Instructional Strategies And Engagement Of Struggling Grade One Readers In The Division Of Batangas City

Abstract

Reading is a foundational skill of learning; thus, instructional strategies are necessary to aid learners that are found to be struggling in this competency. One of the concerns of many teachers are to ensure that all learner is a reader. This study aimed to assess the level of usefulness of instructional strategies and the extent of engagement of struggling grade one readers in the Division of Batangas City for the School Year 2025–2026. Specifically, it sought to ascertain the utilization of instructional strategies on the five basic reading components while examined the extent of learner’s engagement through their reading readiness, interest level, and prior knowledge. Additionally, the study determined whether significant correlation existed between the level of usefulness of instructional strategies and the extent of engagement of struggling grade one readers.

The study employed descriptive quantitative method with 133 grade one teachers as respondents. Data were collected using a validated researcher-made survey questionnaire and analyze through frequency, percentage, and weighted mean. Pearson’s r was applied to determine significant correlation between the usefulness of instructional strategies and the extent of engagement of struggling readers.

Findings revealed that varied instructional strategies in phonics and phonemic awareness are highly useful, while moderately useful in fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. The extent of engagement was found moderately engaged. The results indicated that there was a highly significant correlation between the usefulness of instructional strategies and the extent of engagement. Moreover, learner’s lack of foundational skills, motivation, and parental involvement as the primary difficulties in teaching reading was strongly agreed. The findings suggest that useful instructional strategies positively contribute to the engagement of struggling readers in reading. The results served as the basis for proposing an intervention activity aimed to make Grade 1 struggling readers a fluent and competent readers and a lifelong independent reader.