PROJECT BLOC (Blending Letters through

Mock Calls) AND THE READING ABILITY

INVOLVING READING WORDS WITH
INITIAL AND FINAL CONSONANT
BLENDS OF GRADE 4 PUPILS

MA. TERESA G. SAQUING

Teacher III

HERSON O. PERU

Teacher III

SHARMAINE P. MARRERO

Teacher II

Lepanto Elementary School-Main

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study was to see how well mock calls helped Grade

4 pupils cope with difficulty reading words with initial and final consonant

blends during the school year 2022-2023 at Lepanto Elementary School-Main in

the Quezon District.

This action research aimed to improve the reading ability of

the 22 Grade 4 learners of Lepanto Elementary School-Main through

the implementation of PROJECT BLOC. One group pre-test-post-test

research design with universal sampling of 22 Grade 4 pupils. Each

learner underwent pre-test assessments using the teacher-made

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 test. To provide intervention to the poor reading performance of

learners, Project BLOC was used to enhance their reading ability.

This was done by doing the Mock Call Scripts facilitated by the

teachers. It was done through explicit teaching, the I do, you do, and

we do strategy. The pupils and teachers used lapel microphones

provided by the school and their own cell phones. Pupils who did not

have cell phones borrowed their classmates’ because this was done

randomly. This improved not only the ability to read words with

blended consonants but also the correct pronunciation of the words.

More so, this project motivated the 22 Grade 4 learners to enjoy and

love reading.

The data was treated using mean scores and standard deviation to treat

the pre and post-test scores, paired samples t-test to compare the respondents'

pre and post-test scores, and ETA-squared to analyze the effect size of Project

BLOC's Effectiveness on the academic achievement of respondents. The results

revealed that the experimental group's mean pretest and posttest scores were

interpreted as "Good" and "Very Good," respectively. Finally, it is implied that

Project BLOC had a large effect on the pupil's performance. As a result,

teachers and students should use Project BLOC as an alternative reading

intervention when reading words with initial and final consonant blends.

Keywords: blended consonants, mock call, level of difficulty, word

comprehension

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 INTRODUCTION

Reading has always been an integral part of teaching. A lot of different

techniques and tools that teachers have used in the past that have helped many

learners learn to read. It is crucial to remember that learning to read is sequential and

needs to be developmentally appropriate for the learner. Thus, phonological

awareness should be taught first since it is the forefront in literacy instruction.

Readers must have awareness of the speech sounds that letters and letter

combinations represent in order to move from a printed word to a spoken word

(reading), or a spoken word to a written word (spelling), (Moats, 2010). It is important

to know that 68% of schoolchildren do not possess the skills necessary to reach

minimal levels of reading proficiency (Berg & Stegelman, 2003, p. 48). It is important

to assess phonological awareness skills to determine pupils that may have difficulties

so that they do not fall under frustration level. When teachers are effectively teaching

students phonological awareness, they are then reaching all levels of reading abilities

and helping them learn (Hatcher et al., 2004)

Phonological awareness includes blending of letters to produce new words.

Blending involves the use of phonemic awareness skills to be explicitly taught as part

of a research-based approach to teaching reading. However, among all PISA-

participating countries and economies, the Philippines had a significant proportion of

low performers. That is, 80% of Filipino students did not achieve the required level of

reading proficiency. The students' poor performance in English, Mathematics, and

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Science is attributed to a lack of basic reading and comprehension skills. As a result,

the Department of Education (DepEd) has launched the Hamon: Bawat Bata

Bumabasa (3Bs Initiatives) to increase reading advocacy and to commit to making

every learner a reader at his or her grade level.

In response to the DepEd's 3Bs Initiatives, schools in the Philippines began

administering reading assessments to elementary and junior high schools to assess

students' reading ability and determine their reading profile. It is hoped that by

providing a suitable reading environment, teaching program, and family support, these

students with reading difficulties will be able to overcome their difficulties. The form

of the environment, program, and support that should be undertaken is an essential

issue to be addressed here. Reading environments must be designed to alleviate

students' reading difficulties in order for them to feel relaxed and willing to express

themselves.

Lepanto Elementary School-Main has always been responsive to the needs of

its learners especially in improving their literacy skills. However, in the past three (3)

School Years prior to the pandemic, it had been evident in the list of least mastered

competencies the difficulty of Grade 4 pupils in blending consonants. In the S.Y.

2018-2019, 43.10% was the average of least learned skill which is the blending of

initial and final consonants, while in S.Y. 2019-2020, the average of the same least

learned competency was 47.59%, same with the S.Y. 2020-2021, with an average of

46.28%. Moreover, the low performance level was shown from the result of test item

analysis of Grade 4 for the last 3 consecutive School Years before the pandemic. The

researchers are concerned about how to help learners to improve their reading ability

after times of emergencies such as the COVID-19 pandemic. This concern made the

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researchers come up with the intervention Project BLOC (Blending Letters through

Mock Calls) that could assist the Grade 4 learners of Lepanto Elementary School-

Main in improving their reading ability.

Mock call is an acting-like thing. The teacher and the pupils are both actors that

uses scripts to play. The pupils and teachers would be using lapel microphones

provided by the school and cell phones. Explicit teaching would be applied. This

Mock Call is integrated in teaching reading most especially to the struggling ones

because this is an engaging way for an interactive learning.

School systems in many countries have had to adjust to blended forms of learning

in response to the pandemic, using the internet, TV, radio, and most commonly

smartphones as alternate platforms for students to gain access to education resources

just to adhere to the advocacy of continuity of learning.

III. METHODS

This action research made use of the one group pre-test-post-test research

design. This was chosen because the researchers would like to find out whether the

reading ability of the learners changed after the implementation of the intervention.

The researchers utilized purposive sampling. The participants of this study

were the 22 Grade 4 learners at Lepanto Elementary School-Main for the School Year

2022-2023. The researchers want to improve the reading ability through the

implementation of PROJECT BLOC of the 22 Grade 4 learners because of their low

reading ability in their Phil-IRI examination which falls under the frustration level.

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 The proponents came up with the idea to do a research proposal on how to

address the literacy skills of Grade 4 pupils specifically in reading words with initial

and final consonant blends. Anent this, the proponents wrote a letter to ask permission

of the school head to conduct a study.

In gathering the data needed for this study, the researchers need to follow the

procedures. First, the Pre-implementation (Before), the proponents crafted an action

research proposal to be quality assured by the School Research Committee. This

would then be submitted to the Schools Division Research Committee. After the

approval, the proponents used the teacher-made test to assess the participants.

The pre-test and post-test use a predetermined set of criteria in identifying the

reading level of each student for each passage. These criteria include the percentage of

correct spelled words and word recognition accuracy. Pre-test and Post-test were

crafted and be pilot tested to Grade 4 learners of Lepanto Elementary School-Talaca

Annex who are not part of study for test validation. Kuder-Richardson Formula 20

(KR-20) were used to determine the reliability and consistency of the prepared Pre-

test and Post-test.

Second, the Implementation (During), the intervention of Project BLOC

(Blending Letters through Mock Calls) was conducted to the class for four months-

April-July 2023.

Lastly, for the Post-implementation (After), after four months of

implementation, the post-test was administered. The results would then be recorded

and analysed.

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 The researchers wrote a letter informing/asking permission of the school head

to conduct the study.

They would also meet the parents of the respondents to orient them about the

research study to address the alarming result of the reading ability of their children

and that pre-test and post-test were given to them.

In analysing the data gathered from the participants, the following statistical

were employed.

The Mean and Standard Deviation were used to determine the mean of the

Pretest and Post-Test and the effect after Project BLOC implementation.

Because this statistical tool determines the significant mean value of one group

in two different ways, the Paired Samples t Test was used to determine the significant

difference between the pre-test and the post-test.

The effect size or magnitude of the differences the pre test and post test is

computed using the Eta squared.

Eta squared was interpreted using Cohen’s guidelines:

0.20 – small effect

0.50 – moderate effect

0.80 and above – large effect

IV. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

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 This section of the research paper describes what happened in the

study, its findings, and data analysis and interpretation. Tables are displayed

and interpreted in order to answer the research questions of this study.

A. Mean Score of The Pre-Test and Post Test of The Experimental Group
Before and After the Utilization Of Project BLOC
Table 1
Mean score and SD Results of the Experimental groups
Achievement Description
Group Mean SD
Test Equivalent
The experimental Pre-test 9.00 1.89 Good
group (N=28) Post-test 16.64 3.75 Very Good

Legend: 1-4 = Needs improvement 9-12 = Good 17-

20 = Outstanding
5-8 = Fair 13-16 = Very Good

The table shows the mean scores of the experimental group's pre-test

and post-test before and after using Project BLOC. The pre-test had a mean of

9.00, a standard deviation of 1.89, and a description equivalent of "Good,"

while the post-test had a mean of 16.64, a standard deviation of 3.75, and a

description equivalent of "Very Good." The data show that pupils' pre-test and

post-test mean scores increased, with a large gap between the two. The

standard deviation increased as well, rising from 1.89 on the pre-test to 3.75 on

the post-test. This suggests that the experimental group's post-test scores had

greater variability.

The table results show that the experimental group benefited from the

use of Project BLOC, as evidenced by the significant improvement in their test

performance.

B. Significant Difference between the Pre-test and Posttest of the

Experimental Group

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Table 2
Paired Samples T-test Results of the Experimental Group
Experimental p-value
Mean SD Interpretation
Group (<.05)
Pretest 9.00 1.89
<.00001 Significant
Post-test 16.64 3.75
The table displays the results of a paired-samples t-test comparing the

experimental group's pre-test and post-test scores. The mean post-test score

(16.64) is significantly higher than the mean pre-test score (9.00), with a p-

value less than.00001. This means that the difference between the two scores

is statistically significant. In other words, the experimental group

outperformed the control group significantly on the post-test.

The finding agrees with the study of Hicks (2018) that mock calls

embedded in Project BLOC improved the reading ability of the pupils due to

the active engagement of both teachers and pupils in the reading scenario. This

would result in positive social change because it helps to bridge the gap in

practice between the teacher and the learner.

C. Effect Size of Project BLOC

Table 3
ETA² Results of the Experimental Group
Groups N ETA2 Interpretation
Experimental 22 3.23 Large effect
The table shows that Project BLOC has a large effect size. This
indicates that the project had a substantial impact on the experimental group.
The ETA2 value of 3.23 is significantly higher than the 0.8 threshold for a
large effect size. This indicates that Project BLOC was an extremely effective
intervention.
Following the completion of this action research, the following were listed as

the researcher's findings:

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 1. Project BLOC aided respondents in improving their students' reading ability,

as evidenced by the experimental group's pre and post-test scores.

2. There was a significant difference between the experimental group's pretest

and post-test scores.

3. Project BLOC had a significant impact on the experimental group's academic

achievement.

V. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Based on the findings, the following conclusions were reached:

The implementation of Project BLOC demonstrates its positive impact

on improving respondents' reading ability when reading words with initial and

final consonant blends. The experimental group's large difference in pre-test

and post-test scores demonstrates that Project BLOC implementation was

successful in increasing their comprehension in this subject area. Furthermore,

the large effect observed in the experimental group on students' academic

achievement emphasizes the positive outcomes of using Project BLOC.

Considering the research findings, the researcher recommends the following:

Continue to use Project BLOC and expand its use to other grade levels

because it has been shown to be an effective intervention for improving

student reading ability.

Present their findings to other elementary teachers who are dealing

with the same learning issue, either through presentations, publications, or

professional development opportunities. This would help to spread the word

about Project BLOC and encourage other schools to participate.

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 Conduct additional Project BLOC research, such as investigating the

long-term effects of Project BLOC on student reading ability. They can also

look into ways to improve the program's effectiveness.

VI. REFERENCES

Berg, M., & Stegelman, T. (2003). The Critical Role of Phonological and Phonemic

Awareness in Reading Success: A Model for Early Literacy in Rural Schools.

Rural Special Education Quarterly, 22(4), 47–54.

https://doi.org/10.1177/875687050302200407

DM 173, s. 2019 – Hamon: Bawat Bata Bumabasa (3Bs Initiative) | Department of

Education. (2019, November 17).

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 https://www.deped.gov.ph/2019/11/22/november-22-2019-dm-173-s-2019-

hamon-bawat-bata-bumabasa-3bs-initiative/

Guenther, G. (2021). Preliteracy development of sound blending: Teaching consonant

vowel consonant words through differentiated instructional vowel consonant

words through differentiated instructional strategies.

https://digitalcommons.unomaha.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?

article=1158&context=university_honors_program

Hatcher, P. J., Hulme, C., & Snowling, M. J. (2004). Explicit phoneme training

combined with phonic reading instruction helps young children at risk of

reading failure. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 45(2), 338–358.

https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7610.2004.00225.x

Hicks, J. (2018). ScholarWorks The Effectiveness of Reading Interventions for Middle

School Students with Learning Disabilities.

https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?

article=7157&context=dissertations

Moats, L. C. (2000). Speech to Print: Language Essentials for Teachers. In ERIC. Paul

H. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED446451

Nunn, S., Rutherford-Quach, S., Schaefer, V., Lead, D., Jonas, Director, R., &

Appalachia. (2019). • t REL APPALACHIA Regional Educational Laboratory

At SRI International Project 5.2.4: Evidence-Based Practices for Teaching

Phonological and Phonemic Awareness Regional Educational Laboratory -

Appalachia SRI International.

https://ies.ed.gov/ncee/rel/regions/appalachia/blogs/pdf/CoachingMemo_508.p

df

Tomas, M. J. L., Villaros, E. T., & Galman, S. M. A. (2021). The Perceived

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 Challenges in Reading of Learners: Basis for School Reading Programs. Open

Journal of Social Sciences, 9(5), 107–122.

https://doi.org/10.4236/jss.2021.95009

Vetsch-Larson, M. (2022). Effects of Phonemic Awareness and Oral Reading Fluency

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