Erin Doherty

Blog: Article Summaries (3)

Article #1
What Teachers Can Learn About Reading Motivation Through Conversations with Children
In this article, students explain what really motivates them to read. Elementary school teachers
have found that most students have negative comments about reading. These teachers also found
that extrinsic rewards were not effective at promoting lasting change. In many classrooms,
reading motivation varied between students. The elementary teachers decided to talk to their
students and discover how they could turn the negative comments into positive comments.
Research has shown that motivation plays a major role in learning. The article explains the
importance of increasing intrinsic motivation to read and investigating teachers, parents, and
peers roles in childrens reading motivation. Unfortunately, studies have shown that childrens
motivation to learn decreases during the elementary school years. During the study, factors that
got children excited about reading were found. It was indicated that childrens reading
motivation was influenced by their own interests. According to the article, there are six
categories that motivated children to read: 1) Why readers selected narrative text 2) Why readers
selected expository text 3) Why readers selected reading in general 4) Actions of others 5)
Sources of motivation 6) Sources of book referrals. The rest of the article goes through more
categories and statistics.
Article #2
Seven Rules of Engagement: Whats Most Important to Know About Motivation to Read

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This article states why it is so important for teachers to consider the role of motivation in literacy
learning. As stated in the article, If students are not motivated to read, they will never reach
their full literacy potential. Motivation to read is the likelihood of engaging in reading or
choosing to read. There are two types of readers: engaged and disengaged. Engaged readers are
intrinsically motivated to read for a variety of personal goals. The article explains that promoting
intrinsic motivation to read should be given a high priority in the reading curriculum. There are
seven research-based rules of engagement: 1) Students are more motivated to read when the
reading tasks and activities are relevant to their lives 2) Students are more motivated to read
when they have access to a wide range of reading materials 3) Students are more motivated to
read when they have ample opportunities to engage in sustained reading 4) Students are more
motivated to read when they have opportunities to make choices about what they read and how
they engage in and complete literacy tasks 5) Students are more motivated to read when they
have opportunities to socially interact with others about the text they are reading 6) Students are
more motivated to read when they have opportunities to be successful with challenging texts 7)
Students are more motivated to read when classroom incentives reflect the value and importance
of reading. The article also provides several classroom tips for each rule.
Article #3
Assessing Motivation to Read
This article argues that if students are not motivated then they wont learn. A teacher can easily
tell if a student is engaged based on their behavior. Students who are engaged have their eyes on
what they are doing. According to theoretical framework, the expectancy-value theory of

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motivation is used to describe the construct of reading motivation. Furthermore, the reading
survey was designed as a self-report instrument that could be administered to the whole class or a
small group. Additionally, a conversational interview was designed for individual administration
such that further exploration of student perceptions of value of reading and self-concept as a
reader could occur. The article then goes onto explaining the administration of each. This article
also has figures of what a reading survey might look like. After gathering results, teachers may
use spreadsheets, such as Excel, to organize all the responses. As stated in this article, The
scores for individual students can be used to determine personalized plans. Motivation
assessment should be a classroom practice. Assessing the individual and collective views of
students regarding their value of reading and self-concept as readers will support effective
teaching, planning, and instruction. Overall, the MRP-R is a great tool for teachers that will
guide them in developing instructional practices that support students in becoming engaged
readers.

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APA Citations
Edmunds, K. , Bauserman, K. , (2011). What Teachers Can Learn About Reading Motivation
Through Conversations With Children. Retrieved from
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com.ezproxy.lib.usf.edu/doi/10.1598/RT.59.5.1/pdf
Gambrell, L. (2011). Seven Rules Of Engagement: Whats Most Important to Know About
Motivation to Read. Retrieved from
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com.ezproxy.lib.usf.edu/doi/10.1002/TRTR.01024/pdf
Malloy, J. , Marinak, B. , Gambrell, L. , Mazzoni, S. , (2013). Assessing Motivation to Read.
Retrieved from http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com.ezproxy.lib.usf.edu/doi/10.1002/trtr.1215/pdf