In Early Intervention for Reading Difficulties by Donna Scanlon, Kimberly Anderson, and Joan Sweeney (2010), chapter 3 is devoted to motivation to read and write. In this chapter the authors say "if students are not motivated to learn to read and write, instruction will have limited impact". They go on to say that most students begin school eager to learn to read and write but that some students get discouraged when they meet difficulty and their enthusiasm goes away. Teachers must find a way to help them keep a growth mindset and believe they will become capable readers and writers. The authors suggest promoting active and joyful engagement in literacy activities. We used this book in several of our classes.
What Research Has to Say by S. Jay Samuels and Alan E. Farstrup (2011) , lists providing motivating texts and contexts for reading as a way to motivate students in literacy. When students are interested in the text or materials used in the classroom, or tasks are assigned that students find engaging, there is an increase in student recall and learning. The authors suggest "hands on activities, many opportunities to engage in reading authentic text, and texts with a clear structure and vivid, concrete examples". Also, included in the research was information about the six C's of motivating concepts for literacy learning. These include choice, challenge, control, collaboration, constructing meaning, and consequences.
THE wRITING sTRATEGIES bOOK BY jENNIFER sERRAVALLO HAS PAGE AFTER PAGE OF ANCHOR CHARTS, LESSON PLANS, AND IDEAS FOR MOTIVATING STUDENTS TO WRITE. i USED an ANCHOR CHART from this book during my ECI 509 class, Teachers As Writers, as a guide to have students create timelines on Google Slides which they were extremely motivated to complete. They integrated technology with their readings and research of a famous person. |
Best Practices in Literacy Instruction by Linda Gambrell and Lesley Morrow says the most widespread recommendation for motivation is providing choices for literacy. These choices could include choice of books, choice of goals, student input of topics, strategies for comprehension, options for demonstrating learning from text, and selecting partners for group work. Throughout our coursework, we discussed multiple strategies for including choices for students.
In Content Area Reading by Vacca, Vacca, and Mraz, we learned that many students are "digital natives" which means they are growing up with technology such as computers, Ipads, Ipods, smartphones, digital cameras, videos, email, and social media. The authors said educators should tap into this technology to find ways to use it to motivate students to learn.
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