Improving reading comprehension and writing skills of elementary school 4th graders and effects of these skills on each other: An action research

This study aims at determining the reading comprehension and writing skills of 4th grade learners and improving these skills by using constructivist comprehension, reading and writing activities. Furthermore, the study aims at determining how far these skills affect each other. A sample of ten students was chosen by using criterion sampling which is a purposeful sampling method. The sample covers 10 students. 5 of the subjects were chosen from Türkiye Sağlık İşçileri Sendikası Elementary School and 5 of them were chosen from Mehmet Örücü Elementary School located in Keçiören, Ankara, Turkey.The study is a qualitative action research. The researcher himself has conducted research in the classroom. The data collection tools used in this study are diagnostic test, summative test, student interview form, teacher interview form, researcher logs, audio recorder and video recorder. The data were analyzed by using descriptive analysis and content analysis techniques. In addition, percentage and frequencies of the data were calculated.The findings indicate that the post-study scores of reading group in simple and profound understanding questions for narrative and expository texts were higher than those of pre-study scores. The post-study scores of reading group in writing narratives and creating stories from visuals were also higher than those of pre-study scores.The writing achievements of the writing group in narrative writing and creating stories from visuals were improved in both genres. The post study scores of writing group in simple and profound comprehension scores obtained from narrative and expository texts were higher than pre-study scores.The result, it was found that ?constructivist reading, comprehension and writing activities? positively affected reading comprehension and writing skills of 4th grade learners. A change in one of these skills positively affects the other skill.Key words: Teaching Turkish, Teaching Reading, Teaching Comprehension, Teaching Writing, Improving Skills, Constructivist Approach, Action Research.