NLGL Creative Synthesis
Chelsea Stilley
Student Motivation To Read
How can small, student-led reading groups motivate middle school students to read?
“A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies. The man who never reads lives only one.”
― George R.R. Martin, A Dance with Dragons
Abstract
“Reading should not be presented to a child as a chore, a duty. It should be offered as a gift” (Katie DiCamillo). Students today view reading as a chore, as classwork, as homework, or as punishment; I want to change that perception. I want students to be excited to read and share their thoughts or connections about their book with their family and friends. I want to build a class culture of reflective and reflexive readers. Where would this journey begin? Right in the middle of my classroom, with my first of many inquiries.
Through different modes of research, studies have found a close link between reading motivation and student’s academic achievement (Falter Thomas, p. 46). If we can motivate students to read on their own and to enjoy reading, then we would take part in molding future life-long learners.
As a middle school English Language Arts teacher, I am challenged with getting my students to read for pleasure; I am competing with a virtual world. I imagine most of my students getting home at the end of a school day, throwing their book bag on the couch, and logging on to their favorite video game. For some students, this is where they will settle in for a few hours and possibly play virtually with friends.
This leads me to my topic of study, motivating middle school students to read through literature circles. There are several other teaching tools and techniques that help motivate students to read that I would like to research in the near future, however, I chose to begin my action research journey with literature circles. After completing a socratic seminar with my cohort in a previous course at NCSU, I just had to conduct one with my class. Needless to say, they were not ready for a full socratic seminar and I was advised to look into literature circles to lay the foundation.
It is my goal to find a way to bridge the gap between their virtual world and my classroom, in doing so, the benefits are endless; Students will begin taking ownership of their learning through reflection of their learning habits, students’ motivation to read will increase causing a domino effect at our school and in our community, and lastly students will foster a flame for learning by igniting reading.
Innovation Academy's Motto
Wolf Pack Readers with Dr. Davis
Literature Circles
My inquiry encompassed the reading strategy of literature circles. Literature circles are small reading groups of about 4-8 students, that are reading the same book, partaking into authentic, rich discussions on the text. According to Tobin (2012), updating the traditional literature circle to add a multimodal technological component, seems long overdue. Through this strategy, students learned how to discuss and analyze a text with peers, reflect on their group’s meeting and their learning, and ultimately reflexively study themselves as learners leading to growth individually and collectively. Through different combinations of student grouping and modes of literature circles, I examined the effects literature circles have on middle school students' motivation to read.
During ECI 540: Reading in Elementary School with Dr. Harrington and ECI 523: Teachers as Researchers with Dr. Falter, I began the journey of research by understanding the importance and value of it in the classroom. Often times, people mistake researcher’s products or practices as research-tested or research-based just because of the researcher’s credentials. The analogy Duke and Martin (2011) use resonates with me: “If a novelist writes a shopping list, its authorship does not make it a novel” (p.12). Just because a well-known researchers develops a reading practice or another county is utilizing a certain reading program, does not make that practice research-proven or tested. As educators, it is our responsibility to research the programs being used (or not used) at our school and in our district. Research is the initial spark to the flame of the twenty-first century classrooms.
The Process
The Hook
Holding Their Excitement
Hosting A Showcase
Horizon
Based on my own data analysis and data from several research studies, implementing literature circles in the classroom has exhibited an increase in student motivation to read, not only for middle school students, but also for students in K-12 classrooms and higher education classrooms. Researchers, Avci and Yuksel (2011), studied fourth grade students in Istanbul, Turkey; while Jacobs (2015) administered her study in her own fifth grade classroom in the United States. Both studies concluded that students enjoyed being able to pick their own book (from a selection provided), discussing and connecting their lives to the book with their literature circle, and being able to choose a project to work collaboratively with their group. Equally important, students expressed how much more comfortable they were working and sharing with their small literature circle versus the entire class, in turn, boosting their motivation and confidence in reading.
As I reflect on the past two years at NCSU, I can see the growth I have made as a life-long learner, a teacher, a colleague, and a leader. Dr. Jones’, ECI 508: Teachers As Leaders, course gave me a glimpse of what others have seen in me. Although our program is coming to an end, our next opportunity is ready to begin. I will end with this quote, “A ship in a harbor is safe, but that’s not what a ship is built for” (Unknown).
Be The Change You Wish To See In The World!
