Reading Motivation by Alicia Fallaw 2nd Grade Dobson Elementary

Background I only had a handful of students engaged and motivated enough to read independently during SSR When I asked why one student was just sitting there, he proceeded to tell me he just did not like reading and did not feel like reading that day. Each year I find myself in the same situation with a group of students that for the most part are not motivated to read.

What Research Says… Research suggests having a couch or beanbags for students to curl up in and read. One article even suggested having an old canoe. Reading needs to be given the “Wow” factor. The article discussed the importance of read alouds and that you should read aloud to your class with the drama of an Oscar winner. Another article suggested that allowing students to share about books they have read could also be a motivator.

Research Questions What strategies work to motivate children to read? What role does choice and interest play in the motivation process?

Methods Participants 23 students 13 girls & 10 boys 7 Hispanic, 15 Caucasian, 1 Bi-racial 14 of my students are considered at risk due to low reading achievement and ability 2/3 of our school are free & reduced lunch 1/3 are Hispanic

Intervention/Instruction Procedures Study was conducted over a 6 week period. All 23 students were involved. I implemented 6 strategies over the 6 week period.

Free choice during Self Selected Reading & take home reading. Students were allowed to read out of any book basket. They had free choice of the book they took home for reading each night. My principal really didn’t approve of this strategy.

Reading comprehension cubes and spinner Cubes & spinner ask comprehension questions. Students were more motivated to pay attention because they knew they would get the opportunity to answer questions from the spinner or cubes.

Going outside to read

Time For Kids The school paid for a subscription for each child in my class for one year. The first issue was on frogs. We went on line and listened to the frog chorus. They started checking out books from the library about related topics we read about.

Moonchair I drew a child’s name randomly each day. They were provided additional reading materials such as seasonal books. They never let me forget to draw a new name each day.

Sharing with the class They were sharing with their neighbors They begged to get up and share with the class. This held them accountable for the information. Helped them do better retelling stories to me as well.

Data Collection Garfield survey before & after On task behavior checklist Reading conference form Anecdotal notes Interest survey at the end

Data Analysis Compared pre & post Garfield scores Created a color coded spreadsheet Recreational: Pre-test 57% of my class was below 50%ile Post-test 39 % below 50% ile Academic: 57% below 50% ile Post-test 26 % below 50% ile Total raw score:61% below 50% ile Post-test 35% below 50% ile

Data Analysis Continued I Did an analysis on Garfield survey The 2 questions that got the most negative responses were… #7 “Do you like to read during the summer?” #8 “Would you like to read rather than play?” I Sorted my notes by what I found in common. I found 3 main categories: Free choice, Sharing with other students, & sharing what they learned with me.

Results: Reading Motivation Survey

Results: Garfield Survey

Results: What I found out… Motivation was increased Students looked forward to SSR I saw an improvement in academic reading scores as well They enjoyed sharing about the books they had read. They started checking out books on topics we had been studying in class. Overall, I went from 61% of my class not liking reading down to 35 % being below 50% ile.

Discussion I now know that it is the little things that make a big difference. (ex. the moonchair) My lower level students made the most growth on the survey. Another teacher changed the way she did take home reading because of my study. The drawback to free choice was less comprehension during SSR conferences.

Future Direction In the future I would like to extend this research study to determine the link between motivation and comprehension. Comprehension is the only negative aspect of the study and I want to find a way to have motivation as well as comprehension.

References Braxton, Barbara. (2004). Encouraging Students to Read for Pleasure. Teacher Librarian, v31, 39-40. Retrieved September 12, 2005. Cunningham, Patricia and Hall, Dorothy P. A Guide to the Four Blocks Literacy Model. Hunter, Phyllis. (2004). Classroom Libraries Level the Playing Field. Instructor, v113, 36-40. Retrieved September 12, 2005. Joyce, Marilyn. 2003. Fostering Reading through Intrinsic Motivation: An Action Research Study. Knowledge Quest v32 no1, 39-40. Retrieved September 12, 2005. Kragler, Sherry & Nolley, Christine. (1996) Student choices: book selection strategies of fourth graders. Reading Horizons, v36, 354-365. Retrieved October 20, 2005. McKenna, Michael & Kear, Dennis J. (1990) Measuring attitude toward reading: A new tool for teachers. The Reading Teacher, 626-639