First Grade Reading Intervention Through

the use of iPads

Danielle Hamel
California State University, Sacramento
iMET17

INTRODUCTION
Teaching reading and acquiring the skill of reading can be
difficult.
According to the NRP (2000), children who do not adequately
develop reading fluency, will continue to read slowly and their
reading will require great effort.
The use of digital devices in the classroom is growing.
Teachers do not always have time in the school day to provide
one-on-one intervention.
Digital devices such as iPads can be a powerful tool in the
classroom to aide in reading intervention.

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

The purpose of this action research is to study the reading
comprehension and fluency skills of struggling first grade
students through the use of iPad Minis in the classroom through
the applications Headsprout and Raz Kids. The study
investigated the impact of using iPads as a reading intervention
tool to provide one-on-one support for first grade students.

RESEARCH QUESTIONS

DATA

Q1

Q2

Q3

How do iPad based

phonics programs
improve students
phonemic awareness
skills?

How do iPad based

phonics programs
improve students
reading fluency
rates?

What effect does an

iPad based eReader
have on students
reading
comprehension?

REVIEW OF LITERATURE
Focused on the groundwork for strong reading instruction with an
emphasis on the elements of reading.
The five components of reading and research that pertained to these
components were examined. These components include phonemic
awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension.
Reading instruction should be consistent, thorough, and with ample
repetition and application
Research was conducted on technology in the classroom as well as
digital devices best practice and use for reading intervention.
A strong framework for the implementation for using technology is
effective.
Using digital devices for reading instruction yielded positive results in
some studies and ineffective in others.
Small sample size and the need for future research in the area were
evident factors.

SETTING

PARTICIPANTS

Low-income charter school in

Sacramento, California

Six struggling first-grade readers

from a single first-grade class

INNOVATION/INTERVENTION

Step
1
REFERENCES
National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. (2000). Report of the National Reading Panel. Teaching
children to read: An evidence-based assessment of the scientific research literature on reading and its implications
for reading instruction (NIH Publication No. 00-4769)

FLUENCY RATE (WCPM)

Pre-Test
BPSTIII
Fluency
Comprehension
Interviews

Step
2
Intervention
Students use iPad
reading apps 2 hours
per week for 3 week
(Mid-Test and
Observations)

Step
3

Step
4

Post-Test
Analysis
BPSTIII
Analyze data and
Fluency
compile action
Comprehension research report

Interviews

DISCUSSION/CONCLUSIONS
The study found that using an iPad based phonics program improved
students phonemic awareness/phonics skills as well as their fluency.
There was no affect on students reading comprehension skills.
The repetition of tasks, reinforcement, and novelty of using the iPads for
reading contributed to students growth while using the iPads for phonics
and fluency. The programs Headsprout and Raz Kids offered reinforcing
activities for students and provided ample opportunities for students to
apply skills.
It was observed that students began losing engagement towards the end
of the 45 minute iPad sessions.
The Raz Kids application did not boost students reading comprehension
skills due to the lack of reading comprehension instruction and features
in the eReader application.
Due to the gains demonstrated by my students, I will continue to utilize
iPads for reading intervention for phonemic awareness/phonics and
fluency. Other applications need to be explored for comprehension
development.
It would be of benefit to study the use of iPads for reading intervention
across other grade levels as well as with a larger sample size. In addition,
further research look into the use of a variety of reading applications for
their levels effectiveness.