Motivation to Read: What Matters Most?

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Motivation to Read What Matters Most?

• Barbara A. Marinak (bam234_at_psu.edu)
• Penn State Harrisburg
• Linda B. Gambrell (LGAMB_at_clemson.edu)
• Clemson University

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• Insert Movie

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Motivation What Matters Most?
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Why does motivation matter?

• Motivation makes the difference between learning
  that is superficial and shallow and learning that
  is deep and internalized.
• Gambrell, 1996 (p.15)

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Insights from research on motivation to read

• 1. While motivation to read holds steady for
  pre-school through 1st grade, by 2nd grade both
  self-concept and value of reading begin to
  decline (Marinak Gambrell, 2009 Mazzoni,
  Gambrell, Korkeamaki, 2000 McKenna, Kear,
  Ellsworth, 1995).

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Insights from research on motivation to read

• 1. While motivation to read holds steady for
  pre-school through 1st grade, by 2nd grade both
  self-concept and value of reading begin to
  decline (Marinak Gambrell, 2009 Mazzoni,
  Gambrell, Korkeamaki, 2000 McKenna, Kear,
  Ellsworth, 1995).
• 2. Appreciation of the value of reading declines
  rapidly beginning in 2nd grade, while
  self-concept holds stable (Marinak Gambrell,
  2009).

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Insights from research on motivation to read

• 1. While motivation to read holds steady for
  pre-school through 1st grade, by 2nd grade both
  self-concept and value of reading begin to
  decline (Marinak Gambrell, 2009 Mazzoni,
  Gambrell, Korkeamaki, 2000 McKenna, Kear,
  Ellsworth, 1995).
• 2. Appreciation of the value of reading declines
  rapidly beginning in 2nd grade, while
  self-concept holds stable (Marinak Gambrell,
  2009).
• 3. Boys and girls do not differ with respect to
  self-concept, however boys value reading
  significantly less than girls (Marinak
  Gambrell, 2009 2010).

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Value of Reading Salient MRP Items

• 2. Reading a books is something I like
• to do.
• 10. I think libraries are ______________.
• 14. I think reading is _______________.
• 20. When someone gives me a book for
• a present I feel________________.

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• Key Informant Responses
• MRP Conversational Interview
• Grades 3 and 5

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Do you like to read things other than books?

• Grade 3 - 16 yes
• Grade 5 - 16 yes
• Mentioned Magazines, Newspapers
• Not Mentioned Computer, Gaming, Texting,
  nothing electronic

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Do you like for your teacher to read out loud?
Why or why not?Grade 3

• 6/8 boys-no
• 4/8 girls-no
• NO - want to read alone
  want to follow along
  doesnt read with I like
  never asks us what we want
• to hear
• YES - reads cool stuff
  like the books he/she reads

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Do you like for your teacher to read out loud?
Why or why not? Grade 5

• 8/8 boys - no
• 8/8 girls - yes
• NO - want to read alone
  want to follow along
  doesnt read what I like (girls) does
  not ask us what we might want to hear
• YES - reads cool stuff
  like the books he/she reads

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Do you talk to your friends about books? Grade
3

• 8/8 boys -no,
• 8/8 girls yes
• NO - we talk about other stuff
  we talk about sports
• YES - all the time
  we read the same books and
  talk
• at recess
• my friends like to know what I am
• reading

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Do you talk to your friends about books? Grade
5

• 4/8 boys no
• 8/8 girls yes
• NO - no, just dont
• YES - I like to talk with my friends about
  books we
  read the same books and talk
• sometimes we talk about newspapers
  or magazines (boys)

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Do you like to spend time reading? Grade 3

• 4/8 boys - no
• 8/8 girls - yes
• NO - no
• YES - helps me get better (boys)
• its fun
  I get lost in the books
  its a time to be quiet
  

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Do you like to spend time reading? Grade 5

• 6/8 boys - no
• 8/8 girls - yes
• NO - no
• YES - helps me get better (boy)
  
• I like real books (boy)
  I get good at it
  its fun
• I like stories
  
  

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What do you think you have to learn to be a
better reader?Grades 3 and 5

• Keep reading
• Spend more time reading
• Read more than I do now
• Read, read, read
• Read all kinds of stuff
• Not mentioned instruction/school tasks

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• These studies provides further evidence that a
  major factor in gender differences in motivation
  to read is value rather than self-concept.
• These studies also lend support to the notion
  held by a number of researchers that elementary
  reading motivation may be situational and
  influenced by grade level expectations and
  teacher actions (Guthrie et al., 2007).

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Implications for the classroom

• Authentic literacy tasks
• Collaboration
• Choice
• Challenge

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• What are authentic and collaborative literacy
  experiences?
• Authentic reading, writing and
• discussion experiences are like
• those that are encountered in
• the day-to-day lives of people, as
• opposed to school-like activities
• such as completing worksheets
• or answering teacher-posed
• questions.

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Getting to Know You The written conversation
begins with students and their pen pals
exchanging friendly letters.
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Literacy Motivation Survey (LMS)

• (22 items)
• Pre-Intervention Post-Intervention
• Mean/SD Mean/SD
• 51.1 (29.8) 57.0 (23.5)
• P .01
• Gambrell et al., under review

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• Student comments about Adult Pen Pals
• Well, I get most excited when our new books
  come, and when our new pen pal letters come,
  because I really love to hear what my pen pal has
  to sayand I really love to read the books and
  see if I have the same thoughts as my pen pal.

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2008-2009 Teacher

• This is real-life literacy the way my students
  will use it in their daily lives. The purpose is
  authentic, not contrived for classroom
  instruction. My students are writing for real
  people they care about and who personally respond
  to them. Therefore, they have a reason to read
  more carefully, think more deeply, and write more
  thoughtfully.
• 2008-2009 teacher

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What literacy experiences offer choice and
challenge?

• Balanced Collections
• Classroom and School Library
• Book Clubs
• Teacher Read Alouds
• Texts for Self-Selected Reading
• Texts for Instruction
• Experts Teaching

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• Good Books, Good Times
• Good books.
• Good times.
• Good stories.
• Good rhymes.
• Good beginnings.
• Good ends.
• Good people.
• Good friends.

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• Good fiction
• Good facts.
• Good adventures.
• Good acts.
• Good stories.
• Good rhymes.
• Good books.
• Good times.
• Lee Bennett Hopkins

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• References
• Gambrell, L. (1996). Creating classrooms cultures
  that foster reading motivation. The Reading
  Teacher, 50, 4-25.
• Gambrell, L., Palmer, B., Codling, R., Mazzoni.
  S. (1996). Assessing motivation to read. The
  Reading Teacher, 49(7), 518-533.
• Gambrell, L., Hughes, E., Calvert, W., Malloy,
  J., Igo, B. (under review). The role of
• authentic tasks in elementary students
  literacy motivation and critical thinking.
• Guthrie, J., Hoa, A., Wigfield, A., Tonks, S.,
  Humenich, N., Littles, E. (2006). Reading
  motivation and reading comprehension growth in
  the later elementary years. Contemporary
  Educational Psychology, 32, 282-313.
• Mazzoni, S., Gambrell, L.B., Korkeamaki, R.L.
  (2000). A cross-cultural perspective on early
  literacy motivation. Reading Psychology, 20,
  237-253.

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• Marinak, B. Gambrell, L. (2009). Developmental
  differences in elementary reading motivation.
  Paper presented at the annual meeting of the
  Association of Literacy Educators and
  Researchers, Charlotte, North Carolina, November
  6, 2009.
• Marinak, B. Gambrell, L. (2010). Reading
  motivation Exploring the elementary gender gap.
  Literacy Research and Instruction.
• McKenna, M., Kear, D., Ellsworth, R. (1995).
  Childrens attitudes toward reading A national
  survey. Reading Research Quarterly, 30(4),
  934-956.
• Malloy, J., Marinak, B. Gambrell, L. (2010).
  Essential readings on motivation. Newark, DE
  International Reading Association.