II. Innovation, Intervention and Strategy

teaching reading is focused on the context that is of interest to the learners, where learning of foundational skills and curriculum content is effectively connected to the real setting of the learners.

The teacher invited the parents or IP elders for a focus group discussion (FGD) about the reading level of their children. In the FGD, they were invited and encouraged to share “nanangunon” and transcribedthese storiesintobigbooksand otherreadingmaterials. Inthisway, the foundational skills in Mother Tongue are strengthened and learners are encouraged to learn and master reading in a caring, inspiring, and enjoyable way. It is recalled that a motivating environment yields motivated learners, who are excited to learn. This has been affirmed by Kalchik and Oertle (2009) in their journal quoting a statement on contextualized teaching and learning from Predimore (2005), which says “once [learners] can see the real-world relevance of what they’re learning, they become interested and motivated”.

It was emphasized in this process that collaboration with the parents and the IP elders in the community is a way of contextualizing the new normal in teaching reading, where IP learners develop confidence in reading, while empowering their parents and elders as partners in ensuring that learning is continued amid the pressing challenges in the new landscape of teaching and learning. In this way, reading becomes more engaging and relevant to the day-to-day activities of the learners thereby enabling them to appreciate, value and make reading a habit.

III. Research Questions

This study sought to answer the following questions. 1)What are the difficulties encountered by the Grade One IP Learners in learning to read in the new normal setting, which is the Modular Distance Learning? 2) What is the impact of Project CARE or Contextualized Approach for Reading Enhancement to the learners in the ICCs during the modular distance learning? 3) Is there an increment in the reading level of the learners as characterized on the following, namely: word recognition, and reading comprehension?

IV. Action Research Methods

This studymade use of the descriptive method of research. It described and interpreted the impact of the innovation in improving the reading level of the IP learners and in ensuring learning continuity in the new normal setting.

a. Participants and or other sources of Data and Information Table 1. List of Participants

The participants of this study were the Grade One learners of Aligodon Higaonon Tulogan Nauhanan, Impadiding, Malunsagay and Lakbangan Elementary Schools with a total of 43 learners. Other sources of data and information that are relevant to this study were taken from the interview, conference and or focus group discussion with the 43 learners the 24 IP parents and 5 elders following the minimum health protocol on low alert level of COVID-19 by the IATF

b. Data Gathering Methods

In this study, a letter requesting permission was sent to the Office of the Schools Division Superintendent. Community protocols were followed before the onset of the study.

The study strictlyobserved the ethics of research. Free Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) procedures were also considered as prescribed by law and as indicated in the Research Management Guidelines of the Department of Education (DepEd Order 16 s.2017). Permission and consent from the respondents were also sought.

The tools used to gather data were the weekly reading accomplishment reports of teachers as well as the pretest (before the intervention) and post reading test (after the intervention), and the data drawn from the focus group discussion conducted.

c. Data Analysis Plan

In this study, the five-point Likert scale is used in determining the challenges encountered by the learners in reading during the new normal in which descriptive statistics were employed using frequency, percentage and mean to analyze the level of difficulties. The range, description, and interpretation of the participant’s responses were the following: 1 – strongly disagree; 2 disagree; 3 – undecided; 4 – agree; 5 – strongly agree. For Problem 2, data generated from the focus group discussion were categorized and or grouped to determine the impact of Project CARE to the IP learners in the new normal setting. Descriptive statistics usingfrequency, percentage, and mean were likewise used to examine the level of effectiveness of Project CARE to the IP learners during the modular distance learning. For problem 3, the result of the pretest and posttest were compared to determine whether there was increment or improvement in their reading level after Project CARE was implemented.

Scoring procedures

To determine the level of difficulties encountered by the IP Learners in reading in the new normal setting, and the impact of Project CARE, a five-point Likert Scale was used.The following are the scale, range, description, and interpretation of the responses of the participants.