the increasing presence of media and technology in children’s’ lives. For a transaction

circle to be effective, the teacher chooses a high-quality text, the students meet in small groups,

the students read the text together, and they participate in thorough discussions. To assess the

effectiveness of this method, five students (four African American boys and one African

American girl) from a Title 1 public elementary school participated in a study. In this study, the

students read four books over a six-week period. They took part in 20-30-minute sessions two

days a week. In these transaction circles, the students used texts, digital texts using Nook e-

readers, as well as YouTube videos to assist in reading comprehension. With the use of the

digital texts and open dialogue, the students were responsible for their own learning, remained

involved in open dialogue, and developed a democratic classroom environment. The findings

indicated students-initiated discussions and responded to each other in positive manners. It was

noticeable which students were most comfortable in the beginning, which students had deeper

thoughts about the text, and what discussions sparked interest in the students. These findings can

then be used to further the transaction circle method, as well as give the teacher more

information regarding interests and personality traits of the students involved.

The worthiest pieces of this article include the in-depth explanations of literature circles,

guided reading, and the transactional theory. The explanations of these topics before discussing

the transaction circle method were extremely helpful in the understanding of the method’s

benefits. Another worthy piece of the article was the transcriptions of the children’s

conversations. Something I found difficult about this article was the explanation of the findings.

Although the transcriptions were helpful, the explanations of the transcriptions were not as

helpful. This article is relevant to my research topic because the article discusses the reasons why

technology could improve literature circles, and how this can be done without changing the parts
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of literature circles that work. After reading this article, a few ideas for future research include

using prompted questions given by the teacher, and if assigning roles in this method would be

useful or harmful, like in the normal literature circle setting. Overall, this article included many

helpful points about the need for incorporating technology and the goal of transaction circles.

Discussion in the classroom is very important. Certo, Moxely, Reffitt, and Miller (2010)

discussed how the common classroom discussion framework of initiation, response, and

evaluation is not as effective as allowing the students to be in control of their discussions. One

point that Certo, et. al. made was regarding the need to be prepared when participating in

literature circles. Literature circles require students to do their reading outside of class, complete

their role requirements, and prepare their comments and discussion questions for their group.

The purpose of this article is to help understand students’ perceptions of classroom discussions.

This is done by showing past research as well as conducting further research with a K-5

elementary school. The methodology consisted of nine teachers undergoing training to use

literature circles because they did not previously use this strategy in their program. All of the

teachers included literature circles in their classrooms once or twice a week for roughly an hour.

The results of the study suggested that the students enjoyed participating in literature circles,

some students gained new friends, some students began reading more, some learned how to

respond to discussions, some learned how to ask questions, and some students struggled with

summarizing the text.

This article is helpful for my research because it is very detailed, and the researchers

work with educators who have not used literature circles before. This is an advantage because

due to the lack of knowledge on the teaching strategy, the article is very detailed regarding how

the teachers were taught, how the study was conducted, and the specific results found. The
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difficult part about this article is differentiating between the smaller study and the larger study. I

was unaware there were two studies until I came across the data collection and table. After

realizing this, I was able to go back and re-read the article and reorganize my thoughts. This

article is relevant to my research topic because it involves using literature circles in elementary

classrooms. Although it does not include technology in the classroom, this article includes a lot

of information regarding the basic literature circle procedures, and the studies showed very

important results that guide my research further. For future research, I would suggest comparing

the findings of the teachers that used literature circles for the first time to teachers who have had

more experience with the strategy. This may show that with experience, the strategy is easier to

implement in the classroom, and with more practice, they could be modified using technology

and other tools.

With her focus on socioemotional growth in literature circles, only one of the many

benefits of the literacy strategy, Venegas (2019) discussed her study performed in an elementary

classroom. The purpose of the study is to highlight the possible interpersonal and intrapersonal

growths in students when they participate in literature circles. The study was conducted using

Mrs. Ian’s students, but specifically focusing on Grace and her growth throughout the literature

circles. Mrs. Ian collected a completed chart at the end of each literature circle to gather data

regarding Grace’s role in the group and her growth in the skill that each role focuses on

developing. Venegas found that Grace struggled with her self-management skills in the

beginning of the literature circle process, but around literature circle 7, she was able to

demonstrate more self-confidence and impulse control. She also struggled socially in the

beginning, and she tended to stay with one friend in the class. Grace also showed her lack in

social skills by correcting her peer’s mistakes. However, around literature circle 7, she showed
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that she was creating a positive learning environment where all of her peers were able to discuss

the literature. Mrs. Ian noted that switching the groups and putting Grace with peers she would

not normally be grouped with kept her uneasy and ready for change, allowing Grace to develop

her social skills and refine her abilities to work with her peers.

The worthiest pieces of this article include the discussions about socioemotional growth,

interpersonal growth, intrapersonal growth, the table listing the literature circle roles, and the

results. The discussions about socioemotional, interpersonal, and intrapersonal growth were very

eye-opening to me because I knew that literature circles benefit students’ social skills, but I did

not think about how deeply it can affect the child’s ability to empathize, self-manage, accept

others’ contributions to the group, and much more. The table that lists the literature circle roles

Grace held during which week, the role description, and the implications for personal skills was

also helpful because it fostered a deeper understanding of the roles within literature circles and

which areas the role targets. The results were all positive and demonstrated when changes of

Grace’s social behavior were evident, and I found this helpful when thinking about the

differences between the skills being challenged. The difficult parts about this article include the

lack of stated details and the organization of the literature circles findings. I was unable to find

where it said the literature circles lasted for 8 meetings, but after looking at the chart, I was able

to assume this information. Also, Venegas stated that Mrs. Ian taught grades 4-6, but I was

unsure of Grace’s grade level. I also found it difficult to follow the statistics regarding each

literature circle, and also the organization of the different skills. I think that it would have been

more beneficial to see data regarding each literature circle and the progress of each skill within

each of the meetings in a table or in an additional section of the article. This article is relevant to

my research because it justifies the usage of literature circles in the classroom. My research is
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regarding implementing technology into literature circles, but in order to do so, I must have a

deeper understanding of the benefits and challenges in the traditional literature circle approach as

well. For future research, I would suggest that the teacher and researcher conduct this study on

more than one student. The results and study were helpful with the focus on one student, Grace,

but they were also helpful when considering research on her classmates with disabilities and

English Language Learners.

Methodology

The first research procedure I would have completed would include teachers with a few

years of experience in the elementary classroom. I would determine this by asking the teachers in

the survey how long they have been teaching. I would prefer to survey teachers with at least

three years of experience to make sure they would have had more time to implement these

literature strategies in their classroom. I wanted to discuss the topic of including technology in

literature circles with experienced teachers because they may have tried this procedure before, or

they may have a different point of view on the topic. To complete this research, I would have

used a digital survey with questions that would allow the teachers to elaborate on the questions

as much as they felt necessary. Some of the questions I would have asked are “If you have used

the traditional approach to literature circles, what are some areas you thought needed

improving?”, “Have you ever, or would you consider, adjusting your approach to literature

circles to include technology?”, and “What is your main concern regarding implementing

technology in the literature circle process?” These questions would have given me some insight

from experienced teachers who might have tried this accommodation in the past. After asking

teachers about their experience with using the literature circle strategy, I wanted to ask a few

elementary students, whom I have contact with through family, about their experience
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participating in literature circles. I would also use a digital survey for this procedure, or if

needed, I would ask the questions verbally and collect data through writing their responses.

Discussing the strategy with the elementary students would give me insight on their experiences,

if they enjoyed the strategy, and if they ever used technology during this process.

Findings

I expect that data collected from my research would have shown that technology does

improve the effectiveness of literature circles in elementary classrooms. The first finding I would

expect is that online discussion board formats promote a stronger teacher-student relationship,

more in-depth responses from students, and more individualized responses to students’ posts. As

previously discussed, in research conducted by Stover, et. al. (2016), Ms. Whitmore conducted

literature circles with her students with the use of online blogging. The findings suggested Ms.

Whitmore had “extended time to analyze students’ posts and used the comment feature to probe

students’ thinking through questioning to foster deeper comprehension (Stover et al., 2016).”

Additionally, Herrera and Kidwell (2018) state, “Edmodo and Google Classroom prove highly

effective in maintaining detailed communication with students in a virtual environment.” Online

discussion boards used for blogging allows educators to make “data-driven decisions to help

teachers tailor instruction and meet students’ needs” (Stover et al., 2016). The ability to refer to

students’ posts and collect data from their responses promotes educational feedback to each

student and their needs.

Another finding I would expect from my research is that technologically advanced

literature circles promote student interest, engagement, and social and emotional growth. Due to

the variety of learners that technology assists (visual, auditory, ELLS, students with disabilities,

etc.), technology also engages these students and may make them more interested in their
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education. Literature circles requires students’ dialogue, participation, and collaboration within

the different roles they encounter. The case study completed by Venegas (2019) suggests

“intrapersonal and interpersonal skills can be fostered within literature circles.” The literature

circle strategy allows students to work with peers they do not normally communicate with,

complete roles that strengthen skills they lack, and gain confidence from completing tasks that

challenge their abilities. Students must learn to express their point of view and listen to their

peers’ views to have an effective literature circle experience.

Recommendations

In conclusion, technology is always advancing, and it is more present in our students’

lives daily. It is important to consider improving the educational experiences of our students by

modifying our lessons to include technology. With these modifications, we must consider

multiple questions and possibilities. Some of these questions include- “Will technology improve

the lesson, or will it impair the lesson?”, “Is this form of technology appropriate for the grade

level of my students?”, and “Is technology going to distract the students or will it engage them in

their learning?” After reviewing many pieces of research done on the topic of technology in

literature circles, I believe technology does improve the learning experience for students, as well

as, improve the teacher’s abilities to educate. Some further research I believe should be

completed is the best age level to start incorporating literature circles and technology in

elementary classrooms, which forms of technology are most effective in the literature circle

strategy, and is it better to incorporate technology in literature circles at a higher grade level

rather than elementary. In order to answer some of these research questions, I believe the

effectiveness of technology in literature circles should be tested with a variety of grade levels

and with different forms of technology. The research previously done on literature circles with
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incorporated technology suggest the potential the strategy could have in elementary classrooms,

and after completing more detailed research, I think this strategy could help many struggling

students and improve the literature education experience for both students and teachers.
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References

Bowers-Campbell, J. (2011). Take it out of class: Exploring virtual literature circles. Journal of

Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 54(8), 557-567.

Brown, S. (2015). Transaction circles with digital texts as a foundation for democratic practices.

Democracy & Education, 23(2). 1-12.

Certo, J., Moxley, K., Reffitt, K., & Miller, A. J. (2010). I learned how to talk about a book:

Children’s perceptions of literature circles across grade and ability levels. Literacy

research and instruction. 49(3), 243-263.

Herrera, J. L. & Kidwell, T. (2018). Literature circles 2.0: Updating a classic strategy for the 21st

century. 21st Century Learning & Multicultural Education. 17-21.

Reutzel, D. R., & Cooter, R. B., Jr. (2019). Teaching children to read: The teacher makes the

difference. Eighth Edition. NY, NY: Pearson.

Stover, K., Yearta, L., & Harris, C. (2016). Formative assessment in the digital age: Blogging

with third graders. The Reading Teacher, 69 (4), 377-381.

Venegas, M. E. (2019). “We listened to each other”: Socioemotional growth in literature circles.

International Literacy Association, 73(2), 149-159.

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Appendix

Survey Questions for Educators:

1. Do you currently use the traditional literature circle approach in your elementary

classroom? If you do not currently, have you used it in the past?

2. Did you, or do you, use any forms of technology in your classroom’s literature circles?

3. How do you feel about using technology to advance your elementary education

strategies?

4. Would you ever be comfortable with incorporating blogging, online discussion boards,

video posts, or any other form of technology in your literature circles?

5. At what age do you think it is appropriate to begin incorporating technology in

elementary students’ education?

6. What are your main concerns regarding incorporating technology in literature circles?

7. What research would you like to see completed before you would be comfortable with

changing your literature circle approach?

Survey Questions for Elementary Students:

1. Are you familiar with literature circles?

2. Have you ever participated in a literature circle? (“Yes” is required to answer the rest of

the survey)

3. Did you enjoy working in a literature circle with your classmates?

4. What was the most difficult part of your experience with literature circles?

5. Did you and your classmates use any type of technology during your experience(s) with

literature circles?
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6. Do you think using technology in your literature circles would be more educational and

engaging for you?

7. Would you want to participate in literature circles more or less in your classroom?

a. If yes, why do you enjoy this strategy?

b. If no, why do you not want to use this strategy?

8. What do you think you learned while participating in literature circles?