Increased Initial Reading Through Picture Word Cards

The purpose of this research is to address the need for fun and student-centered education, which is essential in the 21st century. Active learners are crucial for enhancing student engagement and positively impacting their lives. The specific focus is on improving the initial reading skills of grade III students at SDN Caringin II, which have been observed to be low. The research utilizes Classroom Action Research (PTK) following the model developed by Kemmis and Taggart, implemented in two cycles with two actions each. Data collection involves observation and the use of a rubric to assess reading skills. The results demonstrate that the use of picture word cards effectively enhances students' initial reading abilities, with 83% of students meeting the criteria for initial reading proficiency across various indicators. These indicators encompass aspects such as letter recognition, vowel and consonant combinations, and reading comprehension of sentences and paragraphs. Consequently, the research recommends the incorporation of picture word cards as an alternative learning method to cultivate and strengthen students' initial reading skills. Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-SA 4.0)


Introduction
Quality education is an investment in the future of a nation if it wants to become a developed country that has the ability to compete globally.The facts prove a country that has limited natural resources but is able to become a developed country because of its commitment to making improvements in human resources to have various qualified skills and qualifications according to the demands of the industrial revolution 4.0 of the 21st century today.No wonder every country competes to improve human resources through education and learning that is fun and meaningful, including Indonesia.
Humans need quality education to develop their potential.The nature of education not only develops abilities but most importantly shapes the human person according to one's potential.The process of education lasts a lifetime which can be carried out in the family, community and school environment.Man has a potential self that can improve his quality "when a potential is developed it will produce very extraordinary results.Educators have a considerable role in developing the potential possessed by students in accordance with the styles and characteristics of students" (Emqi & Aldya, 2021;Syifaunajah et al., 2020).
Fun and student-centered education is a learning need according to the urgency of the 21st century.Active students are an indicator of continuous learning and have an impact on the lives of students "the more active students, the more students' understanding will increase" (Hadiana et al., 2018).
Quality education is an essential factor in the literacy rate of a nation "One of the indispensable skills in the field of education is reading skills, and because in the field of reading education the foundation of the world of education.skills that must be present in learning to read, namely: a) fluent in speaking, b) listening ability, c) ability to see, d) environmental influences, e) emotional factors, f) intelligence factors" (Ulfa, 2019).
The reading ability of young Indonesians is very concerning, "Indonesia is currently at the lowest level in terms of reading activities.This proves that Indonesian children are less interested in reading or often attach importance to gadgets rather than reading" (Kusumawaty et al., 2019).The ability to read is currently included in the low category, "the reading ability of people in Indonesia is very concerning, only 0.001% means that out of 1,000 people in Indonesia, only 1 person is willing to read books" (Tahmidaten & Krismanto, 2020).The ability to read fluently students is very important to understand various information that can be obtained through listeration activities "Reading activities are things that are always carried out every day in learning activities.It is very impossible for students to gain an understanding of learning science by skipping the reading process" (Damaiyanti et al., 2021).
Students must have the ability to read as the initial foundation for understanding various information: "Fluency in reading is associated with the accuracy of word recognition and how easily it is to recognize words.Beginning reading skills also involve reading fluently with the right prosody" (Sari, 2020, p. 85).The ability to read a fluent beginning is very important, "reading is a desire to progress and success" (Wulandari et al., 2022).
Teachers must have creativity in teaching interesting learning alternatives that can use picture word learning media, in this case the function of the facilitator teacher really needs the help of learning media so that learning can take place effectively and appropriately to improve initial reading."The use of appropriate media to increase students' reading skills is very important because in the teaching and learning process there is a media where students are able to be motivated to learn" (Aprilia & Rosyidah, 2023;Setyawan et al., 2020).
Learning that is carried out in a relaxed manner will make students enthusiastic and actively involved in participating in learning activities "student involvement during the implementation of the learning process is the main key in the educational process because it is the most important factor for the success of the learning and academic process of students in elementary school" (Santika et al., 2020).Teachers should always provide opportunities for students to enjoy a memorable and enjoyable learning experience.
Researchers make initial observations through the initial reading rubric instrument to determine the initial condition of students' reading abilities.The observations show that students have not reached the initial reading criteria.Students are still limited in reading ability.Increasing initial reading through picture word media is expected to be an alternative solution to overcome limited initial reading skills, "to overcome this problem, namely the need for a learning media that can improve students' reading skills" (Paramita et al., 2022).
Based on the results of relevant research, it was found that most studies on students' initial reading studies used 5 indicators such as pronunciation, intonation, voice clarity, fluency, and simple sentences to measure students' initial reading ability.However, there have been no studies that address the ability to read beginning using indkator reading letters, reading double vowels, reading diphthongs, reading syllables, reading vowel-consonant array words, reading consonant-vowelconsonant arrangement words, reading sentences, and reading paragraphs.From here, researchers can find gaps in previous studies and determine the focus of research using a new indicator approach in assessing students' initial reading skills.This study had the aim of improving beginning reading through picture word cards.

Materials and Methods
This action research was carried out at SD Negeri 2 Caringin located on Jl.Caringin, Caringin Village, Gegerbitung District, Sukabumi Prov.West Java semester 2 (even) academic year 2023-2024.The subjects in this study were grade 3 students with a total of 19 people, men 11 people while women 8 people.The method used in this study is Classroom Action Research (PTK) referring to the model developed by Kemmis and Taggart consisting of two cycles of two actions, "the Kemmis and Taggart model consists of four components, namely: planning, acting, observing, and reflecting" (Juniarti, 2018).The data collection technique used in this study used observation sheets and preliminary reading ability assessment rubrics (Kusumah & Dwitagama, 2010).Data analysis techniques in this study use qualitative data analysis and quantitative data analysis.Qualitative data in the form of initial reading skills.Then the data will be analyzed descriptively.Quantitative data in the form of scoring rubrics for assessing initial reading skills.The data is then analyzed using percentages.

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This action research is to be successful if there is an increase in the initial reading ability of students through picture cards in each action with indicators in the form of aspects of reading letters, reading double vowels, reading diphthongs, reading syllables, reading words vowel-consonant arrangement, reading consonant-vowel-consonant arrangement words, reading sentences, and reading paragraphs.An indicator of success in this study is if 83% of students have the ability to read beginnings.
The learners' initial reading skills in the first cycle of the first action are still very lacking.This can be seen from the 8 indicators of beginning reading including aspects of reading letters, reading double vowels, reading diphthongs, reading syllables, reading vowel-consonant arrangement words, reading consonant-vowel-consonant arrangement words, reading sentences, and reading paragraphs.The first indicator is that there are 6 students or 31% who have the ability to read letters.The second indicator was 8 students or 42% had the ability to read double vowels.The third indicator is that there are 5 students or 26% who have the ability to read diphthongs.The fourth indicator is that there are 6 students or 31% have the ability to read syllables.The fifth indicator was 8 students or 42% had the ability to read vowel-consonant array words.The sixth indicator was 8 students or 42% had the ability to read consonant-vowel-consonant array words.The seventh indicator is that there are 8 students or 42% have the ability to read sentences.The eighth indicator is 5 students or 26% have the ability to read paragraphs.
The initial reading ability of learners in the first cycle of the second action is still lacking.The first indicator was 11 students or 57% had the ability to read letters.The second indicator was 10 students or 52% had the ability to read double vowels.The third indicator was 13 students or 68% had the ability to read diphthongs.The fourth indicator was 13 students or 68% had the ability to read syllables.The fifth indicator was 10 students or 52% had the ability to read vowel-consonant words.The sixth indicator was 13 students or 68% had the ability to read consonant-vowel-consonant array words.The seventh indicator was 13 students or 68% had the ability to read sentences.The eighth indicator was 11 students or 57% had the ability to read paragraphs.
The learners' initial reading skills in the second cycle of the first action were quite good.The first indicator is 15 students or 78% have the ability to read letters.The second indicator was 14 students or 73% had the ability to read double vowels.The third indicator is 15 students or 78% have the ability to read diphthongs.The fourth indicator is that there are 15 students or 78% have the ability to read syllables.The fifth indicator was 14 students or 73% had the ability to read vowelconsonant words.The sixth indicator was 14 students or 73% had the ability to read consonantvowel-consonant array words.The seventh indicator was 13 students or 68% had the ability to read sentences.The eighth indicator is 14 students or 73% have the ability to read paragraphs.
The initial reading ability of students in the second cycle of the second action has improved, including good.The first indicator was 17 students or 89% had the ability to read letters.The second indicator was 16 students or 84% had the ability to read double vowels.The third indicator is 18 students or 94% have the ability to read diphthongs.The fourth indicator is 17 students or 89% have the ability to read syllables.The fifth indicator was 16 students or 84% had the ability to read vowelconsonant words.The sixth indicator was 16 students or 84% had the ability to read consonantvowel-consonant array words.The seventh indicator was 16 students or 84% had the ability to read sentences.The eighth indicator was 17 students or 89% had the ability to read paragraphs.
Based on research that has been carried out, it can be seen that there is an increase in students' initial reading through picture word cards.Students have enthusiasm if reading activities are presented in an interesting and interactive manner.Learners find it easy to understand various indicators related to beginning reading through picture word cards.Learning using picture word cards provides opportunities for students to learn to read fluently.Students feel happy in learning to read using picture word cards so that it has implications for improving initial reading skills (Hayati & Fadilah, 2023).This has proven to be relevant in accordance with the improvement of students' initial reading skills in every action that has been carried out.For complete information presented in figure 1.
Source : Research Results, 2024.Based on the graph in figure 1, it can be concluded that picture word cards have contributed to improving the initial reading ability of learners.The use of picture word cards is an alternative as well as can be used to improve students' initial reading skills.The involvement of students who are enthusiastic about learning using picture card words is the key to improving initial reading skills.

Conclusion
Based on the results of classroom action research that has been carried out starting from The first cycle and the second cycle can be concluded that the use of picture word cards is proven to improve students' initial reading skills because it meets the established success indicators, namely 83% of students achieve the criteria for initial reading ability including 8 indicators including aspects of reading letters, reading double vowels, reading diphthongs, reading syllables, reading words vowel-consonant arrangement, reading consonant-vowel-consonant arrangement words, read sentences, and read paragraphs.
This class action research planning was carried out through 2 cycles consisting of 2 actions each which showed an increase in students' initial reading in the aspects of reading letters, reading double vowels, reading diphthongs, reading syllables, reading vowel-consonant arrangement words, reading consonant-vowel-consonant arrangement words, reading sentences, and reading paragraphs through picture word cards.The implementation of action research is carried out to realize the planning that has been made.The implementation of each action is the implementation of learning with the application of picture word cards to improve the initial reading of students.
The use of picture word cards can improve beginning reading skills.This is shown by the increase in the initial reading indicator of the aspect of reading letters in the first cycle of the first action only reached 31% to 57% in the first cycle the second action increased by 26%, while in the second cycle the first action from 78% to 89% in the second cycle the second action increased by 11%.The increase in reading indicators of the beginning of the double vowel reading aspect in the first cycle of the first act only reached 42% to 52% in the first cycle the second act increased by 10%, while in the second cycle of the first act from 73% to 84% in the second cycle the second act increased by 11%.The increase in the initial reading indicator of the diphthong reading aspect in the first cycle of the first action only reached 26% to 68% in the first cycle of the second action increased by 42%, while in the second cycle of the first action from 73% to 84% in the second cycle the second action increased by 11%.The increase in the reading indicator of the beginning of the syllable reading aspect in the first cycle of the first action only reached 31% to 68% in the first cycle of the second action increased by 37%, while in the second cycle of the first action from 78% to 94% in the second cycle the second action increased by 16%.The increase in reading indicators of the beginning of the aspect of reading words vowel-consonant arrangement in the first cycle of the first action only reached 42% to 52% in the first cycle the second action increased by 10%, while in the second cycle the first action from 73% to 89% in the second cycle the second action increased by 16%.The increase in reading indicators of the beginning of the aspect of reading words consonant-vowel-consonant arrangement in the first cycle of the first action only reached 42% to 52% in the first cycle of the second action increased by 10%, while in the second cycle of the first action from 73% to 89% in the second cycle the second action increased by 16%.The increase in reading indicators of the beginning of the sentence reading aspect in the first cycle of the first action only reached 42% to 69% in the first cycle the second action increased by 27%, while in the second cycle the first action from 68% to 84% in the second cycle the second action increased by 16%.The increase in reading indicators of the beginning of the paragraph reading aspect in the first cycle of the first action only reached 24% to 57% in the first cycle of the second action increased by 33%, while in the second cycle of the first action from 73% to 89% in the second cycle the second action increased by 16%.
Considering the findings both in the field and theoretically, there are several things that become recommendations in the use of picture word cards, namely that they can be used as an alternative to improve the initial reading of students in certain lessons so that learning activities will be more enjoyable while making it easier for teachers to learn to read interestingly and interactively.The results of this study can be used as a preliminary study to understand the use of picture word cards to improve reading beginning reading for researchers who will use in certain subjects.Conduct research using picture word cards in other lessons involving variables and indicators in addition to initial reading skills.

Figure 1 .
Figure 1.Graphic of Increased Reading of Beginning Participants Educated