Research Project

Teacher Inquiry Topic
Preparing elementary students to successfully read classical literature

Research Questions
1- Are students prepared at an elementary level to effectively read classical literature once they reach secondary school?
2- What are students expected to read immediately following elementary education?
3- Are there basal series that incorporate classical literature (even excerpts)?
4- As an elementary educator, am I preparing my students to be successful in an adolescent literature classroom?

Sources
So far I have collected the Language Arts basal curriculums from each elementary grade in my school (this consists of grades K-5 Houghton Mifflin Reading series: http://www.eduplace.com/rdg/index.jsp). I plan on researching scholarly articles this upcoming week, but a good portion of my research paper will be "action research" so I was mostly interested in obtaining the necessary information for that first! I also plan on contacting a middle school in the district to get copies of their curriculum to see which texts students are required to read as soon as they enter 6th grade.

Findings/Progress
My main goal this past week has been to visit a teacher from each grade level (excluding my own) in my building (K-5), chat with them about the literature that is offered to their students throughout the year and to obtain copies of the basal curriculums that they use. I have brought these home and have started leafing through them searching for any classical literature that is included (nothing so far... but I'm only about 3/4 of the way through the 1st grade curriculum). I know that many teachers in my building do not only use the basals, but incorporate a good amount of supplemental reading materials, so I am thinking about creating a survey for my project to pass out to teachers in my building requesting information about supplemental reading materials and/or topics that are discussed in the classroom throughout the school year (I am lucky to have a building that is very collegial; I know that all teachers would willingly participate). I suppose I could extend this survey to the middle school as well, asking 6th/7th grade teachers if they feel that their students are prepared to read the materials that they are given in the beginning of the year.