The use of pictures in the handout was limited. The students wished that there should be more pictures in the handouts. Handouts played an important role
for the students’ activity in the class, since there was no LCD projector in the class that could be used.
c. Teaching the Key Vocabulary
Vocabulary mastery determines how much students can comprehend texts efficiently. If the students lack vocabulary, reading comprehension will be a real
deal for them. Enriching the vocabulary mastery of the students is important. In this study, the researcher prepared the students before reading by
identifying key vocabulary and teaching them to the students. They found that it was helpful for them to comprehend the text. They did not have to open their
dictionary too many times, since they had understood the keywords.
d. Using Scanning and Skimming
Semantic mapping engages the use of efficient strategies namely scanning and skimming. The general and specific information was summarized in the map.
By filling the semantic map, the students did the reading strategies. Before the researcher taught the students how to use reading strategies,
they were not aware that the use of strategy for reading would help them to read texts efficiently. After the researcher taught them how to use it properly, they
were able to do efficient reading. They also found that the strategy was useful to help them in answering question related to a text.
Based on the reflection of the actions, the researcher and the other team members concluded that there were some points as the finding of Cycle 1. The
following statements are the findings of Cycle 1. 1
The Successful Actions The following are some actions that were considered successful after the
implementation of Cycle 1. a
The activities have successfully developed the students’ reading comprehension skills, especially in finding general and specific
information on the text. b
The teaching and learning activities were varied. The students enjoyed the classroom activities. They felt happy and excited with the activities.
c The students actively participated in the teaching and learning process.
The classroom interaction was also getting better and intense. 2
The Unsuccessful Actions However after the implementation of Cycle 1, some unsuccessful actions were
also found. They were as follows. a
There were few students lacking vocabulary. b
The group discussion made the class noisy. The classroom management had not successfully done.
c The students had not developed one of the reading skills, guessing
meaning of the words. In conclusion, there were some improvements on every indicator in each
actions. However, some problems occurred during the implementation of Cycle 1.
