ACTION RESEARCH PRESENTATION SCRIPT

:Good morning/afternoon reactors, schoolmates, teachers, and to our dynamic Dean of

Teacher Education Program! I am Angelou Perejoles and I will be presenting to you our Action
Research Topic; Improving the Basic Composition Writing Skills of Grade 5 Pupils through the
Four-Square Writing Method.

:Here are the outline of our presentation.

:I. Context and Rationale

II. Action Research Questions
III. Innovation,Intervention, and Strategy
IV. Action Research Methods
V. Discussions of Results
VI. Reference

CONTEXT AND RATIONALE

:Since writing is one of the most powerful tools for communicating what a person knows, and
because lack of such efficient skills can cause barriers in education, employment, and other
pursuits in daily life, students who do not develop effective writing composition skills may
enter classes, and eventually the workplace, with a distinct disadvantage (Gillespie & Graham,
2020).

Research, though, supports interest, relevance, and purpose as key elements in elementary
school student academic writing success.Therefore, classroom teachers must find ways to help
students understand that basic composition writing skills is both meaningful and purposeful,
and to stretch students beyond their current knowledge and comfort level while using
strategies.(Frey & Fisher, 2020)

: One such way is through the use of the four square writing method which is a simplified
graphic organizer. The use of a graphic organizer throughout the planning, organizing, and
writing process has provided writers with an opportunity to see what they were thinking. As
they plan their composition through the use of a graphic organizer, students may see the need
for greater depth as a more natural composition process (Li, 2021).

:Writing can appear overwhelming to students, graphic organizers and illustrations in the
planning and organization processes allow students the opportunity to break a large piece of
writing into smaller, more manageable sections. This approach makes it easier for students to
focus on one section of writing at a time and makes the need for revision more obvious from
the first stage of the writing process to the end, instead of waiting to revise an entire piece
upon completion of the rough draft (Norton, 2021)

:This process enables young writers to apply higher level thinking skills while allowing for
organizational thoughts and linkages in a systematic manner (Dredger et al., 2020).

:Through the years, graphic organizers have found their way into the writing classroom since
they provide students with visual representations of their writing as they experience
prewriting, writing rough copies, revising, and editing.
:Some of the problems that we observed was:
- Difficulty in organizing their thoughts in writing
- Structuring sentences
- Connecting the sentences
- Adding supporting details

:Considering the problems appearing in the classroom, four square writing method will be
promoted. It is a method of teaching basic writing skill that is applicable across grade levels
and curriculum areas.

:The Four Square Writing Method is a simplified graphic organizer for teaching writing to
children in school. The method was developed by Judith S. Gould and Evan Jay Gould in 1999.
The method is primarily a visual framework for assisting students with formulating ideas in an
organized manner prior to writing an essay.

:The concept generally works as follows: A rectangle is drawn, width exceeding height, and
divided into four smaller rectangles of equal size. An additional rectangle is drawn in the
center of the figure, taking up some of the area in each of the other four rectangles. A total of
five rectangles are thus created. The student writes a complete topic sentence in the center
rectangle. The student then writes sentences in the lower-left, upper-left, and upper-right
rectangles that develop the statement of the central topic. Finally, the student writes a
summary sentence in the lower-right rectangle. The summary sentence describes how the
reader is intended to feel about the topic.

:From the strengths of four square writing method and the problems of students’ basic
composition writing skill, this research aims to find out the level of basic composition writing
skills of the Grade 5-Generosity pupils and whether the use of four square writing technique
may improve the students’ writing skill when it is implemented in the class.

ACTION RESEARCH QUESTIONS

: This action research aims to answer the following questions:
1.What is the level of basic composition writing skill of the selected Grade 5-Generosity pupils
before using the Four Square Writing Method?
2.What is the level of basic composition writing skill of the selected Grade 5-Generosity pupils
after using the Four Square Writing Method?
3.What are the perceptions of the pupils towards the implementation of Four-Square Writing
Method?

:In order to find the students’ problem of basic composition writing, the researchers
conducted the strategy and guided the students on how to use the four square graphic
organizer.

:Four square writing method consists of several stages. The first stage of four-square writing
method is categorizing each square with the main idea. The second stage is labeling with
summary sentence in the last square.
The next stage is placing a topic sentence in the center of four square, then writing a sentence
in each square based on the main idea that has been written before. After that, the students
write each sentence on the square into a short paragraph. It is called an outline.
:The next step is adding more detail like writing one sentence more in each square so that
there are two sentences in it. Then, the sixth stage is adding supporting detail. Here, the
students make a list of related vocabulary in each square to explore the content of each
square.

The next stage is expanding the introduction with some detail information.

The last stage is writing a complete wrap-up sentence and completing each square with the
sentences using the vocabulary listed before. The students will just re-write the sentences
they made into paragraph from the squares in the right mechanics.

ACTION RESEARCH METHODS

:A. Participants
The respondents for this action research are the 20 randomly selected pupils of Grade 5-
Generosity from Father Saturnino Urios University- Morelos Campus. The respondents are
randomly selected depending on their availability during the conduction of the research. Data
will be collected through assessment with the help of the researcher-made rubrics and survey.

:b. Data Gathering Methods

The researchers will write a permission letter for the conduction of the study and survey to be
signed by the Program Dean and Field Study Instructor. The researchers will then forward the
letter to the principal of Father Saturnino Urios University-Basic Education to ask permission
to conduct the study and survey the Grade 5- Generosity pupils, informing them of the study
and having them as the chosen participants.

The participants will be notified that the researchers will protect their identity, and the result
will remain confidential.

:The researchers will conduct the Four Square Writing Technique by introducing the Four
Square Graphic Organizer to the class. Then, with the guidance of the researchers, the level of
basic composition writing skills of the pupils in terms of organization of thoughts will be
assessed by writing a paragraph through the use of the introduced strategy. The researchers
will then do a survey regarding the pupils’ perception about the Four-Square Graphic
Organizer.

:The action research utilizes the quantitative method. Quantitative data are taken from the
assessment and survey. The data collected from the assessment of their level on basic writing
skills will be analyzed by the help of a researcher-made rubric by getting the percentage for
each criteria.

:c. Data Analysis Utilized

The Likert Scale in the survey, specifically the agreement type, was used for questionnaire
type as this enables the respondents to answer the survey with ease.
This rating scale allows the researcher to effectively carry out the quantitative approach using
Frequency Distribution and Weighted Mean.

:After introducing the Four Square Writing Technique, the researchers allowed the
respondents to try using the Four Square Writing Method and compose a paragraph.

The paragraphs will be rated by percentage to assess their level of basic composition writing
skills through the researcher-made rubrics. The rubrics has the following criteria:topic
sentence, supporting details, organization of sentences, unity and coherence, and sentence
structure.

:Table 1. Rubrics to rate the basic composition writing skills of students

:Table 2. Rating Scale to measure the level of basic composition writing using the Four Square
Writing Method

:The level of their basic composition writing before and after using the Four Square Writing
Technique will be measured using the above-mentioned Rating Scale with indicators:
(4)excellent, (3)satisfactory, (2)needs improvement, and (1)unsatisfactory.

:Table 3. Mean and Verbal Description for the perceptions of the students towards the
implementation of Four-square Writing Technique

DISCUSSION OF RESULTS
Table 4. The level of basic composition writing skills before and after using Four Square
Writing Technique
:Table 4 reveals that the pupils had a satisfactory level in creating Topic Sentences before
implementing the Four Square Writing Technique with a percentage of 88%. After using the
technique, there was a slight improvement, with 89.45% now meeting the satisfactory criteria.

Similar to the topic sentences, the students had a satisfactory level in providing Supporting
Details before the intervention with 86.4%. After implementing the Four Square Writing
Technique, there was a slight improvement, with 88.4% now meeting the satisfactory criteria.

Before using the technique, the Organization of Sentences only had 81.55% with a verbal
description of Needs Improvement. After implementing the Four Square Writing Technique,
there was a significant improvement, with 87.45% now achieving a satisfactory level.

Similar to the organization of sentences, Unity and Coherence needed improvement before
the intervention with only 81.4%. After using the technique, there was a notable
improvement, with 87.7% now meeting the satisfactory criteria.

The pupils had a need for improvement in sentence structure before the intervention with
only 80.6%. After implementing the Four Square Writing Technique, there was improvement,
with 85.7% now meeting the satisfactory criteria.
Overall, the pupils' composition writing skills showed improvement after the implementation
of the Four Square Writing Method. The overall percentage increased from 83.59% (needs
improvement) to 87.74% (satisfactory).

This outcome supports the related literature of (Frey & Fisher, 2020),classroom teachers must
find ways to help students understand that basic composition writing skills is both meaningful
and purposeful, and to stretch students beyond their current knowledge and comfort level
while using strategies.

In summary, the data suggests that the Four Square Writing Method has had a positive impact
on the students' basic composition writing skills, leading to improvements in various aspects
of their writing.

TABLE 5
:Table 5 reveals that the Grade 5-Generosity pupils’ perceptions towards the implementation
of the Four Square Writing Technique through the use of the Four Square Graphic Organizer is
positive, with an overall mean of 3.97 and a verbal description of “Agree”, which indicates
that the pupils agree that using the Four Square Graphic Organizer may potentially improve
their basic composition writing skills.

:The survey question that most of the pupils agreed on is “I find the Four Square graphic
organizer helpful in planning my writing or compositions”, with a mean of 4.50 and a verbal
description of “Strongly Agree”. This result implies that The Four Square graphic organizer
proves to be highly advantageous for elementary students as it offers a clear and visually
accessible framework for planning and organizing their writing.

It is followed by the survey question “I find the Four Square graphic organizer user-friendly
and easy to use”, with a mean of 4.30 and a verbal description of “Agree”. This result means
that the simplicity of the Four Square makes it an ideal scaffold for elementary writers,
guiding them through the planning process while promoting clarity and ease of use.

It is then followed by the survey question “The Four Square graphic organizer made it easier
for me to brainstorm ideas”, with a mean of 4.00 and a verbal description of “Agree”. Which
means that this technique aids in articulating a clear main idea, encouraging the development
of supporting details as building blocks, and prompting the inclusion of specific examples.

Next is the survey question “I believe the Four Square graphic organizer is a useful tool for
organizing thoughts in subjects other than writing (e.g., science, history, mathematics)”, with
a mean of 3.90 and a verbal description of “Agree”. It indicates that The Four Square graphic
organizer extends its utility beyond writing into various academic subjects, including science,
history, and mathematics. The Four Square graphic organizer serves as a versatile tool for
organizing thoughts and enhancing clarity across a spectrum of academic disciplines.

Meanwhile, the survey questions “I feel more confident in my ability to express ideas clearly
after using the Four Square graphic organizer” and “Overall, using the Four Square graphic
organizer positively impacted my learning experience”, got the same mean of 3.85 and a
verbal description of “Agree”.
This result implies that The Four Square graphic organizer plays a pivotal role in boosting the
confidence of elementary students in expressing their ideas clearly by guiding the students
through the planning process, breaking down the complexities of idea expression into
manageable steps.

On the other hand, the utilization of the Four Square graphic organizer positively impacts the
learning experience by providing a structured and visually engaging tool that enhances
comprehension and organization of information.

Lastly, the survey questions “Using the Four Square graphic organizer will improve my ability
to structure information in my composition” and “The Four Square graphic organizer made it
easier for me to remember key points or details and identify the main idea”, also got the same
mean of 3.70 and a verbal description of “Agree”. This means that the Four Square graphic
organizer significantly enhances students' ability to structure information in their
compositions by providing a systematic and visual framework.

On the other hand, through this systematic approach, the Four Square not only assists in
organizing thoughts for writing but also cultivates effective memory recall, empowering
students to articulate and remember key points more confidently in various academic
contexts.

REFLECTION

:In light of the findings discussed, the Four Square writing method will bring a transformative
impact on students' basic composition writing skills, notably in terms of thought organization.
Breaking down the writing process into four distinct sections, each designated for a specific
purpose, empowers students to approach composition with a strategic mindset. The visual
nature of the Four Square reinforces the hierarchical relationships between ideas, fostering a
more profound comprehension of how various components contribute to the overall
structure.

This new-found understanding not only facilitates ease in the planning stage but also
translates into improved clarity and coherence in their final compositions. Importantly, the
technique imparts valuable organizational skills that extend beyond writing, as students learn
to structure information systematically, contributing to their broader academic proficiency.

Witnessing the implementation of this method in the classroom, it became evident that the
systematic structure it provides plays a crucial role in shaping pupils' ability to organize their
ideas cohesively. Over all, the Four Square writing technique proves to be a powerful
pedagogical tool, cultivating essential organizational skills that empower students not only in
composition writing but also in various academic endeavors.

:THANK YOU FOR LISTENING.