Saturday, May 15, 2010
Welcome, Students!
Reflecting on the chapter readings and the Reading Interest Survey data compiled by your CLC, post an entry into the "Strategies for Motivating Students" blog. One person from the CLC should post the results of the survey to the blog. Individually, Identify the results of your CLC survey, the grade you teach and address at least one the following:(1) What stages of development are you students in?(2) What factors do you take into consideration when developing a literature-based lesson plan or unit plan?(3) What types of reading motivational activities do you employ in your classroom? What have you tried that worked or did not work in your classroom?(4) Recommend some books that you have found to be successful as motivational tools.(5) Keep in mind a blog is a place to capture ideas, exchange resources, and virtually converse with your peers. Adhere to these guidelines in order to keep the blog professional.(a) Do not promote yourself or an advertisement.(b) Do not pick out specific authors for debate.(c) Be respectful and use professional language.(d) Stay focused on the topic.(e) Keep your comments short and to the point.(f) Do not copy and paste text without citing references and sources.(6) You must post at least one entry into the blog to receive credit.(7) Submit all posts by the end of Module 7.
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Good Evening All,
ReplyDeleteI am burning the late night oil with this assignment, given that we are wrapping up the school year. Nevertheless, I am officially a blogger, YAY!
What factors do you take into consideration when developing a literature-based lesson plan or unit plan?
ReplyDeleteWhen creating a lesson plan, I take into consideration several factors. I take into consideration how the subject was taught to me as a student. I take into consideration what I can recall without any review materials. I think about all of the learning styles that must be covered within the lesson. I try to apply as many of the senses to the lesson as well to keep the students attentive. I also try to make it entertaining, engaging, and thought provoking to bring forth higher order thinking with an everyday twist to it so that my students will see it as second nature.
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ReplyDeleteWhat types of reading motivational activities do you employ in your classroom?
ReplyDeleteI immediately try to motivate my students to read the first day of school. I give a reading survey that asks students what their likes and dislikes are when it comes to reading. Usually I find out that many of the students in my class enjoy similar topics and genres. I then set up my library according to my students' interests. After that I make my library and room ready for comfortable reading times. I do SSR every day in my class for about 10-15 minutes. I have pillows, beanbags and chairs that students can relax on with a good book. I also give my students book bags and reading logs to document their reading accomplishments. I find that my students like to see their accomplishments as they read each day. Also, it gives them a sense of independence and ownership. I have a lending library where students can take books home. I also have a librarian who takes great care of the library center. I really see a huge growth in my students from September through June when it comes to their reading habits.
The survey I read was entitled “Using Literature to Increase Reading Motivation” by Kristen Alden, Jane Lindquist, and Carrie Lubkeman. The purpose of the survey was to increase fourth graders’ reading motivation by helping them to develop a broader awareness of literary genres.
ReplyDelete(a) Reading habits of students
• Only about 1/3 of students read outside of the classroom
• Fiction is most popular genre
• Low level of reading practice taking place at home
(b) Attitude towards reading
• 75% liked to read
• 25% did not like to read
• 75% said reading was important
• 19% said it was sort of important
• 6% said it was not important at all
(c) How many books the students own
• 68% own 0 - 25 books
• 12% own 26 - 50 books
• 18% own 76 - 100 books
• 45% own more than 100 books
(d) Why students read
• Assigned reading
• Pleasure
• Reading logs
• For information
(e) The motivation for reading a piece of literature
• 48% were rated by their teacher/low motivation for reading
• 52 % were rated by their teachers/ medium motivation for reading
• Motivation comes as skills develop because frustrations decrease
• Activate prior knowledge/set purpose/find familiar
• Jump start with book chats
• Book talks
• Reading logs
• Buddy reading
• Choral reading
• Novel reflections
(f) Reading likes/dislikes
• 59% like fiction
• 25% like nonfiction
• 3% like science fiction
• 4% like historical fiction
(g) Reading at home
• 59% read daily
• 18% read every 4 - 6 days
• 22% read every 1 - 3 days
• 1% never read
•
(h) Family attitude toward reading
The community studied in this survey had a mission to educate all the children to become life-long learners. Still, the reasons for children not progressing in reading were
1. Literacy deficient homes
2. Economically disadvantaged
3. Reading not a priority
4. Lack of family literacy practices
5. No exposure to “book rich” environment
6. Lack of opportunity for literacy activities
(I) feelings about digital text and e-books
• This was not addressed
I teach third grade in the Memphis City Schools. When I am developing a literature-based lesson plan there are many things I must take into consideration. I first must consider the stages of development of my students. I have students who barely know the alphabet to students who read on a fifth grade level. I have a few students who can read, but cannot comprehend anything at all that they are reading. I need to make sure that I develop a plan around a great piece of literature and that I have strategies that meet all the children’s needs. I need to make sure that these strategies include drawing and artwork, field trips, games, graphic organizers, semantic maps, word webs, humor, manipulatives, models, metaphors, analogies, similes, mnemonic devices, movement, music, rhythm, rhyme, rap, role playing, drama, charades, technology, visualization, guided imagery, visuals, and writing. Otherwise, the children will not be engaged and neither will I.
MY FIRST BLOG:
ReplyDeleteWhat type of motivational activities do you employ in the classroom? What have you tried that worked or did not work in your classroom?
There are several motivational activities I use in my classroom. First, I would pick reading to the students. I utilize the school library with classroom sets during read alod time. Also literature circles offer a way to engage students of a particlar literature piece of work. Literature circles are used to explore vocabulary, extended responses to a chapter, identifying different literary elements . Later, peer reading allows students to improve fluency reading.
Literature circles would the most positive motivational activity that works in my classroom. Because have learned since the beginning of the school year the expectations of literature circles time .
Most students senjoy using the computers. We use Renassiance Learning as a part of Accelereated Reading books. This is a motivation activity, especially for students falling below the curve. The students enage in rerading, then go to the computer and take a test of ten questions about the book. The test on the computer has the advantages as well as disadvantage. The advantage is students can get immediate feedback after completing the test. The disadvantage does not offer a lot of time for students with low ability to read through the questions. I have often observed students guessing or going thru the test quicklsy, not taking their time. Then, I have to make adjustments with those students , I use a paper format for some students rushing and not taking their time. For some, the time is just to go on the computer. Most od the students read daily and independently with the AR program. This year my class was selected reading the most books and having scores of 80% or better.
Linda
ReplyDeleteI also have students that struggle to read and will just click through questions. They are not able to read the questions, but if read the question they know the answers. Some of the tests do not allow you to read the question to them, so the kids just click even if they would know the answer to the questions. When I give a end of unit test, I will read the questions to the students that need the extra support. We are not testing if they can read the words we are testing whether they know what the content is in their unit. It was great to read your post. Thanks.
When trying to motivate my students to read this is a daily struggle since my students are special education students. But the first thing that come to my mind is one of my students that HATES to read. He tries to avoid this like its the plague. He is the highest students in the 6th grade at my school, but struggles with reading. He was the only student last year in the fifth grade to pass all 5 parts of the Ohio Achievement test with flying colors. I have tried everything under the sun to motivate him. One thing that seems to work is computer time. If he reads so much I let him have extra computer time.
ReplyDeleteWhat type of reading motivational activities do you employ in your classroom? by Lesley Belair
ReplyDeleteSince I am a special education teacher, I don't get a lot of say as to what my students read because I teach very prescriptive reading groups. I do collaborate with the classroom teachers to try to come up with books for my struggling readers that are high interest, but also at their readability level. This can be challenging, because they often want to read what their peers are reading, but it is too difficult. I have found that using books on tape in some instances can be very motivating for students because they can listen and follow along to more difficult texts that are too hard for them to read. I also find the Read Naturally program very motivating for my special education students because the stories are very interesting and it allows them to practice their fluency with exciting stories!
To motivate my students, I try to involve them as much as possible in the lessons. I went to GLAD (Guided Language Acquistion Development) training and the strategies I learned there work wonders, not just with my ELD and Special Ed. students, but with my mainstream students as well. I know it sounds crazy if you haven't done it before, but we literally get down on the rug and I read books to them (even though they are 13 years old). Somehow, this shift in routine makes them more comfortable and more willing to let themselves enjoy the story and ask questions. (On a side note, I even get them to sing sentences on the rug when we are working on parts of speech.)
ReplyDeleteI also find that technology is hugely motivational for students. I used to run an after-school program called Read 180, which my struggling readers really enjoyed. There are small videos, quizzes, and portions where students can practice their reading and listen to themselves read through recordings. They really liked this because, with the headphones on, they felt comfortable practicing and didn't hold back as much.
The study I found didn't cover technology, but the answers the students gave consistently showed that they love being read to by the teacher and having time to read silently in class. Even though there are always too many standards and benchmarks to cram through, I firmly believe that none of it matters if they leave my class hating reading. So, we read. Silently, to each other, and every way imaginable.
I wanted to recommend a couple of books that have really helped me motivate and engage students.
ReplyDeleteWorksheets Don't Grow Dendrites by Marcia Tate and
Becoming a "Wiz" at Brain-Based Teaching by Marilee Sprenger
These books are great for finding instructional strategies that engage the brain. I attended Marcia Tate's workshop a couple of years ago and it was awesome!
Thanks,
Kim Brothers
Motivation is something that we all must have in order to become successful in life. Whether a person wants to be the manager at McDonalds or the President of the United States, it takes dedication and motivation in order to accomplish these goals. It is my opinion that WE AS TEACHERS are one of the most important influences on children in motivating them to become product citizens in society; and one way of ensuring this is by promoting the importance of reading! I read several surveys on motivating students and these were the findings. (NLT research)Motivation is often cited as an important factor in students’ becoming proficient readers. How does student motivation affect the development of reading skills? And what can teachers do to tap into students’ motivation to read? The research on reading motivation is not robust enough to fully answer these questions, but recent studies offer intriguing insights. Children are now more likely to look at websites and emails for their leisure reading than pick up a book, according to the survey of their reading habits. Little more than four in 10 boys (42 percent) regularly open the pages of a work of fiction, while among girls the proportion is only marginally higher, at 49 percent. Less than half of children aged nine to 14 read fiction more than once a month, a study by the National Literacy has found. Despite ‘virtual reading’ becoming more and more widespread, magazines remain the most popular material for leisure reading, with 72 percent of children reading them more than once a month. But novels came a poor fifth, according to the poll of 1,530 children by the NLT. A third (34 percent) said they did not enjoy reading very much, the same proportion saying it made them feel “bored”. Eight percent said they did not enjoy at all.
ReplyDelete(Research 2) Paul Morgan and Douglas Fuchs (2007) reviewed the research on young children’s reading motivation. After examining 15 studies, they found that reading skills and motivation correlate with and influence one another over time, but there was not enough evidence to say that once caused the other. Morgan and Fuchs note that motivation is a multidimensional factor that is hard to measure. They recommend targeting both reading skills and motivation.
(Research 3) The American Psychological Association (2007) explored how students evaluate textbooks and the factors that make them more or less likely to read textbooks. The study was based on surveys of 230 undergraduates in an introductory psychology course at a Midwestern university. Four factors best predicted whether students would spend more time with the textbook: gender of the students, the quality of visuals and the quality of the photographs in the books, and the extent to which professors link assigned textbook sections to lectures and other in-class work.
I forgot to include my references for my three surveys so here they are.
ReplyDeleteReferences
Bauerlein, M, Stotsky, S. Why Johnny Won’t Read. Retrieved from http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A33956-2005Jan24.html on May 18, 2010.
Jaschik, Scott. Why Students Read Textbooks (or Don’t). Retrieved from http://www.carterkeys.com/docs/WhyStudentsReadTextbooksOrDont.pdf on May 17, 2010.
http://www.telegraph.com.uk/education/educationnews/7250303/Half-of-children-dont-read-fiction.html
Hello Its Johanna
ReplyDeleteI teach 1st grade and I find it very hard to get my students to read especially when there is so much technology in our classroom. Six computers and the Interactive Promeathean Board. Simply put my students would rather be on a computer and not reading. I use the technology as a reward. One I keep the computers off in the classroom when they are not in use. My students will not read if computers are on and working. Two students who meet their reading goal are allowed computer time only. If they really want to get on the computer they have to show me they are reading. Finally I alway let my student know that I read everyday. I let them see me read this way they are motivated to do the same.
What stages of development are you students in?
ReplyDeleteBeing a kindergarten and first grade teacher, most of my students fall in the initial reading and/or decoding stage. In this stage they are just learning the relation between letters and sounds and between printed and spoken words. We spend a lot of time working with beginning and ending letter sounds, rhyme, syllables, and begin working with middle sounds. Some of my students are able to read simple text containing high-frequency words and phonically regular words. However, not all of my students fit into this category. Many of my students are identified with learning disabilities or other health impairments that can have them still in the pseudo reading stage. The advantage of working as an inclusion classroom teacher is that I do also get to work with some higher level stage 2 students. These students are reading familiar books, working with decoding new words and learning reading rules and words that are rule breakers. So to say the least I work with a wide variety of students and have to prepare several different lesson plans for the different groups I work with.
What factors do you take into consideration when developing a literature-based lesson plan or unit plan?
Of course when developing a literature based lesson plan the most important factor for me to consider is where my students fall in the area of reading development. That will be the driving factor in selecting my read a-louds and different leveled books that I will use with my reading groups. The next factor that I have to look at is what the school district tells me I need to use and teach according to our pacing guide.
What types of reading motivational activities do you employ in your classroom? What have you tried that worked or did not work in your classroom
Our school utilizes AR reading program and offers rewards a monthly AR breakfast for the top readers in the classroom, prizes every 9 weeks for earning points, and an end of the year picnic for reaching a number of points based on grade level. In addition to the AR rewards from the school, each time my students get 5 AR points they get to pull from a treat box (that is reading at least 10 books and getting every question correct). Also we keep a poster up so that as each child reads a book, and we as a class read a book we add a sticker. When our 100 chard is full we celebrate by having a popcorn party. Once a 9 week grading period we pick a favorite book that we have read and have a theme day for that book, Each student is encouraged to dress in a manner as the characters of the book or to at least bring in something from home that is in the book.
Recommend some books that you have found to be successful as motivational tools.
For myself- that I have read marked and go back to frequently:
On Solid Ground Strategies for Teaching Reading K-3, by Sharon Taberski
Becoming a “Wiz” at Brain Based-Teaching by Merilee Sprenger
What to do With the Kid Who…Developing Cooperation, Self-Discipline, and Responsibility in the Classroom by Kay Burke
Devotions for the Teacher Make Your Day Count Devotions for the Teacher Make Your Day Count by Lindsay Roberts and friends
For my students:
• They love the “There Was an Old Lady…” books. They will take these to their desks to read frequently.
• Books that we have written as a class; for example, Our Trip to the Farmer Bakers. I bring my camera along on field trips and when we come back have different students write captions under the pictures then bind it together in a class book. We do this at the beginning of the year with an All About Me book we use to introduce the students to each other.
• Series books, such as the Mercer Mayer Little Critter Books. I generally use these at the beginning of the year. During mid year I like to pull out the Junie B. Jones books. Towards the end of the year we move towards Magic Tree House and Cam Jensen series.
ding workbook pages and worksheets?
ReplyDelete2. Latest Survsy Results, Smart Girl. There were 962 students surveyed during Teen Week 2005. In the group, 691 were girls and 237 were boys. The demographics of the students were majority European descant but otheres were African,Asian, Latin American, Middle Eastern and Native Americans.Results of the survey showed that most students enjoed reading and very few did not.Therefore, student attitudes about readingof the majority were quite high.Adventure was the number one genre for the students surveyed. Also, the students did not like to read newspapers and wished they knew more about books to try new books to read.
3.Just Plain Reading. This study "Plain Reading" surveyed 1,765 sixth grade students in twenty-three schools analyzing issues students and teachers face with reading.One common belief many students share negative attitides about reading. Yet, the study showed students do want to read and know what they like and dislike about reading.The survey was created with open-ended questions, short answer items and a checklist. It also showed students really enjoed having the freedom to choose their own books and felt more to read a book they were interested in.
3. Children trn off the TV and open a book instead. A survey of 4,500 students were conducted comparing watching tv and reading.The survey showed 55% children prefer watching tv to reading, with a decline of 62% four years ago.Both girls and boys seem to enjoy reading all sorts of comic books. Girls show a more postive attitude about reading.Finally, 24% of nine- year-old boys said they did not like to read at home, compared to 18% of the girls.Also, nine-year ols saw reading as being difficult compared to only nine percent of girls.
4. Middle School Readers.Assessin adolescent motivation to read, was a survey of various adolescents in the middle school range which focued on helping teachers and students with reading in the classroom. The research survey conductors provided students with a questionnaire about reading and their feelings. They also followed with an interview about the students' responses to their answers on the questionnaire. The students didn't view themselves as readers adn some , interviewed, viewed themselves as poor readers.The students only connectes reading and being a reader with educaitonal materials. The survey rersults showed the students were fluent readers.They were fluent readers, for the same reasons adults read every day.Students read sportss statistics, play books, articls. They read various types of materials for school, hobbies, magazines . In the age of technology, students read a ton of electronic materiala such as emails, instant messaging, socialwebsites and social networking pages.
References
Fallaw, A. ( 2007). Reading Motivation. Retrieved on May 17, 2010 from faculty.rcoe.appstate.edu/koppenhaverd/f06/5040/papers/aliciaf.pdf
Gay,Ivey and Broaddus, Karen. ( 2001). Just Plain Reading Research Quarterly.36,4.Retrieved on May 16,2010 from http//ezproxy.lib.csustan.edu
Garner,R.Turn off the TV and Open a Book Instead. Retrieved on May 20,2010 from http//www.independent.co.uk/news/education/educator.Children
Kear,D.&McKenna,M. ( 1990). Measuring Attitude Toward Reading: A New Tool for Teachers. The Reading Teacher, 43(8)
Pictcher M.S. etc. al. ( 2007). Assessing adolescents' motivation to read. Journal of Adolescent Literacy. 50.5.Pages 378-397.
Teen Read Week ( 2005) Latest Survey Results, Smart Girl. Retrieved on May 15, 2010,Retrieved from www.latestsurveyresults/teenreadweek2005/Summary.htm
TEAM RED
ReplyDeleteThe first two surveyed somehow didn't post.I will redo
1.Reading Motivation. In this survey second graders were surveyed to find out about their attitude towards reading in and out of the classroom. The teacher, Alicia Fallaw noticed her students showed a disinterest in reading. The enrollment in her class was 23 students. There were 23 students, 13 girls , 10 boys, 7 Hispanic studnts, 1 Biracial student and 15 Caucasian students,Ms. Fallaw decided to administer an Elementary Reading Attitude Survey to her students and then studied them for results. After the survey, the results showed that 37% of students in the class enjoyed recreational reading and would choose to read over many other activities and 61%of students felt that reading was merely academic and that school is the place for reading.Overall, the students showed a real lack of interest in reading if not forced to do so.The three questions that were ranked the lowest for the students were: how do you feel about reading during the summer, how do you feel about reading instead of playing and how do you feel about doing reading workbook pages and worksheets?
ReplyDeleteTEAM RED
Anyone,
ReplyDeleteIs here anyway to go into your post and correct speeling eerors. I am still new to this.
When creating a unit lesson plan I engage myself totally in the subject matter so that it can be of interest to me. If the subject is interesting to me and I enjoy it as the educator, it rubs off on my students and they in turn enjoy the lesson as well. I try to find ways of making the subject matter interesting to the students by including plays, rhymes, and even allowing the students to put their spin on the lesson as well. I observe the students, their likes and dislikes, I pay attention to the sidebar conversations that my students have with their peers in order to help aid me in planning a lesson.
ReplyDeleteAs a first grade teacher, I realize that the majority of young students must be inspired, challenged or stimulated to learn. I thoroughly believe that the primary goal of reading is for pleasure. A an educators I have become more aware of the importance of reading motivation on children’s literacy development. Once I have supplied a wide variety of literature, it is crucial that students are motivated and engaged. The successful engagement of students in the classroom is a rewarding challenge for me daily. Some strategies I use to motivate students are connecting to the learners prior knowledge, making the topic we are studying relate to my students everyday life, allowing the children to have buy in on whatever literature we are utilizing and setting clear and precise expectations for all learners in our class. When a child relates personally to a topic, he will be more engaged and will relate to the material. This student is more likely to eagerly
ReplyDeleteparticipate in the lesson. I know my students must be provided a varied selection of literature to read, listen to, and discuss.
In order to ensure students are motivated we would use a wide variety of graphic organizers and pictures. In first grade students are stimulated by thematic lessons, Reader’s Theatre, picture books, art projects and author studies. Teachers complain that they cannot compete with today’s technology and many students think teachers are boring. To address this area I would seek more knowledge concerning literature on e-books. I understand the importance of providing students with high-quality literature, especially when integrating literature into the content areas, but it is equally important that students have a choice in what they read. It is a highly skilled teacher that is able to get students not only to read literature, but also to make it a regular part of discussions. Atwell (1998) suggests how important it is for teachers of adolescents to read what their students are reading. She suggests that teachers should not only create classroom
libraries that are filled with the greatest variety of texts that might interest teens but also that they devote some of their own reading time to enjoy the reading of these texts.
In our team project I learned the importance of parents and siblings attitude on the learner’s attitude towards reading. When the parents are observed reading silently for pleasure the child will come to value reading. If families own books and take pride in these materials usually their child will grasp this concept as well. Team purple researched bridging the gender gap in reading and we noted the difference in the methods by which young boys learn to read. This survey shows the materials boys select for independent readers and materials girls prefer. The reading research concerning using multiple intelligences to motivate readers share how these students learned to enjoy reading a variety of genres and increased their self-esteem.
Generally speaking, literature in the classroom serves the dual purpose of providing enjoyment and developing understanding. . It is important that the teacher keeps in mind that the primary purpose for reading is pleasure. Teachers must be aware of the wide variety of literature available to students in order to guide them to make good selections and open their eyes to the plethora of high quality literature written specifically for them.
Literature can be a powerful influence in shaping a reader's understanding of the world. It is essential that as a teacher, I make available literature that will help expand my students' understanding of the world. Motivation and engagement are imperative in the reading classroom. Integrating motivation techniques with engaging lessons creates a classroom climate that will successfully involve students in the process of learning to read and reading to learn.
Reference
Atwell, N. (1998). In the middle (2nd ed.). Portsmouth, NH: Boynton/Cook.
I think I created a blog where I have written the answers to this assignment. I am anxious for feed back guys so let me know if you find it. I think all you do is click on my picture and follow the link I labled it "Strategies for Motivating Students Assignment" Original, huh:)
ReplyDelete