Maximizing Motivation!

Recent Research Findings and Practices

Barbara A. Marinak, PhD

Mount St. Mary’s University

My Early Days…

Context Courageous Reading

• This investigation was the result of elementary educators taking action to nurture intrinsic reading motivation.

• They wanted their students to read independently, read widely, engage in discussions about text, and collaborate about books.

• Requested assistance!

Participants

• Students- Four fifth grade classrooms-2 treatment, 2 control

• Instructional Team- two classroom teachers, two special educators, two reading specialists, and the building principal

Design Using a mixed methods design, this study examined the effects of a fifth grade reading motivation intervention as assessed by:• Motivation to Read Profile

(Gambrell, Palmer, Codling & Mazzoni, 1996)

• Participatory Action Research

Pre-MRP

• No statistically significant differences between treatment and control classrooms.

Examples

• I don’t really like to read.

• I’m not a very good reader.

• I don’t read well.

• I’m slow reader.

• I would rather do anything else.

• SSR means sit down, shut up and read!

Goal

Research indicates that reading motivation can be supported and nurtured with literacy activities and experiences that:

1.are authentic

2.are collaborative

3.are challenging

4.provide choice

Post-MRP

• Analysis revealed statistically significant differences between the treatment and control classrooms on the total MRP score with the treatment classrooms scoring higher than the control classrooms.

• Gains were seen only on the value of reading subscale.

Examples

• I can do this!

• Can I read that after you?

• I hope we are going to do this all the time!

• Is this what reading is now? Cool!

• I like talking to my friends about books.

Vote for the Teacher Read-Aloud!

Book Clubs• During a six-day cycle, 50% of SSR time

morphed into Book Clubs.

• Students could select their club.

• Book Clubs afforded students the opportunity discuss their text.

• Students had to read and come prepared to club or participation was limited.

• Choices included fiction, non-fiction, periodicals, web-based articles, current events, etc.

“Experts Teaching”

Methods

• Modified Jigsaw

• Collaboration to learn challenging content

• Choice of presentation mode

• Authentic negotiation regarding presentation of content

Text

Need: Compare and Contrast Summary Paragraph

Another Class Joins PAR!

Compare/Contrast

Major Idea Major Idea

Supporting Details Attributes Supporting Details

We can compare and contrast giraffes and Emperor penguins. Giraffes live in Africa but Emperor penguins live in Antarctica. Giraffes have live births. Emperor penguins lay eggs. Both giraffes and Emperor penguins have one baby at a time. Giraffes and Emperor penguins are similar in how they protect their young. These two animals place their babies in kindergartens.

Compare/Contrast Summary

Compare/Contrast

Giraffe Emperor Penguin

Supporting Details Attributes Supporting Details

Africa Live Antarctica

One Number of Babies One

Live Type of Birth Egg

Kindergarten Protection of Young Kindergarten

Choice of Text

Conclusions

• It is doubtful that such an effect could have been achieved without a participatory action research design.

• Findings suggest we captured the critical human factor-----personalized, responsive, and relationship-based interventions.

Effective and Engaging Methods

•+2

•Teacher’s Reading Log

Learn More!!

+2

Fortune’s Bones

+2• http://www.fortunestory.org/fortune/

who.asp

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/28/fortunes-bones-connecticut-funeral_n_3825367.html

Winter’s Tail

+2…or more!

• http://www.seewinter.com/winter/winters_story/winters-tails

• http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=winter's+tail&FORM=VIRE8#view=detail&mid=F2A576C6458DFEA8C455F2A576C6458DFEA8C455

• http://www.hanger.com/prosthetics/experience/patientprofiles/winterthedolphin/Pages/WintersGel.aspx

Nubs

+2 Nubs on Facebook and the

Web

The Adventures of Sojourner

+2

+3Curiosity Tweets!

Runnin' Down a Dream

I'm healthy & heading West.

Latest pics from travels on

Mars.

May 30

Teacher’s Reading Log

• Teacher’s Reading Log invites readers into your thinking about text. Maintaining a teacher’s reading log makes your metacognition public and allows you to model the wide variety of ways we respond to text.

Tornadoes

Tornadoes by Seymour

Simon

This book is fascinating and frightening at the same time. I learned from Tornadoes that the United States has had two F5 tornadoes. One was in Missouri in 1925 and the other was in Texas in 1997. However, Tornadoes was published in 1999. I learned from weather.com that since 1999, the U.S. has had another F5 tornado. In 2011, an F5 tornado hit Joplin, Missouri.

Greatness and nearsightedness are incompatible. Meaningful achievement depends on lifting one's sights and pushing toward the horizon. 

Daniel H. Pink