Strategies to Motivate Struggling Readers K-8

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Reading Motivation

Strategies to Motivate Struggling Readers K-8

Candace Barnes (6th-8th Grade)

Rachel Monroe (4th Grade)

RE 5040 Project

4/26/11

5040 Teacher as Researcher Project

Candace Barnes and Rachel Monroe

Reading Motivation

Background

In our classrooms, we have noticed children who are struggling readers or below grade level readers tend to have a lack of motivation and interest in reading activities. These students know they are not at the same ability levels as their peers; yet wish to read the same texts. Since many of their independent level text can be childish or not developmentally appropriate, these students tend to have less self-motivating qualities when it comes to reading for fun. Much of their lack of interest in reading comes from the struggles in the classroom, when reading independently and for academic purposes. We have noticed these students often have trouble selecting texts to read independently because of their issues with reading fluency and comprehension, so they tend to not read for recreation or for pleasure.

Since we know that students become better readers by spending more time reading, we wanted to focus on finding strategies that would motivate struggling readers and interest them in reading for pleasure. To focus on the topic of motivation, we hoped we would gain insight into how all levels of children are best motivated to read in our classrooms and how to spark interest for struggling readers. We also hoped to find further information for introducing text to students that is neither childish, nor insults their respective age. If we could find a way for students to self-motivate and motivate their peers to read, we knew our classrooms could build and encourage successful readers of all levels.

What the Research Says about Motivation

Our first important task was to locate resources and research to help us define reading motivation and locate strategies for success in the classroom. Reading research also says themotivation issue as an important key to reading success, much like what we have seen in our classrooms. As stated by Edmunds and Bauserman (2006), motivation is the key role in learning. “Motivation frequently makes the difference between learning that is temporary and superficial and learning that is permanent and internalized" (Oldfather, 1993). We also found students who consistently read for their own interest are often quite competent and are usually highly achieving readers. Wigfield and Guthrie (1997) documented that, “students who are intrinsically motivated spend 300% more time reading than students who have low intrinsic motivation for reading. Compared to 10 other motivations, intrinsic motivation for reading was most highly associated with whether or not students read widely and frequently on their own accord.”

Much like what we have seen in our classroom with struggling, we found research evidence of the downward spiral of motivation for older readers. “As students progress through school, their identity as learners and readers can progressively deteriorate. Young children typically give high ratings to reading and learning” (Coddington & Guthrie, 2006). However, as students approach the end of the elementary grades, many students cease to aspire to higher achievement or proficiency in tasks such as reading in any subject matter (Wigfield & Eccles, 2002).“The reasons for reading, then, are crucial. Simply reading is insufficient. When internal motivations such as intrinsic motivation and interest energize students' reading, students interact with text deeply and gain relatively high amounts of knowledge or aesthetic experience (Schiefele, 1999). If students' reading interests are weak, their competency grows little and their quality as readers diminishes.”(Guthrie, 2007). We now knew how important it was to incorporate an independent reading time filled with student choice, so that the interest of the text could be a motivating factor in reading.

Since we were looking to find a way to play to students’ interest and the social aspect of reading, we began to look for strategies to fit our definition of motivation. We tried to find ideas that helped students collaborate, have choice of texts, and share text information. For struggling readers to become motivated and better readers "they need to be reading at their instructional reading level with 95% accuracy in word recognition" (Ivey, 1999). We decided we wanted to implement a set independent reading time using choice texts based on this research. We would use our classroom library and school library to locate text that would be of interest and acceptable for students. “By the time a struggling reader reaches middle school some are "3-4 years behind compared to on grade-level readers. The KEY is making difficult books accessible and easy books acceptable" (Ivey, 1999). We were going to have to make sure all levels of text were accessible, and that read alouds (using computers or tapes) would be available for students who were far below grade level.

To add to our independent reading time, we found research supported that students needed a model of reading and time to share their reading with peers and teacher. According to Gambrell (1996), “Teachers become explicit reading models when they share their own reading experiences with students and emphasize how reading enhances and enriches their lives” (p. 20). Allington (2006) offers the idea of the teacher previewing a small selection of books each day, offering what type of reader may enjoy the book, and allowing students to check them out. “The more books that children are exposed to, and know about, the more likely they are to read” (Gambrell, 1996, p. 22)We decided we wanted to provide a model for reading by introducing our book favorites, and then allow students to do the same. The more our students saw us and their peers reading, the more they would be motivated to do the same.

We decided to plan for small group discussion as a part of our self-selected reading time, or what we called an “individual reading conference”. As Gambrell (1996) notes, students need to share their enthusiasm about books with each other. Self-selection can be more motivating if students know they will have the opportunity to talk with friends about their choices. (Strickland & Alvermann, 2004).This research suggested we give students time to share and discuss reading experiences so that peer motivation can thus be improved. Students are motivated by the teachers’ attention and interest in their activities; we know this from past experiences. The conferences will be a great way to incorporate time and individual attention to each reader.

Research Questions

All of our students, even those that lack motivation and struggle in the area of reading, are expected to pass grade level tests and become readers of some capacity. Since we noticed our struggling readers lack motivation for reading independently, we knew they were not getting the recommended ninety minutes or more of reading time per day. We also know they are unlikely reading at their instructional level due to a need to read text like their peers. Both of these factors are detrimental to increasing reading capacity throughout the year. Our main struggle as teachers is to find texts that interest, relate, and are developmentally appropriate for these students. Along with locating these texts, we also need to implement a set selected reading time and the use of peer recommendations for text.

Our main focus at the beginning of each year is always finding a new entry point for these students so we can increase or renew motivation/interest for reading. If we can achieve this, closing the wide gap for these students will be better obtainable through increased time spent reading. Students who are motivated and engaged, tend to increase time spent reading at home and school, which in turn will increase reading ability. We have found that the most important component for these students is finding texts that are appropriate, yet not childish or insulting to their current age. We decided to look at strategies that would increase time spent reading independently; since this is where most upper grade students need renewed motivation. Since we work with students who are struggling to read fluently and comprehend even below their level, we wanted to see what possibilities were available to include student choice and social ideas in the reading equation as a tool for motivation. Our research began with two questions:

1.What effect does student choice have on increasing interest/motivation in reading?

2.What effect does implementing a set self-selected reading/read aloud during instructional time have on increasing reading attention and motivation?

We used these questions to take a closer look at independent reading and motivation strategies for our students. We would incorporate three reading strategies that focused on social interaction, peer recommendation, and independent choice reading. We would be using self-selected reading for Rachel's class because most students can choose texts that are close to their levels without it being too childish. We incorporated selected read alouds and listening devices for Candace's class because many readers are far below level, yet still wish to read grade level appropriate texts. We wanted to reach as many students as possible for our experiment.

Participants

As teachers from two very different classrooms and teaching experiences, we were led to focus our research on a common issue we see daily in all classrooms. Since we come from completely different classroom environments, we need to explain the varied background on each of our schools and classes.

Candace teaches at East Alexander Middle, EC Extend 2, grades 6th-8th. This middle school has 680 students, of which 50% are on free and reduced lunch. Most students are from a low socioeconomic background, with working case parents. The school is very culturally diverse. Candace has been in her position for almost a year and a half at East Alexander Middle School. She has 13 total students. In 6th grade she has 3 Caucasian females, 1 Caucasian male, 1 African American female, and 1 African American male. Her 7th grade consists of 3 Caucasian females, 2 Caucasian males, and 1 Mexican American male. Her 8th grade consists of only 1 Caucasian male. Out of her students, 10 out of 13 are severely below grade level readers, which range from primer to late 4th grade. The majority of her students fall in the lower end of the spectrum. Also, most students have been diagnosed ADD/ADHD yet many parents refuse to place them on medication. Most of the guided reading that students are involved in is books on tape and storybooks online using computer technology. For independent reading they are to read a book on their independent reading level. Ultimately, this has become a struggle due to having to read "childish" books and stories of non-interest just to meet their instructional level. Many times, these students need to read choice books at their listening level so they can feel a part of their peer reading circles.
Rachel works at Tuttle Elementary School in Catawba County. She has worked three years in a 4th grade classroom. Tuttle Elementary has about 500 students, of which 60% are on free and reduced lunch. It is a Title one school with most students being from very low socioeconomic homes. There are a small percentage of students from middle class families. The school has very low cultural diversity, and has worked hard to gain support of parents on the importance of reading at home. In her 4th grade classroom, about half of the students are below grade level readers or readers who struggle with fluency or comprehension. Rachel has fully implemented guided reading in her classroom due to three different levels of students and implements read aloud on students listening level. Her grade level ability groups for reading instruction, and she has the middle reading group. Their are 13 students on grade level, 9 on a third grade reading level, 3 students slightly above grade level. The class consists of 22 Caucasian students, 1 African-American, and 2 Hispanic Americans. The room is predominately male, with 15 boys and 10 girls. Five students are diagnosed ADHD, with only two taking medication. The main issue she has found is students below level have a hard time making correct choices for self-selected texts because they want to read above their level to be like their peers. These same students lack motivation to read due to need for more choices in reading selections that are appropriate and of interest to them. The guided reading implementation has helped this process, but she still feels a strong need for a student choice factor and discussion with peers so that reading motivation can be increased.
Candace’s Participants

To find specific participants for this study, we looked carefully at the classrooms we teach. Candace chose her 13 students ranging from 6th-8th grade. The racial make-up was as follows: African American children-1 female and 1 male; Mexican American-1 male; Caucasian-5 females and 5 males. Motivation and interest questions will be directed towards the entire class throughout daily reading instruction. When incorporating attention/motivation questions, the focus will be placed on 3 students (2 boys and 1 girl) who have severe attention problems during daily instruction. These children have been diagnosed ADD in addition to low Garfield Reading Survey scores. All students receive resource services based on their IEP's. Also, they are all on the Extend 2 curriculum.

Student Backgrounds for Focus Group:Below are the three students who were chosen to be part of a research focus group when incorporating attention/motivation into reading instruction based on pre-assessment Garfield Survey scores.

●Nathan is in the 7th grade and has been in the EC program since 1st grade. His category is SLD. He is reading instructionally at 2nd grade. During instruction he continuously gets out of his seat, yells, and argues with teachers and peers. He knows he is a struggling reader and because of that he lacks putting forth effort. Due to his reading struggles books on tape have been made accessible to him. He thinks that because he is in an EC classroom he automatically qualifies as “stupid” which is quiet the opposite. If it were not for his below grade level reading and writing skills he would be in a regular education classroom. Nathan is in 7th grade and has been in the EC program since 1st grade. His category is SLD. He is reading instructionally at about 2nd grade. During instruction he continuously gets out of his seat, yells at, and argues with teachers and peers. He knows he struggles to read and because of that he does not want to try and learn how to read better; easy to see why there is no motivation. Due to his struggling to read on his own that is why books on tape have become available to him. He thinks because he is EC he automatically qualifies as “stupid.” Stupid is quite the opposite of what Nathan truly is. Nathan is very good in math and has remarkable common sense. The only thing holding him back from being placed back into a regular education classroom is his reading and writing skills.

●Chelsea is in 6th grade and has been in the EC program since she was in 3rd grade. Her category is ID-Mild. She is reading instructionally at 3rd grade. She struggles greatly in math compared to reading. In reading Chelsea struggles to comprehend what she has read. Although she struggles when reading on her own she does comprehend when books are being read to her. Her behaviors during instruction include her speaking out during class, distracting those around her by tapping on her desk or chair, or drawing. She is more reluctant to read during class if she is completely wrapped in the text. It’s obvious when she is because she sits there glued to her book and never says a word.

●Josh is in the 6th grade and has been in the EC program since 1st grade. His category is ID-Mild. Josh struggles in greatly in math and reading. He is reading instructionally at a late 2nd grade level. Josh has a hard time comprehending what he reads. Also, he does not comprehend what is read to him at grade level. During class instruction and group work he distracts his peers. He continuously talks out, makes noises, and lays his head down to draw. During reading time he always asks if he can go to the bathroom, which Candace has found he does to get out of reading. Josh looses focus faster compared to the others.

Rachel’s Participants

Rachel's participants included her class of 25 fourth grade students. These students are ability grouped for reading instruction, so 13 students read on grade level and 9 read slightly below grade level. Four students in the classroom have been diagnosed ADHD/ADD, 3 boys and 1 girl. None of the students in this reading group receive EC services, but 6 students have PEP's for not passing their reading EOGs. The student choice questions will be aimed at the entire reading group. The attention/motivation question will be aimed at the entire class, with a focus on a subset group of 2 males and 1 female with attention issues/ low Garfield Survey scores.