Survey Time!

My students have been very busy so far this week completing some different requirements for our study.  They completed a pre-assessment over science content and reading skills that will be taught during the course of the unit.  My students were not big fans of this because it took some time and meant testing, which they generally dislike.  I assured them, however, that this was an important task to do because it will let me see how much they have learned and grown over the course of the study.  I'm still scoring their pre-assessments, and I'll share those results a little later. 

They also filled out a survey asking their opinions on reading, science, and non-fiction.  For both reading and science, students were asked whether or not the liked the subject and then asked to tell what parts they liked, didn't like, and wanted to change.  The last section simply asked whether they liked reading non-fiction or not and why they felt that way.  The results were very interesting to read!  Before discussing the results, it is important to note that 18/19 students have completed the survey.  I have one student who still needs to complete it.  My students were given the option of putting their names on their papers or not, and most chose not to.  When I collected the papers, I put them facedown in a pile and then mixed them up once they were all collected.  This helped ensure that I kept the surveys as anonymous as possible for those students who didn't put their names on the page.

Below I have listed the results of the survey.  The answers to what students liked, disliked, and wanted to change showed the most popular responses, and similar answers were grouped together.  Hopefully showing the results like this will make the data easier to read and understand.

Reading
Do you like reading?  Yes - 13, No - 5
What do you like about our reading time?

• It is fun/read funny stories - 3 students
• I just like to read - 3 students
• Miss Kendall reads to us - 2 students
• Nothing - 2 students
• Other answers given by individual students included reading non-fiction, asking questions, the quiet time, independent reading time, it "gives me something to do", and comparing and contrasting.  One student did not answer this question.

What do you not like about our reading time?

• It's boring - 5 students
• Nothing - 3 students
• Having reading spots (during independent reading time) - 2 students
• Don't like the type of books (short books, fiction) - 2 students
• Other answers given by individual students included that it takes too long, we write sometimes, when Miss Kendall reads, there are no games, answering questions, and we don't read enough

What would you change about our reading time?

• Nothing - 4 students
• No reading spots - 3 students
• Make it more fun - 2 students
• Not as long - 2 students
• Other answers given by individual students included getting more beanbags to sit on, reading longer, playing reading games, reading more non-fiction, letting students read aloud instead of the teacher, getting to draw, and reading more books

Science
Do you like science? Yes - 18, No - 0
What do you like about our science time?

• It is fun/exciting - 4 students
• We do projects/make things - 4 students
• We learn about stuff - 3 students
• We work in groups - 2 students
• Other answers given by individual students included doing experiments, "everything", looking closely at things, and talking about animals.  One student said she did not know what she liked.

What do you not like about our science time?

• Nothing - 12 students
• It's too short/not often enough - 2 students
• We don't "explode stuff" - 1 student
• Doing reading - 1 student
• Not enough projects - 1 student
• One student gave an irrelevant answer (told about spelling time)

What would you change about our science time?

• Nothing - 6 students
• Make it longer/do it more days - 4 students
• Do more projects - 2 students
• Make it more fun - 2 students
• Explode things - 1 student
• Make more stuff - 1 student
• One student gave an irrelevant answer and one student did not answer this question.

Non-Fiction
Do you like reading non-fiction?  Why do you feel this way?

• Yes - 13 students
• I like to learn - 4 students
• It gives information - 3 students
• "I just do" - 1 student
• It "feels good" - 1 student
• It helps you learn - 1 student
• I like the pictures - 1 student
• It's interesting - 1 student
• I like true facts - 1 student
• No - 5 students
• I like fiction better - 2 students
• Reading is boring - 2 students
• It is not cool - 1 student

 As you can see, there were many feelings about reading, science, and non-fiction in my room.  The students answers to the open-ended questions were particularly interesting, and have given me some things to think about.  Some final thoughts from this survey:

1. I may get rid of independent reading spots.  Maybe students will be more encouraged to read.
2. Students need and want more exposure to non-fiction texts.  I focus on fiction too often.
3. My students LOVE science.  They want more science time, and I intend to give it to them.
4. Most of my kids like non-fiction because they like being able to learn about new topics.  Those who did not like non-fiction did not provide strong reasons for this and mostly centered around it being "boring" and "not fun".

Sorry for the long post, but I thought these survey results were interesting, and I have already used them to impact my study.  We'll see what effect they have!