The Study of Exercise Duration on Rate and Accuracy of Reading in Children with Disabilities

Presenter Information

Courtney DeBettignies, Minnesota State University, Mankato
Caitlin Barr, Minnesota State University, Mankato

Location

CSU Ballroom

Start Date

2-4-2019 2:00 PM

End Date

2-4-2019 3:30 PM

Student's Major

Human Performance

Student's College

Allied Health and Nursing

Mentor's Name

Megan Mahowald

Mentor's Department

Speech, Hearing, and Rehabilitation Services

Mentor's College

Allied Health and Nursing

Second Mentor's Name

Brooke Burk

Second Mentor's Department

Recreation, Parks, and Leisure Services

Second Mentor's College

Allied Health and Nursing

Description

Rec N' Read is a program where college students help children with learning disabilities work on literacy skills while also incorporating a recreation component in order to motivate children. The purpose of this study was to explore if exercise duration had any effect on rate and accuracy of reading in children. Participants included nine elementary-aged children who have significant difficulty with reading and writing. Amount of time in recreation was alternated per session; the first week was forty minutes and the next week was only ten minutes. Immediately after the recreation component was completed, a reading assessment, DIBELs, was used to calculate rate and accuracy of reading. After the first DIBELs reading was conducted, regular literacy work was implemented for the next thirty minutes and then DIBELs was completed for a second time. Data was analyzed using paired sample t-tests to determine differences between the two conditions. In conclusion, from this research project we have learned that some type of recreation and exercise has an influence on work effort and ability. These findings can not only helps improve on Rec N' Read strategies but can also be applied to schools and how children actually learn and perform their best.