Reading Interest Survey by: Amy Kemp

Due to being a speech therapist I have a unique age range of students consisting of mainly boys with the exception of two girls. My caseload ranges from grades 3-8 that are in two different developmental stages. My students in grade 3 are at the later stage 2 development where they are increasing their decoding abilities and start to acquire fluency while reading (Module 7). The students in grades 4-8 are in stage 3 of development which is known as “Reading to Learn” (Module 7, p.2). When creating a literature-based lesson plan there are a couple of elements that I take into account. First, I look at how inviting the story would be to my students. I also consider the developmental age levels of my students to see if the text is appropriate. The last thing I look at is what my students will gain from reading the book. To help motivate my students to engage in the literature unit, I use different kinds of activities. To help the younger students use and understand the vocabulary in the story, hands on activities work great. One of their favorite activities is to go fishing on a rocker board (your friendly PT’s or OT’s can help). Using a magnetic fishing pole they pick up vocabulary words and then state the definition. To help motivate older students, I have them pick from a list of approved ways they would like to be evaluated. Some of the choices are making an art project, making a power point, writing down their responses or developing a play. A nice motivating book for my 3^rd through 5^th grade boys is Stellaluna by Janell Cannon and Great White Sharks by Sandra Markle. For the older students they loved the book Holes by Louis Sachar.

This week in our individual groups, we each examined a research survey that pertained to student’s motivation and habits in reading. The three different surveys can be found in the chart for the white group posted on Jennifer’s Blog. These samples were conducted in different areas using a range of different students. The surveys showed, as a whole, girls value reading more than boys and see themselves as better readers. The surveys indicated that students who have a positive attitude towards reading and also see their parents read for pleasure are more likely to be motivated to read for pleasure. These students like to read different types of reading materials.  One survey showed that student’s attitudes towards reading depended on if their parents encouraged them to read. The research revealed that students were unaware they were reading as much as they were due to students belief that digital text was not reading material.  Researchers found that student’s motivation to read in school depended on the teacher’s ability to use activities that motivate them.  Students also reported their teachers motivated them to read due to giving them suggested literature to read.

References

Clark, C & Hawkins, L (2010). Young People’s Reading: The Importance of the home environment and family support. Retrieved from http://www.literacytrust.org.uk/assets/0000/4954/Young_People_s_Reading_2010.pdf

Kelley, Michelle J & Decker, Emmeline O. (2009). The current state of motivation to read among middle school students. Reading Psychology, 30, 466-485. Retrieved from http://web.ebscohost.com.library.gcu.edu:2048/ehost/detail?vid=3&hid=127&sid=7257eb4e-c3eb-4cfe-ad3b-da502c0ac18a%40sessionmgr113&bdata=JnNpdGU9Z Whvc3QtbGl2ZSZzY29wZT1zaXRl#db=eric&AN=EJ858471

Pitcher, S., Albright, L., DeLaney, C., Walker, N., & Seunarinesingh, K. (2007). Assessing adolescents motivation to read. International Reading Association, 10, 378-396. Retrieved from http://www.education.txstate.edu/ci/people/faculty/Delaney/content Paragraph/04/document/Delaney 3.pdf

Michelle Hongyee Strategies for Motivating Students

Michelle Hongyee 

RDG 585 CLC Survey Results

1) What stages of development are you students in?

I teach fourth grade students.  My students are considered Stage 3 learners, “Reading to Learn”.  However, I have several students who are still Stage 2 learners, “Learning to Read”.  The students in the Purple Group’s CLC matrix are elementary students.  Kindergarten through third grade students still exhibited a positive attitude towards reading.  As students reach fourth and fifth grades, their attitudes about reading start to change.  In my opinion, these changes start to occur for the students who are having difficulties with reading.  They have not mastered the “Learning to Read” phase of development, and they are required to transition into the “Reading to Learn” phase. 

2) What factors do you take into consideration when developing a literature-based lesson plan or unit plan?

When planning a literature-based lesson plan or unit, the factors I take into consideration are reading levels, interest of students, and standards necessary to allow my students to read and comprehend the text required by the state and to make my students life-long learners.  I am able to learn my students’ reading levels using diagnostic testing completed at the beginning and middle of the year.  I also use formative weekly assessments.  In order to find out what my students’ interests are, I have them complete a reading interest survey at the beginning and middle of the year.  As they have learned about different genres throughout the year, their tastes sometimes change. 

3) What types of reading motivational activities do you employ in your classroom? What have you tried that worked or did not work in your classroom?

I try to give my students a choice of reading material.  I collect things I know will match their interests based on the reading surveys.  I also help guide them in the assessment making process.  When we are doing a performance or project assessment, I include the students in part of the decision making process as far as performance or project requirements.  I find that if they have a part in the decision making process and they know the expectations; they are more engaged and want to do well.  When I know the genre my students enjoy, I also try to allow them to read books that fit this genre.  I have had a great deal of success getting students to read when I read the same book they are reading and we have discussions about their book.  This isn’t always realistic, but I have been able to help a few boys that refused to read on their own pick up a chapter book and read.  What doesn’t work in my classroom is when I talk about the fact that they must know these skills for the state test.  I try not to do this, but the stress of student performance can be overwhelming, especially when it is going to start being tied to my paycheck.  However, when I talk about how these reading skills are going to help them be life-long learners, it alleviates the pressure of state testing.

4) Recommend some books that you have found to be successful as motivational tools.

Books that have been successful as motivational tools have been biographies about sports figures, singers, dancers, and actors that are popular and famous now.  Series books have also been a great motivational tool.  Lemony Snicket, Harry Potter, 39 Clues, and Classics for Children have been very popular in my class this year.  My students have also been motivated by some of the stories we have read that have been written by fourth and fifth grade students.  They have become really motivated to be authors by seeing kids their own age as published writers.

Brown-Stategies that Motivate Readers

      I teach in a title one school in a rural area. My students are in stage one of reading. They are young and still forming an attitude toward reading. These students can develop a positive reading attitude by having a literature rich classroom that contains literature across the curriculum and on multiple topics and genres that will develop an interest to read. Motivational activities in the classroom include, charting AR points, partner reading, a daily teacher read- aloud, books of interest, and early childhood book reports and graphic organizers that are cute and grade appropriate.  One that my students love to do at the beginning of the year is a dog shaped graphic organizer that students complete with author, title, characters, beginning/end , and drawing their favorite part. This activity helps motivate my students to read Biscuit and Clifford books that are designed for beginning readers. I also create a spot for these reports to go in the hallway outside our classroom. The students get a sense of pride seeing their work displayed for all to see.

     Children at this age and stage in reading can develop a love for reading in a literature rich classroom with the teacher interacting through different activities that engage and motivate all students to read. Our research indicated the positive effect on children that see other adults model a love for reading. Even preschool children that have parents interacting with them relating to book reads and questioning obtain a positive attitude toward reading. Younger students do have more interaction with adults through reading than older students. As a child grows their positive reading attitude drops. This is seen throughout the school and in surveys. Many mothers will also tell how their children loved to read at one time but they cannot get them to read as they got older. Motivation and interest is the key to getting students to read at any age.

    Our survey results of elementary age children revealed many results that did not surprise me with the students I teach. Disadvantaged children own fewer books and have parents that do not interact in reading activities with their children compared to families that were higher in economic status. Students that were academically high achieving read more. Girls enjoy reading for pleasure more than boys. They also read more fiction. Parents feel that technology has a negative effect on the time their children spend reading. After many years of teaching, a teacher would not be surprised by any of these results. The results do reinforce the notion that a teacher needs to do all they can to ensure that ALL students become readers, whether for pleasure or to complete an assignment.

Justin's Response to Strategies for Motivating Students

As a high school English teacher, I have the incredibly challenging role to attempt breaking many students' lack of motivation with reading.  In elementary, most younger readers are excited with the opportunity to learn something new.  However, by the time these excited children make it to high school, that passion has dwindled for the large majority of readers.

According to the results of the White Team's CLC survey, there are many reasons why students do not like to read.  Oftentimes, males are hit with this lack of interest even more so, but this may partly be due to the definition of reading.  Males read more online, magazine, and sports-related texts, while females tend to read more traditional texts.  Also, these studies showed the importance of parental support in the reading process, where over 95% of children -- with reading-centered parents -- also read.

One important factor with reading is having books that connect with their audience.  Personally, I would much rather read a book "for fun" than one that was forced and dull.  For this reason, when motivating high school students, there are some important elements when selecting novels to recommend.  First, you must know the student's reading level and not get something too difficult as Vygotsky theorized in his Zone of Proximal Development.  Then, find some good books.

For high school students, I strangely have found that true, sad stories are sometimes the best stories to recommend.  David Pezler's autobiography, A Child Called it, is exceptionally popular for students.  They engage in the story, questioning how his mother could be so horrible and how his father did not do anything about it.  Elie Weisel's autobiography, Night, gets many students interested at a personal level with the Holocaust and what a prisoner in the concentration camps encountered.  Also, Piers Paul Read's biography, Alive: The Story of the Andes Survivors, Richard Preston's thriller, Hot Zone, and Flora Rheta Schriber's biography, Sybil, have such surreal stories that teenagers are drawn to them.  Respectively, these three titles are about plane-wrecked rugby players who had to resort to cannibalism to survive, a deadly virus that made it into the United States, and a woman who dealt with multiple personalities.  As long as the language is not too difficult for a student to read, action, drama, and tragedy (mainly in a true setting) tends to grab most readers who have lost the motivation to read.  Finding a good book and recommending it often is an important role of teaching English in middle and high school.

Mychaela's Response to Strategies for Motivating Students

As an elementary teacher, motivating students to read is a task that is very common in a teacher’s normal daily routine. At the elementary age, students are still learning the basics of how to read, so they are very excited to be given the opportunity to read. Motivating them to do reading outside of school is a key factor in them expanding their reading knowledge.

Based on the results from the Purple Group’s CLC Survey on Elementary students and their parents, we found that as a child gets older, their attitude towards reading changes. As the children get older, they become more involved with different activities, including a lot of technology, and their positive attitude towards reading generally goes down. Since they are so wrapped up in other things, like sports, working, and the Internet, which includes Facebook, video games, e-mail, etc. Social factors including peers, family members, and the school atmosphere are also factors that have affected a student’s attitude towards reading. Another factor that is important to point out from our research is that a parent’s socio-economic status has a direct affect on a student’s ability to read and their attitude about reading. A parent’s own personal feelings towards reading have a dramatic effect on how their own children view reading. If the parent’s have a positive outlook about reading, their children are more likely to have a positive attitude about reading.

I am currently teaching 3^rd, 5^th and 6^th graders English in South Korea. In Korean age, this makes the students 8-13 years of age, while if these students in America would be a year younger and between the ages of 7-12. While my students are at this age, their reading levels in English are nowhere near the same. If I tested all 400 of my children on their reading levels, while they would vary depending on the grade and their age, all their reading levels would be about the same. I would place my students in the upper portion what Piaget calls the pre-operational period of development (Travers & Travers p. 192). My students are constantly asking questions about the material that we read. Since English is their second language, they have to take a bit more time to understand the material; so many questions are very common in my classroom.

When I am planning my lessons for my students, there is always reading and literature involved. I have to take into consideration that my students reading levels, while accurately on pace with Korea’s English learning standards, they are very low compared to American standards. When choosing literature to use in my classroom, I have to make sure that the level is appropriate for their reading levels. This usually means the literature used in my classroom is at a kindergarten to 2^nd grade level. When we read literature in my classroom, we have to read it at a slower pace, so students can take the time to understand what they are reading. It is not uncommon for my classes to read the same story a few times in a week because the students take a longer time understanding the story and once they finally understand the story, they are captivated by it.

My students are broken into groups when they are in my classroom. Each group earns points by participating in class. This includes volunteering to read, answering questions, participating in partner and/or group activities and by having a positive attitude. Students also gain individual points and/or stamps for participating in class. A lot of the participation in class involves reading; whether it is a small passage, a sentence or a dialog from the textbook. I have found many times that the Korean English Teachers at schools that I have been in here have tried forcing children to read. While it gets them to read, they become frustrated and annoyed, which further pushes them away from gaining a positive attitude about reading in English. When motivating my students to read, I try to give them a positive outlook about how reading can be enjoyable.

When I use English literature in my classroom, my students really enjoy Dr. Suess books. They really like the way a lot of them rhyme. I have read many of these books to my students and there have been many times I speed up near the end of the book and read the long rhyming parts faster than normal. The students seem to really enjoy it. Other authors that I have been able to find and use here in Korea are Eric Carle and Bill Martin Jr., which have both been a hit with my students. I feel the more I expose them to English reading, the more likely they are going to work on gaining a positive attitude towards reading.

Travers, B.E., & Travers, J.F. (2008). Children’s literature: A developmental perspective.
Boston, MA: John Wiley & Sons.

CLC Reading Survey Team White

	Assessing Adolescents’ Motivation to Read (Jen’s Article)	The current state of motivation to read among middle school students (Justin’s Article)	Young People’s Reading: The Importance of the home environment and family support (Amy’s Article)
Sample	384 adolescents from continental US and the Caribbean	1196 sixth through eighth grade students in a large suburban middle school in Central Florida	17,089 students 8 to 16 years old from 112 different schools from England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales
Eating Habits	Not obtained in the survey	Not obtained in the survey	Not obtained in the survey
Attitude Towards Reading	Generally boys would indicate on the multiple choice form that they did not like to read, but this was a discrepancy as they told interviewers they loved to read articles, etc. on the internet or a high interest magazine, such as Field and Stream.  Their definition of reading tended to include books assigned in English class, or a textbook, not extracurricular reading which also included the internet and magazines.	From sixth grade to eighth grade, there was a significant decrease in motivation.       The self-concept score made up 52% of the reasons for motivation to read and did not seem to change much in each grade level.  A student’s attitude toward reading directly impacted their motivation to read.	The study looked at students who were encouraged to read by either parent.      Student’s attitudes towards reading differ slightly depending on what parent was encouraging them to read. If their mother was encouraging those to read 95.1% students felt that reading is very important to prosper in life.         When students feel their father encourages them to read 95.2% felt reading is important to thrive in life.
How many books student owns	Not obtained in the survey	Not obtained in the survey	The study indicated that 73% of students have their own books at home.
Why students read	According to the AMRP (Adolescent Motivation  to Read Profile), many adolescents read throughout much of their life- more than they report because they do not consider non-academic writing as a part of “reading”. However, when told students are reading when they text, IM, read something in a magazine, they acknowledged they were reading. Additionally, students reported reading because of their teacher’s enthusiasm toward reading, and parental support in reading. Students will read more if given choice in the matter. They will often choose something relevant to their life or interests.	Not obtained in the survey	According to the study, students who see their parents read embrace more of a positive attitude towards reading. Clark and Hawkins (2010) found that 1 out of 6 students, who see their parents read, enjoy reading for pleasure. Other students reported that they only read in class or when they have too.
The motivation for reading a piece of literature	Students are motivated reading a piece of literature if the teacher “sells” it to them.	Not obtained in the survey	Students are motivated to read a literacy piece if their parents demonstrate a passion for reading. Also if parents take the time to discuss what they are each reading on a frequent basis.
Reading likes/dislikes	Students report reading materials that interest them, whether it be a book, magazine, or newspaper article. Conversely, students report disliking reading that seems irrelevant or boring to them. Often, this is reported in a school setting, which is why students do not necessarily classify themselves as readers, though they do read leisurely at home.	Females shared that they like to share their favorite books with other people, especially other females.  On the other hand, males were more isolate with their reading activities.	Not obtained in the survey
Reading at home	The sample of adolescents stated that they tended to read quite a bit at home, though not on an academic level. Rather, they read on the internet regarding issues or information they needed for their personal life.	The survey showed that females read more often at home than males.  About 25% of males said that they read often at home, while more than 35% of females did the same.	The study revealed that students who were encouraged by their parents to read were twice more likely to read at home compared to students who were not urged to read by their parents.
Family attitude toward reading	There were several instances when students declared their family’s support of reading through a shared interest, like a newspaper article on a sports team, or a mother buying high interest books for her daughter. This increases motivation to read.	There was no direct connection to a family’s attitude toward reading; however, the idea of females reading more often at home than males seems to perpetuate the self-concept of females being readers rather than males.	The data collected showed that 80% of students agreed with getting some inspiration to read from their mother. Where 70% of students agree that their fathers encourages them to read.
Feelings about digital text/eBooks	Students generally did not think about electronic text as a form of reading- whether it be surfing the internet, instant messaging, or sending email, however the reading survey did account for these. Students are very interested in electronic texts. There was no data regarding eBooks.	Not obtained in the survey	Not obtained in the survey
Differences in gender	Females scored higher throughout the survey. Females motivation increased with age, while males interest decreased with age.	Females statistically valued reading more and saw themselves more as readers than males.  While both tended to have less motivation to read in the later grades, females’ interest stayed higher.  In the same light, females on average said that knowing how to read was very important, while males said it was “sort of” important.      As stated above, there were 10% more females reading often at home.      Females were found to share books sometimes, while males almost never shared books.  This shows a concept of reading within a community with girls, while guys saw the activity as an isolated task.	There was a significant difference in females reporting to have their own books and/or access to magazines than boys. There was not a big difference in the two genders having access to a newspaper.
Differences in race	Afro-Indo-Trini had much higher motivation in reading than all other ethnicities	Although the article does outline the ethnic breakdown of this large, suburban middle school, there were no discussions of how race played a factor.	Students who were of different ethnic origins indicated that their mothers encouraged them to read more compared to students who were Caucasian. Also more Caucasians revealed that their fathers did not urge them to read.
Differences between students with and without LDs	Not obtained in the survey	Not obtained in the survey	Not obtained in the survey
Teacher and Instructional Strategies	Students report a higher level of interest in reading academic texts when they were given proper scaffolding by teachers. Many students also reported an interest in reading based on the enthusiasm of their instructors, and suggested book titles from these same instructors.  The teacher was a clear role model to facilitate motivation to read for many students.	Not obtained in the survey	Not obtained in the survey
Limitations of the Survey		Since the survey was given with complete anonymity, it was hard to connect students’ responses with their actual achievement in the classroom or on reading tests.      In addition, this survey was given one day only, so make-up surveys were not given.  For this reason, students who may be routinely absent may not have been reflected in this survey.      Although the research was extensive on the differences between gender and grade level, other factors were not contributed like LD, race, and income levels.	This survey looked at students as a whole and did not look at the differences between the genders or by ages.

Purple Group Surveys Matrix

Listed below is the Purple Group results from the surveys in our matrix. We focused on Elementary students and their families. 

Reference	Attitude Towards reading	How many books owned	Why do they read	Motivation for reading a piece of literature	Reading Likes or dislikes	Reading at home	Family attitude toward reading	Feelings about texts or e-books
Children’s Attitude Toward Reading: A National Survey By Michael C. McKenna,, Dennis J. Kear	In a research of more than 18,000 students nationwide, a student’s positive attitude toward reading declined through grade six. There were little differences from 1st through 3rd grade, but 4th and 5th grade students showed a significant decline. One reason could be the competition between other recreational interests (McKenna, Kear 1995)
Development of an Instrument for Measuring Parental Beliefs About Reading Aloud to Young Children by Barbara D. Debaryshe and Janeen C. Binder		Parents that read to their children often own many books and read to their children often.					Parents reading beliefs are often the beliefs owned by children. These beliefs have a significant role on a child’s literacy environment at home. There is a link between negative feelings toward reading and the family’s educational background and economic status(Debaryshe, Binder 1994)
Who’s Reading and Why: Reading Habits of 1st Grade through Graduate Students by Deanna Camp	In this article students were surveyed as to what they liked to read and why they read. The reasons varied across grade levels. The article also talked about what was being read, the people that most influenced their reading. As the students grow older, their reading habits change and they become more disinterested in reading. Some are for a lack of time and others because they just do it because they have been told to read.		There were three reasons stated for the reason students read: for fun, to learn something new, and because they were told to in order to fulfill an assignment. Some others stated that they read to pass time.		Most students liked reading fiction books. Some students felt good because they feel as though they did something for themselves.	Students reported that some read daily, weekly, sometimes, and never. The elementary students read daily mostly because theirs was homework related.	Most of the parents are aiding students in reading when they are doing homework. They also have their students to read aloud to them and with them. The students also spoke of learning to read and who aided the most in this process. For the most part it was parents who read to them frequently.
Scholastic 2010 Kids & Family Reading Report: Turning the Page in the Digital Age By Scholastic Inc.	When children in the study were asked the most important part about reading for fun, children said it was to; open up their imagination, be inspired by the stories they are reading and more or less gain new information from the text they are reading.		Students listed a variety of extremely important reasons and very important reasons they read for fun including; personal entertainment, to experience a really great story, expand their imaginations, learn new information, to help them succeed in school, to be inspired by the characters or the story, and to gain personal insight. Students also said they felt a sense of accomplishment and pride when they finished reading a book.	The parents of the study states that giving their children a choice in the books they read help increase their children’s interest to read for fun. They also included making sure there are interesting books at home for the children to read, limiting the use of technology to a specific amount of time and suggesting books their children might be interested in.	When asked what their favorite books were,  children listed the following books; Scooby Doo, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Green Eggs and Ham, Junie B. Jones, Magic School Bus, Percy Jackson, Curious George, Clifford, Star Wars, Harry Potter, Cat in the Hat, Spongebob, Magic Tree House, Captain Underpants, and Angelina Ballerina.			Parents believe that the use of technology in a child’s life negatively affects the time kids spend reading books, doing physical activities with friends and spending time with family members (Scholastic 2010). When asked, only 25% of kids had read a book on a digital device; though 57% of students said they wanted to do so. One-third of students said they would read more books if they had access to a digital reading device.
Elementary Reading Attitude Survey (ERAS) Scores in Academically Talented Students By Frank C. Worrel, David A. Roth and Nina H. Gabelko	This article discussed the use of the Elementary Reading Attitude Surveys (ERAS) scores and how they correlated with children’s attitudes towards reading. The article found that students who are considered academically talented have a better attitude towards reading, even as their age increases. The study also found that as students get older; their attitude towards reading becomes more negative, except in academically talented students, who feel they have a general positive attitude towards reading. It was also found that overall; girls had a more positive outlook on both recreational and academic reading than boys did.			Students who are considered academically talented are more motivated to read because they find reading to be easier than students who are on a normal academic track.
Electronic Books: Fostering Emergent Literacy in Early Childhood Education  By Isela Almaguer, ED. D & Carmen Pena, PH.D. The University of Texas Pan American				The Commission on Reading reports: “The single most important activity for building the knowledge required for eventual success in reading is reading aloud to children.”  Indeed, one specific activity has become a staple of nearly every classroom, shared reading (Almaguer & Pena, 2010).			Extensive research shows that children’s language and literacy develop-ment begins at home and through family ex-periences long before children begin formal in-struction (Snow, Burns, Griffin, 1998).	Considering the benefits of implementing shared reading in our classrooms and with current research indicating the immediate and motivating response of children to technology, it is imperative that we look at the benefits of combining both (Almaguer & Pena, 2010).  Electronic books enhance a strong print-based curriculum because aside from using them to capture students’ responses to literature, they replicate traditional storybooks but add multimedia effects to support student under-standing of the literature (Shamir & Korat, 2006).  Cambourne (1998) tells us that the critical element of a child’s learning is engagement being involved through inter-actions.  As students navigate the computer and interact with the stories and retellings based on electronic books, they are practicing sequencing events, identifying main ideas within a variety of text structures and making personal connections to the story elements.