The power of choice - Child-centred approach for finding motivating reading
Submitted by:
Juli-Anna Aerila
Abstract:
Current studies show that giving children choice of what they read is the key to good reading skills and active reading. Young children with little experience of reading and children with difficulties in reading are not always able to find reading material to correspond with their reading interest and skills. There is research on the effects of choice on adolescent and young adult reading (Morgan and Wagner, 2013), however, studies with young readers is limited (Harsin, 2012). It is important to develop and test methods which help educators utilize suitable reading material for all kinds of readers and still give children choice in the reading material themselves. In this study, the "Bookpass" (Scholastic, 2016), in which students are provided choice and direct experience with high quality books, is tested in a second grade class (N=40) in Finland and in the United States. In the study the Bookpass-method is implement several times in both classes during four months. One circle of Bookpass lasted approximately for three hours and children worked in small groups. The cirlces followed the same procedure in both countries and children got acquintred with similar books. What kind of reading choices do the second graders make? What are differences in book choices of Finnish and American children? What is the value of the bookpass in making children read more? The data consists of children's notes, reading experiences, the lists of books used and observations of the researchers. All of the activity hours were videotaped. Data was analyzed with qualitative content analysis, and the study represents child-centred qualitative research. Preliminary results show an increase in motivation and reading success in the U.S. and Finland classes. The activity also increased the time spent in reading during the school day, as activity itself requires and stimulates individual reading.
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Harsin, A. (2012). Student reading motivation and student choice/self-selection of reading materials. Proquest, UMI Dissertation Publishing.
Morgan, D.N. and Wagner, C.W. (2013). "What's the catch?": Providing reading chose in a high school classroom. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, Vol.56(8), p. 659-667.