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The Use of Snowball Throwing in Teaching Reading at 
The Second Year Students of SMPN 8 Palopo 

ABSTRACT 
This thesis uses snowball to improve student reading with the research question, 

"How to use snowball throwing in SMPN's second-year students. This research employed 
Classroom Action Research (CAR) with cycles: first cycle, second cycle. Each cycle 
consists of four steps: planning. Acting, observing, reflecting. Four meetings during the 
research cycle. Class VIII, three samples of this study, consisted of 20 students. The study 
result revealed that Cycle 2 was better than Cycle one scores. During the lesson, the 
students showed great enthusiasm. Cycle 2's mean score is 82,75, and the percentage of 
student activity observation The student reading mastery increases after Cycle 2. The 
appropriate way to teach reading using snowball throwing is: (1) giving students more 
motivation to build confidence and spirit to study hard and be active in learning. (2) 
Before starting the learning process, more explanation of the material and giving the 
game than allowing the students to say what they do not understand. (3) Giving 
reward/gift for appreciation, (4) grouping students into a small group of 5 students. (5) 
Narrative text glossaries (6) Observers and writers were observing student activities. (7) 
Testing students to know the students ' improvement in reading after Using Snowball 
Throwing Learning (focus on the narrative text) 
 

Keywords: Reading Narrative Text, Snowball Throwing, Teaching Reading Skills 
 

INTRODUCTION 
Reading is one of the communication acts that consist of communicative activity and 

becomes the center for concept-building and comprehension-stimulating thinking. By 
having excellent reading skills, people can understand English written text well. 
Therefore, students are supposed to have the reading skills; especially junior high school 
students will continue their studies in high school (Iksan & Dirham, 2018). To teach 
students to read, a teacher often finds problems, such as finding the meaning of words in 
the text, difficulty explaining the purpose of the text, and difficulty explaining the text. 
Factors such as incapacity and low interest may account for some issues. Many teachers 
believe the problem is the inability to use instructional strategies or learning techniques 
that help students improve their readability.  

Students ' interest in learning a second language is influenced by the lessons and 
how the classroom teaches them. So if a teacher wants to improve student language 
mastery, they must be aware of the feelings of the students and create a supportive 
learning atmosphere in the classroom. In lecturing, they should give opportunities and 
motivate students to read actively. If students are interested, they are motivated to read. 
High motivation to practice reading will improve comprehension of reading.  

The problems in SMPN 8 Palopo were that the students rarely discussed and shared 
materials because the reading activity still depended on the teacher's explanation, e.g., 

 
Wahidin  

State Islamic Institute of Palopo (IAIN Palopo), South Sulawesi Indonesia wahidin@iainpalopo.ac.id 
 

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the teacher explaining the materials in front of the class, and the students listened to her 
explanation. Some students were active, but others were passive. That happened because 
some students dared to ask and share views with teachers, but the other students did not. 
The students were still afraid to answer the teacher's questions and still shy about their 
teacher's views. When students pay serious attention, most of the reading process 
comprehends the message. This situation also occurs in most second-year students at 
SMPN 8 Palopo, who still face difficulty reading skills on the narrative text and always get 
bored when reading the text because they repeatedly read the text to understand the 
next. Just try to know the meaning of each word from the text to get the text's central idea. 
The students spent a long time understanding the next and do not have the same 
opportunity to understand the next. One difficulty students face is remembering what 
they have read. Most students still can not read well and hard to understand (Ilham, 
2020).  

They are many techniques that can be used to teach an understanding of reading. 
However, the writer applies a snowball throwing to teach students reading 
comprehension as an alternative way to create an active teaching-learning process. 
Snowball throwing technique is one kind of cooperative learning model in which students 
work in small groups, and each student is forced to be active in this teamwork format, 
and the students get the opportunity to interact. In this interaction, students enjoy 
learning. A narrative text is a text that focuses on specific participants. Its social function 
is to tell stories about past events and to entertain our stories with readers / hears. The 
purpose of the narrative, other than entertainment, can make the reader think about an 
issue and teach them a lesson. The language features used in the narrative text, according 
to Antonio Wardman, are the use of adjectives that form noun phrases using time 
connectives, the use of adverbs, the use of past tense, the use of saying verbs, and the use 
of specific characters (Iksan, n.d.). However, in this research, the writer focuses on using 
the past tense, using time-connective conjunctions, and using adverbs. It is a snowball 
throwing technique. Cooperative learning techniques are useful for teaching reading, 
where cooperative learning involves learning from each other in groups (Wadirman et 
al., 2008). 

The writer chose snowball throwing as SMPN 8 Palopo 's second-year snowball 
throwing students will exchange information and discuss the text in reading. Snowball 
throwing makes students behave together towards the condition given by the teacher, 
and the students can go through any problem they face through working together 
awkward atmosphere. Snowball throwing also helps to solve the problem of classes that 
are too large to offer many opportunities to apply their reading comprehension, and they 
are more active in discussing their teacher's reading material, offering many advantages, 
creating and encouraging the individual's insight into their comparative strengths and 
weaknesses to generate and share the idea. According to Setiawan, the learning 
environment and management system of cooperative learning for snowball throwing 
offers opportunities for learning democracy, enhances students ' appreciation of 
academic learning, prepares students to learn about collaboration and social skills 
through the active participation of learners in small groups, offers learning opportunities. 
It builds a positive relationship between teacher, student, and student, and also creates a 
better chance to learn English more effectively (Setiawan, 2019).  

Numbers of studies were conducted on this topic, Dwi Melinda Nebella Studied 
(2018) YouTube videos and snowball throwing technique to improve student speaking 

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skills and found that using the snowball throwing technique is effective in improving 
student speaking skills. Nurbaya (2009) also studied the effect of using Snowball 
Throwing to improve student motivation. She concluded that improving student 
motivation in PAI by using snowball throwing is a useful and exciting way that can be 
applied in any classroom. In 2009, Dodi Irawan also studied the effect of using snowball 
throwing to improve student achievement in SAINS in the 4th grade of elementary school 
013 Koto Tuo.1 

Based on previous related studies above, the writer concluded that English teachers 
need an appropriate way of teaching to improve student reading comprehension. 
Teachers should understand what the best strategy or technique can help students 
understand the reading. Teachers should also know about good material that can make 
students interested and read quickly. It can also increase student knowledge after 
classroom study. In this study, the writer used a snowball throwing technique to improve 
student reading comprehension. The snowball throwing technique trains students to 
receive narrative text messages from other students and deliver the message to their 
group friends. A question paper contains questions made to the other students in a 
snowball paper. Students receiving open paper ball answer the question. Implementing 
this technique can be beneficial for all students to improve their class reading 
comprehension because they have the same opportunity to participate actively in English 
reading.  

 
METHODS 
Research Design 
This research applied research into classroom action. It aims to find out if using snowball 
throwing to improve student reading to SMPN 8 Palopo 's second year. In the second year 
of SMPN 8 Palopo, a student class collaborated with the class's English teacher. Because 
the researcher is the teacher, the teacher will be the supervisor at the learning process 
while the writer will teach the researcher method to the students. Implementing learning 
to improve reading; the research was conducted in from cycle: planning, acting, 
observing, and reflecting. 

The Place and Time of the Research 
This research was conducted in the academic year 2019 at second-year students at 

SMPN 8 Palopo, which consists of 20 students  

Research subject  
This research would apply classroom action research. It aims to find out the 

effectiveness of using snowball throwing in the second - year students of SMPN 8 Palopo, 
in collaboration with the English teacher in charge, Asrika Achmad S.Pd. Because the 
researcher will be a teacher, the teacher was a supervisor at the learning process while 
the researcher taught the students the method and media of the researcher. 

Technique and instruments of Collecting Data 
1. Techniques 

 
1 Dodi Irawan, the Effect of Using Snowball Throwing to Improve Students achievement in SAINS at the Forth 
Grade of Elementary School 013 Koto Tuo (University of Sultan Syarif Kasim Riau:2009) 

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The collecting data techniques in this classroom action are: 
a. Test 

The test was used to determine the students ' narrative text scores. The text itself 
contains narrative text in which the narrative text questions each contain five questions 
that will be given to each student; then, the student answers the questions given (sura 
and baya, lion, and mouse). 
b. Interview 

The interview was used to find out the level of success in implementing the use of 
snowball throwing in teaching reading. 

2. Instruments 
The instruments used in collecting data in this classroom action research were: 

a. Observation List: observe student participation during the use of snowball Throwing 
in teaching reading. Also, as the primary instrument in the teacher-collaborator 
discussion part as a way to reflect in each cycle. 

b. Questionnaire: to find out students whether this technique can be applied in teaching 
in using snowball techniques in reading  

c. Camera: The researcher takes students' picture in the learning process 

Procedures of Collection Data 
    The researcher gave two meetings for each cycle 

Cycle I 
1. Planning 

a. Analyzing the curriculum, especially the basic competence after doing the need 
analysis of the second year of SMPN 8 Palopo. 

b. The researcher making a lesson plan about the use of snowball throwing in teaching 
reading comprehension on the narrative text. 

c. Preparing the narrative text 
2. Acting 

a. The researcher introduced himself and collaborator to the students. 
b. The researcher explained the aims of the learning process. 
c. The researcher explained the definition and structure of a narrative text. 
d. The researcher gave examples of narrative text ("Sura and Baya"). 
e. The researcher divided the students into two big groups. 
f. Each student was given a sheet of paperwork and wrote down questions about the 

matter which has been described by the teacher, and then squeezing the paper 
became a ball shape. 

g. the researcher made a conclusion 
3. Observation 

Some important things had been observed, those were: 
a. The researcher identified and make a note about all the problems that the teacher gets 

when teaching and learning process. 
b. The researcher did the evaluations which use the result of the study to know how far 

the students have improved. 
c. The researcher gave the students the chance to give suggestions in action research. 
Reflection 

This classroom action research was a success if some of the following requirements 
are fulfilled: 

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a. Most of the students have good participation during acting (70%). 
b. Most of the students have a good score in evaluation (75%). 

The technique of Data Analysis 
The data which were collected through observation in each cycle were analyzed 

descriptively by using percentage technique.  
 

1. 𝑆𝑐𝑜𝑟𝑒 =
𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑐𝑜𝑟𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑡 𝑎𝑛𝑠𝑤𝑒𝑟

𝑠𝑐𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑚𝑎𝑥𝑖𝑚𝑢𝑚
 𝑥 100  

 
Classifying the students' scores based on the following classification: 
a. Very good            =  81 – 100 is classified as very good 
b. Good  =  61 – 80 is classified as good 
c. Fair  =  41 – 60 is classified as fairly 
d. Poor  =     21 – 40            is classified as poor 
e. Very Poor              =          1- 20              is classified as very poor 
       Calculating the mean score of the students' reading test by using the following 
formula: 

𝑋 =  
∑𝑥

𝑁
 

Where: 
X = the mean score 
∑x  = the total raw score 
N  = the number of students 2 

2. Activities of students during the learning process analyzed by considering the 
students' participation and classified into very active, active, less active, and not 
active classification. 

3. Implementation of learning by using snowball throwing in teaching reading could 
be categorized as; very good, good, fair, poor, and very poor classification. 

4. The result of the interview 
From the interview with the English teacher, the researcher obtains information 

using this technique for reading comprehension in the classroom and is interested in this 
technique in reading class using this technique to arouse the ability of the students to 
read about the text. The big obstacle in teaching reading, depending on his point of view, 
was a lack of vocabulary. The teacher asked the students to read daily, make notes about 
the difficult words, and use the dictionary as often as possible. The trainer also clarified 
that when implementing the Snowball throwing method, few restrictions were too little 
time to do those jobs for English subjects. Whereas, the number of students in one class 
is too many (20 students) to be loud and crowded. The teacher also explained that most 
students like about this technique the learning process is interesting, fun and, on the 
other hand, they are happy to say that the narrative text has new words for students to 
make them confused about the meaning of words in the text and through this technique 
most students can share their knowledge and be more active when reading material 

 
Table 1. Reading Assessment based on Brown, H. Douglas  

 
2  Mangkuatmodjo, Pengantar Statistik, (cet.1, Jakarta: Rineka Cipta 2003), p. 58 

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 Poor 0,5 pts Fair 1 pts Good 2 pts 

Main Idea Fails to identify the 
main idea 

Identifies the main 
idea but cannot 
identify supporting 
details 

Identifies the main idea 
as well as supporting 
details 

Content Fails to identify the 
content of the story 

Identifies the content 
but cannot identifying 
independently the 
content 

Can identify the content 
when reading 

Vocabulary Decodes an 
unfamiliar word, 
but does not 
interpret the 
meaning 
independently 

Decodes the 
unfamiliar word but is 
not always able to 
interpret the meaning 
from context 

Interpret the meanings 
of unfamiliar words 

Inference Can not conclude 
the inferred 
message or suggest 

Identifies or 
acknowledges, but 
misinterprets the 
inference 

Can identify when 
massage is inferred and 
can conclude the 
accurate meaning 

Expression Cannot identify 
expression in the 
story 

Identifies expression, 
but cannot 
independently 

Identify the expression 
when reading the text 

 
RESULTS 

The findings of the research explained the cycles of the teaching and learning 
process of this current research. In this case, there were two cycles and two meetings for 
each cycle.  
Cycle I 

The first cycle of this classroom action research consists of planning, acting, 
observing, and reflecting  
 
Planning  

a. Analyzing the curriculum, especially the basic competence after doing the need 
analysis of the second-year students of SMPN 8 Palopo. 

b. Making a lesson plan about the use of snowball throwing in teaching reading on 
narrative text 

c. Preparing the narrative text (reading material) 
d. Divide the students into a group 
e. Preparing the instrument which is used in the cycle of classroom action research 

Acting  
Cycle 1 action started on September 23 , 2019, 10:20 a.m. First lesson. That is the 

introduction and connection. The authors discussed and studied the introduction. In this 
case, first, the researcher gave instructions to prepare physically or psychologically by 
expressing greeting and introduced himself and her co-worker, then prayed together for 
the beginning lesson. Calling the roll, refreshing their focus, such as checking students ' 
attendance and encouraging them to join the learning process, explaining the narrative 

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text, and throwing a snowball at the second meeting. The student then divided the 
students into two big groups and then decided each group's leader. The researcher gave 
questions for each group leader, then returned to their group and distributed the 
question to each group member. The grouping at this cycle one just randomly, like as; 
group A they were; R003, R005, R008, R009, R002, R013, R015, R018, R016, R020 group 
B they were; R001, R004, R006, R007, R010, R011, R012, R014, R017, R019. Further, the 
researcher explained the purpose of the learning process and also the basic competence 
that would be achieved. Third, the researcher delivered the scope of the learning material 
and gave a little bit explanation about the title of research that would be studied. 

The researcher asked the students, studied the narrative text by throwing 
snowball? Some students replied they had ever learned the narrative text, but they did 
not use snowball throwing. The researcher then explained what snowball throwing was, 
and its steps in teaching and learning comprehension of reading, what they had to do 
during the class. The researcher then explained the narrative text, social function, 
characteristic, generic structure, and many more. After explaining, the researcher gave 
students the narrative text. The researcher gave all students "Sura and Baya" text. Each 
student was given sheet paperwork, and each student wrote down questions based on 
the researcher's reading topic, then they squeezed the paper into a ball shape, and then 
the researcher gave the command to throw the question ball from one student to another. 
After the students got a ball or a question, they had the opportunity to answer the 
question written in the ball-shaped paper, group ' A' threw the ball question to group ' B' 
Next; the students had to keep throwing the paper ball to another student when the 
student could not answer the question that was related to the reading topic and the paper 
ball would be out. If all students could not answer correctly, the researcher could give the 
right answer. Last, the teacher gave morality suggestions to the students and gave 
appreciated, and the teacher said thanks to students who participated in her research. 
Moreover, the last, the researcher closed the teaching-learning process by saying 
"Hamdalah" and prayer together. 
 
Observing 

During the implementation of the teaching-learning process, the researcher and 
collaborator made observations using snowball throwing in the first cycle. They found 
that some students had improved reading comprehension. Students said the learning 
process was interesting, enjoyable, and happy. On the other hand, the researcher also 
found some others still below target or criteria. Such as; the students did not know the 
learning by using snowball throwing the class was still noisy because the students were 
still busy with their activity. The narrative text had some new words to confuse the 
meaning of the words in the text. The learning process was not active. Evaluation of 
student reading comprehension showed that student reading comprehension mastery 
was mostly in low scores. Evaluation of students ' reading understanding test showed 
that some students had low scores and the mean score was 56  

 
Table 2. Score of the students reading in cycle 1 

 

No Respondents Score 

1 R1 60 

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2 R2 60 

3 R3 55 

4 R4 45 

5 R5 70 

6 R6 45 

7 R7 70 

8 R8 55 

9 R9 60 

10 R10 55 

11 R11 60 

12 R12 35 

13 R13 75 

14 R14 50 

15 R15 35 

16 R16 80 

17 R17 55 

18 R18 40 

19 R19 60 

20 R20 55 

TOTAL SCORE 1120 

 
Calculating the mean of the students' reading test of cycle 1 

𝑋 =  
Σx

𝑁
 

    = 
1120

20
 

         = 56 
The table explains that a higher score is 80, and the lowest score is 35. There is one 

student who got a score of 80, there is one student who got a score of 75, there are two 
students who got a score of 70, there are five students who got a score of 60, there are 
five students who got a score of 55, there is one student who got a score of 50, there are 
two students who got score 45, there is one student who got a score of 40, and there are 
two students who got a score of 35. 

 
Table 3. The rating percentage of students' in cycle 1 

Classification Score Frequency Percentage 

Very good 81-100 - - 

Good 61-80 4 20% 

Fair 41-60 11 55% 

Poor 21-40 5 25% 

Very poor 1-20 - - 

 

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The table above shows the students' score in the test of cycle 1, there was none 
student got 'very good,' 4 (20%) students got 'good,' 11 (55%) students got 'fair,' 5 (25%) 
students got 'poor,' and none student got 'very poor' classification 
 

Figure 1. Diagram Result of the Test in Cycle 1 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

After that, the researcher made observations on class students ' activities. The 
researcher did it with the observer, and she got some data on the learning process's 
student activities. Based on the observation result, she got some data, like two students 
were not active, six students were less active, nine students were active, and three 
students were very active. The table below shows it.  

 
Table 4 The observation of the students' activity in cycle 1 

No Respondents Not Active Less Active Active Very Active 

1 R1   √  
2 R2    √ 
3 R3   √  
4 R4  √   
5 R5   √  
6 R6  √   
7 R7   √  
8 R8   √  
9 R9   √  
10 R10  √   
11 R11   √  
12 R12 √    
13 R13    √ 
14 R14   √  
15 R15 √    
16 R16    √ 
17 R17  √   
18 R18  √   
19 R19   √  
20 R20  √   

Total 2 6 9 3 

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

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Where: 

1. Very active: the students are responsive and participated fully in all activities in 
the learning and teaching process. 

2. Active: the students' response to the material and interacting with others, whether 
to the teacher or his/her friends. 

3. Less active: the students pay attention and give responses once in a while. 
4. Not active: the students do not give a response to the material; she/he looks 

confused, bored and sometimes leaves the class, sleepy, fiddling mobile, write or 
something beyond the material, and many more. 

 
Table 5. The percentage of students' active participation in cycle 1 

Classification Frequency Percentage (%) 

Not Active 2 10% 

Less Active 6 30% 

Active 9 45% 
Very Active 3 15% 

 

𝑃 =  
𝐹

𝑁
 𝑥 100 

Where: 
P: Percentage 
F: Frequency 
N: Total of students. (Oktavianti, 2016) 
 

Figure 2. Diagram the Students' Participation 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Based on the research data in cycle two shown by the above description that 
included 20 students, when the learning process was running, there were two students 
not active in reading class and percentage reached (10%). The less active students were 
6, reaching a percentage (30%). The active students were nine and reached a percentage 
(45%), three very active students, and a percentage (15%). This section was not a success 
because the researcher and collaborator still found a weakness. 
 
Reflecting 

At this stage, the researcher had significant weakness in teaching reading 
comprehension in implementing or using snowball throwing in cycle I and then 
continued cycling 2. The class was still noisy because the students were still busy with 

0

2

4

6

8

10

Not Active Less Active Active Very Active

2

6

9

3

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their activity and they were bothering each other. Most of the students were still confused 
about narrative text through Snowball Throwing. They were still confused with the rules 
of this activity even though the researcher had explained. The narrative text had some 
new words for students, so that could make them confused about the meaning of the 
words in the text. It made the learning process was not active. Based on the weaknesses 
above, it proved that this cycle 1 failed or far from the target. So, it would continue in the 
cycle 2. For solving the problem or weakness in cycle 1, the researcher was planned in 
cycle two as follows: 
a. The researcher who acts the teacher use glossaries in the narrative text to support the 

student in reading comprehension of the narrative text. It would make the learning 
process more effective, and the students focus more on reading narrative text. 

b. The teacher gave more motivation and game before beginning the learning process. 
c. The teacher was setting the classroom into four groups to create the learning process 

better. 
d. The teacher gave more explanation about the material. 
 
Cycle II 

After doing observation and reflecting in the first cycle, there was still a weakness 
in the first cycle. Then there are two meetings in this cycle to decrease the weaknesses 
and create success in the second cycle, so the second cycle was done. Based on the 
following preparation: 
Planning 

The planning in the second cycle as follows: 
a. The researcher who acts the teacher made a lesson plan about the use of snowball 

throwing in teaching reading comprehension on the narrative text.  
b. Before starting the learning process, the teacher encouraged the students by giving 

motivation and positive suggestions to the students in order to be more active in the 
learning process. 

c. The teacher has to give the game before beginning the learning process. 
d. The teacher gave more explanation about the material. 
e. The teacher gave glossaries in the narrative text to support the students in reading 

comprehension of the narrative text. 
f. The teacher was setting the classroom into four groups to create the learning process 

better. 
 
Acting 

The second cycle continued on October 2 at 10:45 a.m. The first meeting started like 
a previous meeting. By greeting the students like saying hi or hello, the researcher opened 
the class and asked their condition by saying, "how are you?" and then prayed together 
for the lesson. After the researcher gave the game before the material began, the 
researcher reviewed the material given before. Next, the researcher gave more 
explanation in understanding narrative text well and efficiently and gave more guidance 
to them on how to understand it well and smoothly. In the second meeting, the researcher 
explained the material about narrative text and snowballed throwing. After that, the 
researcher divided the students into four groups. Each group consisted of five students. 
The researcher was grouping or combining the students base on the list of students' 
names. Group 1, that was; R.001, R.002, R003, R004, R.005, group 2, they were: R.006, 

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R.007, R.008, R.009, R.010, group 3, they were: R.011, R.012, R.013, R.014, R.015, and last 
group, they were R.016, R.017, R.018, R.019, R. 020. 

After that, called each group leader came forward to explain the matter. Then the 
researcher gave each group leader some questions and told the member about the 
teacher's explanation. The researcher gave a text about "The lion and the Mouse" to all 
groups. Each student was given a sheet of paperwork, and every student wrote down a 
question about the reading topic which described by the researcher, then they squeezing 
the paper become a ball shape, and then the researcher gave the command to throw the 
question ball from one student to another student group. At cycle two the group 1 threw 
to group 2, group 2 threw to group 3, group 3 threw to group 4, and group 4 threw to 
group 1. It showed until three times for +/- 15 minutes. After the students got one ball or 
one question, then they had the opportunity to answer questions related to the topic that 
is written in the ball-shaped paper taking turns. Next, the students must continue to 
throw the paper ball to another group when the member could not answer the question 
related to the reading topic and the paper ball would be thrown continuously until the 
member could answer correctly if all the students could not answer correctly so that the 
researcher could give the correct answer in the last learning conclusion. The researcher 
asked the students to memorize some vocabulary in the next meeting. After that, the 
teacher gave some positive suggestions to the students again, such as encouraging, 
motivating, and giving them spirit more and more before ending the meeting. 
 
Observing 

The condition of the class in the second cycle was different from the first cycle. In 
this case, most of the students got better and became more be exiting. The students 
looked enjoyed in learning narrative text through snowball throwing. They were more 
active in class during the group learning process, though some students were still 
crowded. The grouping of the students was just based on the list of students' names, and 
they were at the same level so that they just were bothering each other. The narrative 
text had some new words for students, so that could make them confused about the 
meaning of the words in the text. The narrative reading only was given one for each 
group. It made the learning process was less active. Although they still could be focused 
on the learning process when they practiced within their group, they proof the scores of 
the students were increased. The students' participation in learning narrative text 
through snowball throwing was more enjoyable and better because most of the students 
had practiced in asking, answer, responding to some questions that the researcher given 
and the text had some glossaries. The evaluation of students' understanding in learning 
narrative text through snowball throwing showed that in this cycle. The students got a 
better score than in the first cycle. The resulting score of students' presented was 
increased than in the first cycle because the students more are active, more be accuracy, 
and fluency in presented their answer. Therefore almost all of them Followed the learning 
process enthusiastically so that the class seemed more active than before. Evaluation of 
the student's reading comprehension showed that students' master in reading was high 
scores. The mean score was 82,75. 

 
Table 6. Score of the students' reading in cycle 2 

No. Respondents Score 

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1. R1 90 
2. R2 90 
3. R3 95 
4. R4 80 
5. R5 80 
6. R6 80 
7. R7 90 
8. R8 80 
9. R9 90 
10. R10 80 
11. R11 75 
12. R12 75 
13. R13 95 
14. R14 80 
15. R15 80 
16. R16 90 
17. R17 75 
18. R18 75 
19. R19 80 
20. R20 75 

TOTAL SCORE 1655 

 
The mean score of the students' reading test of the cycle: 

𝑋 =  
Σx

𝑁
                                                            = 

1655

20
 

= 82, 75 
The table explains that a higher score is 95, and the lowest is score is 75. 2 students 

got a score of 95, 5 students got a score of 90, eight students got to score 80, five students 
got a score of 75. 

 
Table 7. The rating percentage of students' score in cycle 2 

Classification Score Frequency Percentage 

Very Good 81-100 7 35 % 

Good 61 – 80 13 65 % 

Fair 41 – 60 - - 
Poor 21-40 - - 
Very Poor 1-20 - - 

 
The table above shows that the students' score in the test of cycle 2, there was 

student got 'very good,' 7 (35%) students got 'good,' 13 (65%) none students got 'fair,' 
got 'poor' and none student got 'very poor' classification. 
 

Figure 3. Diagram Result of the Test in Cycle 2 
 
 
 
 

0

20

40

60

80

100

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After that, the researcher did observations about the activities of students in the class. 
The researcher did it with the observer, and she got some data about the activities of 
students in the learning process. Based on the result of observation, she got some data, 
such as five students were less active none student was not active.  

 

Table 8. The observation of the students' activity in cycle 2 

No Respondents Not Active Less Active Active Very Active 

1 R1    √ 
2 R2    √ 
3 R3    √ 
4 R4   √  
5 R5   √  
6 R6   √  
7 R7    √ 
8 R8    √ 
9 R9    √ 

10 R10   √  
11 R11  √   
12 R12  √   
13 R13    √ 
14 R14   √  
15 R15   √  
16 R16    √ 
17 R17  √   
18 R18  √   
19 R19   √  
20 R20  √   

Total  5 7 8 

    
Where: 
1. Very active: the students are responsive and participated fully in all activities in the 

learning and teaching process. 
2. Active: the students' response to the material and interacting with others, whether to 

the teacher or his/ her friends. 
3. Less active: the students pay attention and give responses once in a while. 
4. Not active: the students do not give the response to the material; she/he looks 

confused, bored and sometimes leaves the class, sleepy, fiddling mobile, write or 
something beyond of the material, and many more. 

 
Figure 4. Diagram the Students' Participation in cycle 2 

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Table 4.12 
The percentage of students' active participation in cycle 2 

Classification Frequency Percentage 

Very Active 8 40% 
Active 7 35% 
Less active 5 25% 
Not active - - 

 

𝑃 =  
𝐹

𝑁
 𝑥 100 

Where: 
P: Percentage 
F: Frequency 
N: Total of students.3 
Based on the data in cycle two shown in the above description, which included 20 
students, there were 5 when the learning process was running, and the percentage was 
25%. The active students were 7, and the percentage reached 35%. The very active 
students were 8, and the percentage reached 40%. 
 
Reflection 
            Some strong point in cycle 2, as follows: 
a. Most of the students were more active during the learning process, and they were real 

enthusiasm to read the text. It happened because all of the students took one narrative 
text and made the learning process more effective, and the students more focus on 
reading narrative text. 

b. Most of the students were easier to comprehend the narrative text. It happened 
because in each narrative text there were glossaries and memorizing some 
vocabularies so that it could support the students in comprehension the narrative text 

c. Most of the students, even very active in reading text when the learning process was 
running, 7 were active, and eight were very active, were active in learning processes 
such as, are responsive and fully involved in all activities in the learning and teaching 
process, and were active in answering questions, less active since they did not 
comment or respond to the questions 

 
3 Ibid. p.73 

0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8

Not Active Less Active Active Very Active

5
7

8

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d. The grouping of the students was based on the students' level. It would make them 
more active and focus on learning. They were not bothering each other, so the 
atmosphere of the class was conducive. 

e. The applying of snowball throwing is more attractive to students in improving 
reading comprehension  

f. It is giving students more chances to share their knowledge in the teaching and 
learning process. It could give students more confidence in the teaching and learning 
process. 

g. The ideal mean score has achieved, in the first cycle was 56, and then in the second 
cycle was become 82,75 

 
DISCUSSION 

By considering the findings, the researcher presents the discussion of data given to 
the students, the section described on the efficacy of snowball throwing method in 
teaching reading comprehension, especially on the narrative text at SMPN 8 Palopo's 
Second - year students. The students ' score at SMPN 8 Palopo 's second-year students 
was ineffective in the first cycle, then in the second cycle. When using snowball throwing, 
learning can identify results cycles 1 and 2. To find out the effectiveness of the snowball 
throwing method on teaching reading comprehension on the narrative text on this case, 
the researcher discusses data analysis results according to the scope of the research. The 
discussion aims to know the effectiveness of the snowball throwing method in teaching 
second-year SMPN8 Palopo students reading narrative text.  
 
Cycle 1 

Based on the student test analysis in cycle I, the mean first-period value is 56. The 
average score of the students in this research was 75. It showed that cycle still far from 
the goal. Only three students, very active in the learning process, were responsive and 
participated fully in all learning process activities. Only nine students active in the 
teaching process were material responses and interacting with the teacher or his friends. 
There were six less active students and two non-active students, because they were only 
once, even gave answers about the material they did not respond. It means that only 45% 
and 10% of students were not active in class. From data and observation, the researcher 
found that three students were very active and nine were active during the learning 
process, which caused them to like the way the researcher taught them by using snowball 
throwing that they could enjoy and have fun with their friends, and also the students felt 
happy to receive and understand the lesson. 

Furthermore, the researcher also found class problems, why students were not 
active and less active because the students were not familiar with the learning by using 
snowball throwing, did not dare to be active during the learning process, the class was 
still noisy because the students were still busy with their activity. The narrative text had 
some new words for students, making them confused about the meaning of narrative text 
words. Additionally, students have less language. It made students less active in reading 
narrative text. Evaluation of the students reading comprehension showed that students' 
mastery of reading comprehension was mostly in low scores. The mean score was only 
56, and this still far from the goal. The rating percentage of students' score in reading test 
of cycle 1, there was none student got 'very good,' 4 (20%) students got 'good,' 11(55%) 
students got 'fair,' 5 (25%) students got 'poor,' and none student got 'very poor' 

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classification. The researcher also realized that teaching had some weaknesses, as the 
researcher sat in the chair explaining the material to her unclear and weak. It means that 
in cycle one, the researcher was not successful in teaching reading comprehension on the 
narrative text by the snowball Throwing method. Before the researcher continued to the 
next cycle, she planned to repair some of the aspects that make the goal can be not 
achieved, like the weakness in teaching. Therefore, the researcher had to continue to 
cycle 2. 

Cycle 2 
In the second cycle revised from the first cycle, we made a new plan in order to solve 

the problems in cycle 1. The researcher repaired the weakness in implementation—
Snowball Throwing in teaching reading comprehension in cycle 1. The teacher planned 
some solutions for the next cycle to solve problems like before starting the learning 
process, and the researcher encouraged the students through motivation. Before starting 
the learning process, the teacher gives games, giving more explanation about the 
material, giving glossaries in the narrative text to help students understand the narrative 
text and setting the classroom in groups to create learning process better. 

By doing the procedures above, the researcher found that students' participation 
was good; they did not look bored. The students looked enjoyed in learning narrative text 
through snowball throwing. There was a development from the students on reading 
narrative text, and the teaching material seemed more interesting for the students in 
cycle 2. The students' participation in learning narrative text through snowball throwing 
was more enjoyable and better because most of the students had practiced in asking, 
answer, responding to some questions that the researcher given and the text had some 
glossaries. 

Meanwhile, the percentage of students' participation in cycle 2 was still varieties 
too. Which five students were less active in reading class when learning, the process was 
running, and the percentage reached 5 (25%). The active students were 7, and the 
percentage reached (35%). Very active students were 8, and percentage reached (40%). 
Referred to the result of data analysis, the researcher found that the students' active 
participation was better than the result in cycle 1. The researcher found in cycle two had 
been improved as the accumulation from the percentage of very active was 40%, and 
active was 35%, and less active reached 25% 

However, The average score that students got in the first cycle had not reached the 
criteria of success in the working indicator. The problem in the first cycle motivated the 
teacher to students more intense. It made new plans such as rearrange the student's 
position in the group, giving more explanation about the material, giving the narrative 
reading to all students, encouraging the students to memorize vocabulary, besides, by 
giving more chances to the students to got the good score to share their knowledge in 
teaching and learning process. The researcher encouraged the students by giving 
motivation, gave the game before beginning the learning process, gave more explanation 
about the material, gave the narrative reading to all students. The grouping of the 
students was based on students' level randomly; it would make them more active and 
focus on learning, encouraging the students to memorize vocabulary, giving more chance 
to the students who got a good score to share their knowledge in teaching and learning 
process. It could give a chance for students to be more confident in the teaching and 

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learning process. The researcher gave a reward to the winner. It was stimulated their 
interest in learning. 

By doing the procedures above, the researcher found that students' participation 
was very good; they did not look bored. The teaching material seemed interesting for the 
students. There was a development from the students on reading narrative text in cycle 
2, and the condition of the class can be controlled. The students easier comprehend the 
text and more active in the leaning process. They were enthusiastic about the learning 
process. 

Meanwhile, the percentage of students' participation in cycle 2, there was none 
student not active, there were five students were less active in reading class when the 
learning process was running, and percentage reached 25%. The active students were 7, 
and the percentage reached 35%. The very active students were 8, and the percentage 
reached 40%. Referred to the result of data analysis, the researcher found that the 
students' active participation was better than the result in cycle 1. The researcher also 
found that the success criteria in cycle two were achieved by accumulating the percentage 
of very active and active. 

The mean score of the students' test in cycle 1 was 56; after continued to cycle, the 
mean score of the students' test had improved 82,75, The rating percentage of students' 
score in reading test of cycle 2. It means that there were significant changes score from 
cycle 1, till cycle 2. In cycle 2, the students easier comprehend the text and more active in 
the teaching-learning process. Also, the goal of the research can be achieved. The teacher 
gave more motivation to study. Based on the observation activities, this cycle during the 
learning process by snowball throwing was very effective because most of the students' 
interest in the learning process. They are more enjoyable and more spirit in their activity, 
especially in their group, the class conditions were more conducive, and the students 
were friendly with friends.  

Based on the result above, the teacher finished the dominant learning process, they 
had a level of achievement, and the researcher has known that teaching reading 
comprehension through the snowball throwing method was appropriate in teaching 
reading comprehension, especially for reading narrative text. They concluded that using 
the snowball throwing model is effective in teaching reading comprehension the research 
findings that the significant improvement of students' reading comprehension. Through 
snowball throwing, the students showed great interest in being active in the teaching-
learning process. In the classroom, they were eager to join all activities. Through snowball 
throwing, the students did not only can learn the material but also could learn more 
cooperative to other students. 

By considering the condition in cycle 1, and cycle 2, this research proposed some 
procedures in using the snowball throwing method in teaching reading comprehension, 
as follows: 
a. The teacher was encouraging the students by giving motivation.  
b. The teacher was giving games before beginning the learning process, giving more 

explanation about the material. 
c. The teacher is giving glossaries in the narrative text to support the students in reading 

comprehension of the narrative text. 
d. The teacher is giving the narrative reading to all students. 
e. The grouping of the students was based on students' level randomly; it would make 

them more active and focus on learning. 

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f. The teacher was encouraging the students to memorize vocabulary. 
g. The teacher is giving a chance to the students who got good scores to share their 

knowledge in the teaching and learning process. It could give a chance for students to 
be more confident in the teaching and learning process. 

 
CONCLUSION 

  After finishing the research, the researcher concludes that the snowball throwing 
in teaching reading comprehension to the second-year students of SMPN 8 Palopo 
snowball throwing could be conducted in cycle 2, as follows: 
a. Forming the students into a small group that consisted of 5 students, the grouping of 

the students was based on students' level randomly, it made them more active and 
focused on learning 

b. Giving narrative text to all students .it would make the learning process more 
effective, and the students focus more on reading narrative text. 

c. Giving glossaries in each text.it helped the students easier to comprehend the 
narrative text 

d. Giving reward/gift for appreciating the winner 
e. Giving more motivation to the students that working to gather is easier to 

comprehend the reading text 
f. Reading comprehension of the students can be seen from the result of the mean score 

has increased from cycle 1 (56) to cycle 2 (82,75). So, Teaching reading 
comprehension through snowball throwing can be implemented in reading material, 
especially narrative text 

 

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