Reading Motivation for Adolescents
What is Reading Motivation and Why is it Important?
Reading motivation is a complex construct, which is described as the goals and feelings someone has towards reading. Having the motivation to read is extremely important in adolescents because it sets the platform for a lifetime of reading.
How Can We Motivate Students to Read?
Students enjoy reading what interests them! As a student in a teaching program, we are taught about a term known as "differentiation". It can be applied to all aspects of teaching, as it is the way to change the way you teach in order to meet the needs of different types of learners in your classroom. For example, I may be teaching about a concept in science. One of my students may hold a pencil very well and the other may not. I need to differentiate my assessments by having one student tell me what he learned by writing it down and the other student who doesn't do well holding writing utensils in his hand can voice his response to me with a descriptive answer. Students "pass" the test of making me aware they are learning but in different ways - ways that work for them.
Case Study - Finding What Motivates Students
Initially, Julie, the high school's assistant principal, was given the task of coming up with a summer reading program. She had looked at a few programs that surrounding high schools were using, but found that none had that spark which she believed would motivate her students to read.
After researching other reading programs, Julie identified five important components of reading motivation:
- Interest
- Perceived Control (belief that one has the ability to determine their own behavior and bring about desired outcomes)
- Self-Efficacy (the belief in one's ability to complete assignments/tasks and goals)
- Involvement
- Social Collaboration (working together with others)
So, in efforts to get students to read by using a program that would last and would be effective, Julie came up with her own summer reading program. She decided to not only use books that were of interest to students, but to offer a selection of books for students to choose from. It gave students choice where in other programs, students were assigned a book to read, which was not free for them to keep or highlight parts they wanted to talk about or remember.
Students were offered extra credit for participating and completing all parts of the summer reading program. Using extra credit made the program voluntary and not a requirement. Three parts had to be completed; 1. students read their chosen book (which was free to keep), 2. students participated in a book discussion, and 3. students completed a project based on their book. Completing these three parts earned the students who participated four extra credit points which they could apply to their final average in any class of their choice.
At the end of the program, a "Literacy Day" was had which contained the book discussions with all the participating students. At the end of Literacy Day, administrators gave students a survey which contained one question and one prompt. The question: "What was the best thing about summer reading?" and the prompt: "Suggestions for next year." 1,133 students gave responses to the surveys. Not including comments that were specific to books read or comments like "I liked getting out of class", the results were as follows as the top five answers for "What was the best thing about summer reading?":
- 226 responses - interest
- 184 responses - character identification (students can relate to characters)
- 183 responses - connection through sharing/group discussion
- 125 responses - not normally reading over the summer
- 63 responses - learning
Throughout the next two years, interest still remained the highest chosen answer as a response to what their favorite part about the reading program was.
"The more you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go." -Dr. Seuss
Mrs. Cortney Hall
Email: hallcor11@students.ecu.edu
Location: East Carolina Univsersity
References
McGaha, J. (2012). Assessing High School Students' Reading Motivation in a Voluntary Summer Reading Program. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 55(5), 417. Retrieved July 9, 2014, from DOI: 10.1002/JAAL.00050
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Tilley, C. (2009). Reading Motivation and Engagement. School Library Monthly, 26(4), 39. Retrieved July 12, 2014, from http://jproxy.lib.ecu.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ehh&AN=45649727&site=ehost-live