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