In the area of reading comprehension and motivation, there needs to be a trusting relationship between students and teachers. There needs to be tailored instruction to teach students where they are at, guiding them towards mastery.
Teachers need to be excited about the material that they are teaching demonstrating genuine interest from the part of the teacher towards the subject, an inquiry attitude that seeks more knowledge of the subject at hand thus motivating students to learn and share what they learn, applying to real world knowledge.
The teacher needs to know their students in order to make decisions to guide their instructions such as a whole group instruction or small group instruction.
All the strategies are great strategies and they will only be effective if the teacher knows their students and understand their interests and learning styles.
In the study of Scott Paris as per Fang (2015), “the major finding of the study was that the most reliable indicator of motivation was not the type of reading program that districts follow, but the actual daily tasks that the teachers provided students in their classrooms”. Reading and writing for authentic purpose demonstrated high success rate in motivating students.
In my own experience I have seen this to be the case. Students like to share what they learn, what good is it to read and learn something new if you can’t share such knowledge with those around you?
The same applies for children, they are social and giving them the opportunity to participate in open ended activities in a safe environment that they won’t be wrong as there is no right or wrong when sharing how they connected with the book will create enjoyment. Once, they learn to enjoy books they are more likely to choose books for independent reading on their level.
Arrowsmith (2012), talks about allowing students to achieve by believing in them, she says: “Build students’ self-confidence. By instilling a sense of accomplishment in all students, teachers help them improve their self-perceptions and self-confidence. When learners believe they can achieve, they do achieve.”
When teaching, my daily homework is to read for 30 minutes and write about it. In the beginning of the year I give students a list of ideas to write about it. Maybe a letter to the author, adding a new character to the story, write a letter to a favorite character, an interview between the reader and the villain of the story, these are just ideas I want students to connect with the text. In the beginning of the year I require a one paragraph reading response.
Once a week, I allow my students to share in front of the class their favorite writing. Students are more eager to read and eager to write weekly. By the end of the year students are writing pages of homework a day. They are developing stories on their own. They start to enjoy reading and writing. They start doing homework not because it is expected of them but because they enjoy it.
In the classroom it is essential for teachers to give students time to apply what they learn. It is important for teachers to understand instructional theories and research and apply them in the classroom. It is also important for teachers to explicitly teach and guide students all students especially for delayed readers (Fang, 2015).
Reading comprehension and motivation can also be modeled at home. When parents, members of the community show pride in education students in return learn through modeling to value education. Outside of the school adults need to demonstrate interest in reading by reading themselves. Working together stakeholders can encourage the love of reading thus improving comprehension and motivation.
Dear readers, here at Sophia James Education we want to help you to be successful.
If you are struggling with homeschooling or in the classroom. We would love to help you.
Please reach out! Together We Can Achieve More.
Much love,
Raquel
References:
Arrowsmith, D. K. (2012). Getting to the why: Motivating students to read. Middle Ground, 15(4), 9-10. Retrieved from https://library.capella.edu/login?url=http://search. proquest.com.library.capella.edu/docview/1282882026?accountid=27965
Fang, Zhihui. (2005). Literacy Teaching and Learning: Current Issues and Trends. Pearson
Merrill Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, New Jersey.
