84 The total score of this topic was 13.62. It means that the students of class
VIII F class of SMP Negeri 10 Surakarta had willingness to improve their writing skills since the level of the criteria was very high. By using picture series
in learning composing the narrative texts, most of the students were motivated to write better than in the preliminary study. It could be seen from the questionnaire
that 17 students 65.38 agreed, 4 students 15.38 strongly agreed, 4 students 15.38 disagreed, and 1 student 3.85 strongly disagreed to the use
of picture series. Most of the students also viewed picture series as an interesting technique to be used since they were not bored with the activities. It was proved
by the results that 18 students 69.23 agreed, 15 students 57.69 strongly agreed, 1 student 3.85 disagreed and 2 students 7.69 strongly disagreed
that picture series made them not bored with the activities. Moreover, there were 14 students 53.85 agreed and 8 students 30.77 strongly agreed that they
felt more confident and enthusiastic while engaging with the writing activities. There were only 3 students 11.54 disagreed and 1 student 3.85 who
strongly disagreed to the statement.
d. Reflection
Generally, the implementation of the picture series in cycle one was going in accordance with the lesson plan. Based on the results of the observation
checklist and field notes, the peer-observers stated that the researcher could manage the class well. The researcher had used clear voice and intonation. The
researcher also used clear instructions to the students. The field notes especially
85 recorded that the students were enthusiastic in joining the classroom activities.
To be particular, the use of picture series as the technique could grab students‟
attention in learning writing skills. Another important thing was that the students could improve their writing
skills after experiencing the picture series technique. The improvement could be seen in the students‟ achievements in the writing scoring rubric of cycle one
compared to what they had achieved in the preliminary study. However, what had been implemented in the cycle one still needed
improvements. It was clarified that the group activity which was conducted by the researcher in cycle one wasted time. Besides, in the field notes, observers
also stated that the technique of presenting the picture series was not really appropriate. The researcher had to modify the technique in presenting the picture
series. In the classroom action research CAR, as the practitioner, the researcher
should find the appropriate solution for the classroom‟s problem Ary et al., 2010; and Richard, 2005. Therefore, the researcher thought that the results of
the implementation in cycle one still could be improved in the cycle two. In this case, the researcher tried to plan modifying the activities and the technique in
presenting the picture series.
C. Changes in Cycle 2
According to the reflection in cycle one, the implementation of picture series technique was good enough since the researcher did it in accordance with
the lesson plan. Nevertheless, the classroom practice still needed some
86 improvements. Therefore, the researcher planned to revise and modify what had
been done in cycle one. Since the fact that the activity, particularly in the group activity, and also the technique in presenting the picture series were not really
appropriate in cycle one, the researcher planned to modify them in order to optimize their improvement in the writing skills.
As stated in chapter two, in the text-based approach, one of the stages is joint construction of the text Feez Joyce, 2002 in which students need to
experience their own contribution in composing the narrative text. The researcher as the teacher has to reduce her contribution in giving the guidance. This stage
should be strengthened before they run to the next stage, independent construction of the text. Joint construction of the text helps students to start their
very first writing before they write independently. Therefore, the researcher planned to strengthen this stage by modifying the activity. Based on the
questionnaire results, the applying activities in the form of group work was already good. It can be seen from the result of item 2 that 14 53.85 students
agreed and 5 19.23 students strongly agreed that working in the group helped them in composing the text. Meanwhile, based on the field notes done by the
observers and the researcher‟s observation, story chain as the pre-writing activity in the group activity did not really work. Therefore, the researcher changed the
activity become arranging the jumbled paragraphs of the narrative texts. The students were also asked to fill the blank words of the paragraphs. Besides, the
number of students for each group also affected the effectiveness of the group
