I need help answering the questions in the attachment.
R4 – Motivation
Objective: Learners will describe how to implement an instructional feature to increase reading motivation in their content area.
Consider the reader who sits down to lunch with a new novel that she has chosen. She becomes so engaged in reading that she loses track of time. After turning the last page, she notices that the sun is setting and her lunch sits untouched beside her. Her reading has motivated her because she is interested in the subject matter and curious about what will happen to the characters.
Consider another reader who has just brought home a new computer. He is eager to set it up, but the directions are complex, directing him to follow a series of steps to install the programs. Opening the directions, he begins to read carefully and with purpose. He is highly motivated to read well to gather the information needed to set up his computer correctly.
Motivation and engagement make reading enjoyable, increase strategy use during reading, and support comprehension (Guthrie & Wigfield, 2000). It is no surprise that those who enjoy reading read more or that reading more improves reading outcomes. Finding ways to motivate and engage students in reading is an essential feature of adolescent literacy instruction.
The Challenge
Struggling adolescent readers often lack the motivation to read. This lack of motivation impairs their comprehension and limits their ability to develop effective reading strategies or learn from what they read. Which, in turn, limits their exposure to important content-area information, world knowledge, and vocabulary.
A Suggestion
Increasing students’ reading motivation does not single-handedly improve reading skills; however, attention to motivating students should occur within a comprehensive reading program in which necessary reading skills and strategies are taught to struggling readers.
What Do Successful Readers Do?
The table below summarizes the features of successful and struggling readers in the area of reading motivation.
Adapted from Guthrie & Wigfield, 2000.
Recommended Instructional Practices Associated with Improved Motivation. Because motivation to read is distinct from more generalized motivations to learn, we include only those related to reading motivation.
Unlike other features of reading instruction, teachers do not provide explicit instruction in reading motivation. Instead, attention to increasing motivation occurs during the planning and implementation of reading activities. Many studies have grouped several motivational strategies, since many are interconnected. For example, to increase reading motivation and understanding, teachers might first provide a stimulating hands-on activity, then have cooperative learning groups generate questions related to the activity, and finally, have students find answers to their questions by reading relevant texts.
In a summary of research on reading motivation, Guthrie and Humenick (2004) identified four critical instructional features that can improve students’ motivation to read:
1. Provide content goals for reading
2. Support student autonomy
3. Provide interesting texts
4. Increase social interactions among students related to reading.
Provide Content Goals for Reading
A content goal is a question or purpose for reading. Content goals emphasize the importance of an increased interest in learning from what we read (Guthrie & Humenick, 2004). Teachers can help students find a purpose for reading and foster their curiosity during reading. For example, a student who is reading to find out how panda bears are becoming extinct is more likely to read the text carefully and employ strategies that will help her understand what she reads to answer her question (Grolnick & Ryan, 1987). Unlike performance goals – completing a task or doing well on a test – content goals are based on attaining conceptual knowledge.
Support Student Autonomy
· Provide opportunities for students to choose which text they read by offering a list of appropriate readings. Students who can select their own reading material employ more effective reading strategies and perform better on comprehension tests.
· Give students control over some aspects, such as where to sit, what type of product to produce (e.g., an essay or poster), and which subjects to pursue.
· Allow students to select partners, join groups, or work alone.
Use Interesting Texts
Students enjoy reading texts that they find interesting and will choose to continue reading them during free time (Guthrie & Humenick, 2004). Further, people remember interesting information more than the information they find uninteresting. High-interest text increases the motivation to read. It also increases comprehension and achievement (Guthrie & Humenick, 2004). Things to consider when selecting appropriate and interesting material:
· Choose topics with familiar background knowledge. Of course, school is about learning new things, and students will have to read texts with unfamiliar information. The recommendation is not to avoid introducing new material, but rather to be mindful of the effect that unfamiliar content can have on students’ engagement. This fact underscores the importance of giving students ample background knowledge before asking them to read texts that present new information.
· Texts that are visually pleasing and appear readable are more interesting and motivating. Pay attention to illustrations, layouts, graphics, and text sizes that are appealing and support text comprehension.
· A text’s relevance and interest is often an individual matter. While some texts are interesting to just about everyone, other texts are interesting only when they support a reader’s content goals. Recall the student who wants to understand the information in the computer manual to set up his computer. This text is relevant and important to him but may not interest a student who does not share the same content goals.
· To generate interest, provide stimulating tasks related to reading topics prior to reading. Adolescents are motivated by working together (e.g., lvey, 1999; Nichols & Miller, 1994). When students can collaborate socially on reading and reading-related tasks, they find the work more motivating and often continue working even after completing the assigned task (Guthrie & Humenick, 2004). Collaboration increases the number of opportunities struggling readers have to respond. Grouping a struggling reader with a more capable peer leads to increased success in the learning task. Social interaction not only increases motivation for reading but also increases comprehension.
Increase Opportunities for Students to Collaborate during Reading
· Allow students to collaborate by reading together, sharing information, and explaining and presenting their knowledge to others during reading-related tasks.
· Teach collaborative group work skills such as appropriate group work behavior, providing feedback to group members, and maintaining individual accountability so that students benefit from working together.
· Use collaboration to foster a sense of belonging to the classroom community (Anderman, 1999).
Example Test Question:
A middle school teacher wants to increase students’ reading comprehension skills through oral language activities. Which of the following activities is
best suited for this purpose?
A. The teacher reads a passage aloud then asks the students questions about the passage’s main idea.
B. Students read a narrative text, then chart the sequence of events on a story map.
C. Students watch various television commercials then discuss in groups the commercials’ use of selling, convincing, and propaganda.
D. Students read an expository text and take notes on the information in the passage.
The question assesses whether the beginning teacher understands relationships between the development of oral language and reading development and provides instruction that interrelates oral and written language to promote students’ reading proficiency and learning (e.g., preview-review, discussion, questioning).
Commentary
Specifically, this question focuses on using drama and sharing information to build oral language proficiency. Additionally, it connects the interrelationship between oral language and other reading components, specifically the relationship between listening comprehension and reading comprehension.
Answer A is incorrect. Although this is an oral activity, it only focuses on listening comprehension skills and does not incorporate oral language skills.
Answer B is incorrect. In this activity, students reinforce comprehension, but the reinforcement does not occur by developing oral language skills.
Answer C is correct. In this activity, there is a plan for students to use oral language for understanding and comprehension. The listening comprehension strategies will transfer to reading comprehension and critical thinking about the text’s purpose of text. Additionally, students will build oral language skills through the discussion of the commercials.
Answer D is incorrect. This activity does not include oral language skills to complete the exercise.
The correct answer is C.
Soifer, L. H. (1999). Development of oral language and its relationship to literacy. In J.R. Birsh (ed.),
Multisensory teaching of basic language skills (pp. 19-62). Baltimore, MD: Paul H. Brookes. pp. 36 – 40
Assignment:
Write in 4 strategies to increase reading motivation in your classroom and within your content.
Address how you will implement one of the four instructional features to increase reading motivation in your content area.
