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