The Missouri Reader Vol. 36, Issue 1 | Page 73

Over a three-week period, the concept of student-led peer writing conferences was taught in a second-grade classroom as a supplement through the instructional process of writers‘ workshop. As students participated in the editing and revising stages of the writing process, they were expected to conduct peer writing conferences within several different cooperative grouping patterns (i.e., partners, groups of three, and groups of four). After each peer writing conference, students reflected on the process of participating in the writing conference through a student reflective questionnaire. The final type of instrumentation used was a post assessment of the two surveys described previously. The Perception and Feeling Surveys consisted of the same multiple choice questions that were given during the pre-assessment period. First Research Question The first research question asked: Did students‘ perceptions change regarding the use of literacy strategies before and after participation in student-led peer writing conferences? Data used to answer this question included a pre- and postperception survey consisting of a self-evaluation regarding the students‘ perceived use of literary strategies. The survey was administered to the participating second grade students at the beginning and the end of the study. Students were asked about their perception regarding the use of the following literary strategies before, during, and after literacy activities (i.e., reading and writing tasks): predicting, questioning, evaluating prior knowledge, making sense of a story, identifying the main idea, connecting, and summarizing. The results of this survey are displayed in Figures 1 and 2 as well as Table 1 and 2. Figure 1. Perception of Strategy Figure 1 illustrates that most students perceive that they are able to use a variety of strategies independently. The largest percentage of students indicated, on question four, that they were able to reflect upon whether a story makes sense or not. Despite this large percentage, many students perceived that they could not demonstrate specific strategies on their own or with support. On questions five, regarding questioning, and 10, focusing on summarizing, more students indicated they would need support or could not demonstrate this specific strategy on their own. Figure 2. Perception of Strategy Use (Post-Test). Figure 2 illustrates that there was a positive change in student perceptions from pre-test to post-test. All of the student responses increased in the category of independence, while decreasing in the areas of support or not demonstrating. The largest percentage of growth was shown in question five, focusing on self-questioning. This question had an increase of eight student responses. This indicates that, after conducting peer writing conferences, students perceived themselves more capable of independently performing literary strategies. Tables 1 and 2 display that there was statistical significance between the perception that students had regarding their ability to use specific reading strategies between the pre- and post- survey. © The Missouri Reader, 36 (1) p.73