ED 4260: LITERACY RESEARCH BRIEF

Written by: Alyssa Fortin, Dana Farrell, Josh Devine, Julia Neumann,
Leah Benson, and Ruby Hammad

Please note that each section has a heading indicating the member of the
group who wrote the corresponding section.
Introduction: Dana
Through various learning experiences from lectures, to discussions, to projects, to guest

speakers, even to school visitations, we have had an extensive exploration of literacy in the

elementary classroom as ED4260 students. Most notably, however, we have had the unique

opportunity to participate in professional literacy circles, which involve a process of reading

research, responding to it, and discussing the implications for us as future educators. Over the

course of these professional literacy circles, we explored various topics and issues all relating to

literacy in the elementary classroom. Topics ranged everywhere from classroom setting, to

strategies for engaging students in oral discussions, to developing students visual literacy, all the

way to differentiation. This wide range of subject matter allowed our group to touch on some of

the key challenges teachers face in a literacy classroom, which allowed us to engage in really

diverse and unique reflections and discussion on the matter. However, as a culmination of our

literacy exploration, we had to synthesize our interests as a group to funnel into an inquiry

question to guide and focus our research where we would take our mere touches on the topic, and

gain a better grip and grasp on the subject to share with our colleagues.

So, as pre-service teachers preparing for our future classrooms, we felt that, as a group,

that the biggest literacy challenge lying ahead for us was the hurdle of accommodating all reader

types, to motivate them all to read to their ability, interests, and pace. For, simply put, just as all

students do not learn the same way, they do not read the same way and, specifically, not all of

them are motivated to read in the same ways; some will love it, some will hate it, and some will

simply be indifferent. So, with this in mind, we cant help but ask the question, how can

elementary teachers foster a love of reading for all readers?

In posing this question, we mean to suggest that there is an invisible spectrum with

regards to reader types based on varying behaviors, tendencies, and relative level of interest. We
want to reiterate and clarify for our audience that this readers spectrum is not directly related to

a readers abilities, but rather, centers around the driving force behind their reading behavior;

motivation. What we mean by motivation are the values, beliefs, and behaviors surrounding

reading for an individual. Some productive values and beliefs may lead to excitement, yet other

values may lead to determined hard work. (Cambria, Guthrie p.16) So, not only is reader

motivation a challenge, in general, but the fact that there exist several different and even

opposing reader types and behaviors out there in todays classrooms, so not every motivational

strategy will work for every student.

So, to guide our research, we identified the four most common reader types on the ever-

elusive and quite invisible readers spectrum. Starting from the lowest extreme for lack of

motivation, we have the non-reader, who would never choose to read on their own, and typically

lacks confidence and skill as a reader. Next, on the lower to mid end of the spectrum, we find the

disinterested-reluctant reader who is characterized by distraction, inattention, and lack of interest.

Then, on the mid to higher end, we find the occasional-dormant reader, who would arguably be

the most common type of reader to be found in the classroom, as they possess great reading

skills, but lack the motivation to read by personal choice. Personally, this is where I fell and

continue to fall on the spectrum, as I rarely read out of interest, and if I ever do or did, it was

because a friend or colleague suggested a specific title or author to read, which very clearly

identifies my motivation; peer-pressure. But, what I can now also note is that perhaps my

reluctance to read was due to a lack of knowledge on what authors or genre interested me, unless

someone specifically made a suggestion for me. So, if I were to teach myself in the future, I

would use the strategy of a weekly book caf to offer a small sampling of suggestions from a

wide variety of genres to cater to my unique needs, which could potentially apply to many
occasional-dormant readers, who are simply looking for someone to open their eyes. Lastly, on

the highest end of the spectrum, we find the gifted-advanced reader who has sophisticated skills,

and reads often and out of interest and internal motivation. However, the challenge with this

student is that they often struggle to find materials at their level of difficulty and interest in the

school libraries, so they can easily be reluctant in a literacy classroom.

What all these reader types have in common, at the surface level, is that they all are

facing a unique challenge; their needs are just not being met. Students are not being challenged

appropriately to their unique levels, materials are not catering to their contemporary interests,

and there is simply not enough time dedicated to reading during class time, so students are

simply not getting what they individually and collectively need. (Miller, 2012) Now while some

factors are out of our control, such as materials or time, educators need to shift their attention and

focus on what they can control within their classroom, to best cater to these students needs and

get them reading. Rather, let us not simply get them to read, but get them excited about reading

through strategies and activities that will help them fall in love with it. Through such activities,

students will take this desire home and potentially read for pleasure. For, through the

implementation of effective, diverse, and unique strategies catered to fit all these students on the

readers spectrum, students will gain confidence, interest, to internally motivate themselves to

read and read again. For, we believe that teachers hold the power to unlock student potential, by

tapping into their interests and giving them strategies to develop their skills and instill a sense of

confidence for them. And, just as a blind date lays the groundwork for a potential love

connection, we believe that with teachers lay the groundwork for students to establish a love

connection with reading, so that from this day forward, they may love and cherish it, for better,

and certainly not for worse.

The Non-Reader: Ruby

In every early elementary classroom, we often see a handful of students who are

completely opposed to reading and would rather do anything before picking up a book and begin

to read. Often, this is due to the constant pressure that parents and teachers place on students to

read, as well as the limited to no choice in what they desire to read. In some asses, this might

also be due to the fact that they are incapable of effectively reading for understanding or that

they lack one or more of the basic five stages of reading: preparing, reading, responding,

exploring, and extending, (Tompkins, G., Bright, R., & Winsor, 2015, p. 145). These students are

labeled as non-readers.

As discussed in Donalyn Millers article entitled Creating Readers That Flourish, the

unfortunate reality of our society is that the poorest readers read the least, often as much as three

times less than their peers (Allington,2006), (2012, p. 89). Therefore, it is crucial that teachers

take into consideration the few students that lack the capability to perform the five stages of

reading accurately and help them implement these stages in order to become independent,

confident readers.

The second step in assisting the non-reader in the classroom is to give them the choice to

pick what they would like to read in order to strike their interest and motivation

to read, in hopes of eventually fostering the love of reading in them. However, as outlined by

Miller: Developing, or struggling readers often lack the experience and confidence to choose

books for themselves, sustain reading for extended periods of time, or consistently apply reading

strategies across texts, (Miller,2012, p.88). So, how can teachers assist these developing or

struggling students without telling them what to read, or forcing them to sit and read for

sustained periods of time? As demonstrated in chapter five of the textbook, the Goldilocks
strategy for choosing books developed by Ohlhausen and Jepsen (1992) - is one strategy that

can help educators assist students in finding a text at their own reading level so that they do not

get discouraged by reading if the book is too difficult for them.

As for finding the time to read, Miller states: I learned long ago that they only way 1

could guarantee that my students read was to dedicate time for them to read in class and watch

them read in front of me every day, (88). It is important that we ensure that our students are

given independent reading time in the classroom each day in order to obtain effective reading

strategies and develop literacy skills. Thus, recognizing that occasionally giving students the

tools to choose their own books to read can motivate them to read more often, be condiment in

their own selection of books, and become long-life readers.

The Disinterested/Reluctant Reader: Julia

Its easy to spot a disinterested or reluctant reader in the classroom: simply look for the

child who, after five minutes of set reading time, is playing with their pencil box, disrupting

peers, asking to go for a drink, or gazing out the window. In each of these cases, their book lies

on the floor untouched. So, how can we as teachers combat this common theme of plain

disinterest in reading? How can we instill the same love for reading in our students that we have

of it ourselves?

The disinterested reader might very well have the capability to read but lacks the

motivation to do so. Other activities such as drawing, watching movies, or really anything else

might seem more appealing to them. Or, the similarly reluctant reader might not be so much

disinterested as he/she lacks the confidence to read challenging books independently. These

readers might become frustrated with their failed efforts and give up completely. For example,

my sister was one of those readers. Throughout my entire childhood, I can remember my family
at constant battle with my sister to get her to read. Whether it was in school or on family

vacations, my sister found books to be boring and avoided them at all costs. She never did

come to find a love of reading, as her teachers rarely offered her the option to choose her own

books based on her interests, and to this day she does not read.

So, what can we do as teachers? First, we can begin by getting to know our readers

through personal interest surveys (or by simple conversations), identifying ways to reduce

feelings of helplessness (identifying where the reading roadblocks lie), build a classroom

community of trial-and-error acceptance, and provide appropriate and exciting book choices for

each student (Savitz & Wallace, 2016). Taking that even further, allow students to choose what

they read! Students who choose what they read and have an informal environment in which to do

so tend to be more motivated, read more frequently, and show greater language and literacy

development (Krashen, 1993).

Provide disinterested or reluctant readers with a wider variety of books that have been

selected based on the interests that we know they have. With our best efforts, we can integrate

our readers interests/hobbies into the reading materials available to them. No matter what genre,

we should harness [our students] interests and give them some independence in choosing their

books (Bailey, 2015). Introducing texts from students' everyday worlds and a wide range of

genres in content lessons holds great promise for motivating students to read in the content

classroom (Guthrie, Wigfield, & Perencevich, 2004). It is essential that students have easy

access to interesting print materials if we expect them to become engaged readers (McQuillan &

Au, 2001).

As Donalyn Miller discusses in her article, no single practice inspires [her] students to

read as much as the opportunity to choose their own books does. (Miller, 2012). She says that
she learned a long time ago that the only we [she] could guarantee [her] students read was to

dedicate time for them to read in class and watch them read in front of [her] every day. (Miller,

2012)

So, what is the first step we can take as elementary teachers to encourage disinterested or

reluctant readers to engage in reading? Well, we can start by handing them the power to choose

their own texts. We can get to know our students and their interests, what they do for extra-

curricular activities, where their apprehension in reading might lie, and what reading level they

might be at. Then, round-up a selection of books where we know at least one book might appeal

to each reader. Lastly, trust that with student inspiration derived from self-selection of books,

and also with time and informal space for practicing, a disinterested or reluctant reader might

come to love reading as much as we do.

The Occasional/Dormant Reader: Alyssa

The occasional, or dormant reader is quite common in any classroom; this type of student

enjoys reading just as much as the advanced reader and has the necessary skills, but much like

the disinterested reader, has trouble finding the motivation. Most of the time, the issue with this

student is that they have a hard time finding something that interests them and is enjoyable for

them to spend time on. They will often see reading as a job for school, and something that they

would not voluntarily participate in at home (D. Miller, 2012). One easy fix is to set aside time

for pleasure reading every day. In doing so, the dormant reading students get a chance to see that

reading does not always have to be for an educational grade or assessment, but can instead be a

relaxing activity that requires their own choices. The attention they give to something that

interests them can be surprising when found. It is important to reassure students that reading in

class does not have to be tedious and directed towards formal learning. As Rosa Miller states in
her article, Learning to Love Reading: A Self-Study on Fostering Students Reading Motivation

in Small Groups, students tend to be more motivated to read when texts are matched to their

instructional levels, when they have opportunities to choose their own books, when they have

access to texts that reflect and affirm their cultural identities, and when they can engage in

meaningful social interactions with their peers around common texts (R. Miller, 2015).

In reference to assessment, it is beneficial to find alternative ways to ensure that these

students are actually reading and comprehending without making it seem like they are being

graded on their efforts (seeing as this is what causes some students to resist reading in class).

Instead of scaring them out of reading in having book reports or questions to fill out, an

alternative strategy is to conduct an informal interview with the student either throughout their

reading or once they finish the book. Simple questions such as, What are you reading?,

Whos the main character?, Whos your favourite character?, Whats the plot?, Whats

your favourite part?, Is there anything that you had a hard time understanding?, and Would

you read another book with a similar theme?, can aid in the teachers understanding of the

students progress and comprehension. Additionally, the teacher can give suggestions or offer

other modes of representation for the student to share what they have read with their peers

(presentation, book talk, etc.). In their article, Love that book: Multimodal response to literature

(2013), Dalton & Grisham provide multiple ways to engage students in literature through self-

guided projects. This shows that you, as the teacher, are interested in what they have chosen to

read, and are encouraging them to keep doing so (rather than telling them, which D. Miller

highly advises against). It is important that the teacher knows how to scaffold for the personal

reading needs of her students (Dalton & Grisham, 2013).

 As a student, I also struggled with finding the motivation to read. Rarely ever did I find

books or series that I really enjoyed. When I did, I read the whole thing as fast as I could, and

then the process of trying to find something new started all over again. I loved to read, and had

no troubles with the process or comprehension, but when it came to reading a novel that was

forced upon me and my peers, I felt resistant and only read because I knew it was for grades. The

only times that I recall getting to read what I wanted, and for assessment purposes, was in Grades

5 and 6. Under guidelines as requested by my teachers, I got to choose a book, read it at my own

pace and then write a book report for each to show them what I learned from it. There was a

system put in place in the classroom where we got personal achievement rewards for each that

we read, and I found it motivating to always beat my personal best. This strategy employed by

my old teachers is a good start to answering D. Millers (2012) question, How can we change

our practices so that we accomplish our instructional goals and assure that our students will be

engaged? (p. 91).

The Gifted/Advanced Reader: Leah

Many educators within their literacy classrooms focus their support towards the below

level readers, but what about our advanced or gifted readers? How can we, as educators, continue

to foster a love of reading while engaging our gifted readers? A gifted reader is a student who

presents a reading level that is above grade level and shows signs that he or she began reading at

an early age, has a well-developed vocabulary, and spend more than their same age peers.

(Miller, 2009).

Gifted readers have a much greater need for a large number of books with increased

depth and a larger scope that may not be found in a school or classroom library (Weber, 2010, p.

57). As a student, I was a strong reader and truly enjoyed reading as well. However, I was never
motivated to read more difficult texts or to expand on the type of literature that I was reading so I

became bored and detached, which made it extremely difficult to enjoy reading again, especially

now that I am older. If we only gave our students grade-level texts to read, then they wouldnt

be stimulated and rather than fostering a love of reading we are reducing it which negatively

impacts the continuation of students reading at an advanced level (Moore, 2005).

A strategy that will be helpful for our advanced readers is to provide recommendations

for appropriate reading material. Students may push themselves to read the largest book, just to

say that they have read it, but they may not consider the content or age appropriateness. In the

article, Effective Reading Instruction for Gifted Readers, Donalyn Miller introduces Patricia

Austin who, recommends books with distinctive language, ambiguous endings, unique points of

view, role models like scientists or artists, gifted protagonists, or challenging structures and

content which provide gifted readers the opportunity to advance their vocabulary development,

understanding of text structures and themes, and find kindred spirits. (2009, p.283). It is

important for educators to be familiar with the literature they have in their classroom library, as

well as the interests of their students to ensure an appropriate reading suggestion for their

students. Educators may want to include a readers interest survey at the beginning of the year

to determine what type of books may need to be included in the classroom library so that the

literature is available for the students to choose from. To understand the reading interests of our

students, it is important to have a discussion with the student on what they have read previously,

what type of literature they enjoy the most or least to find the best-suited novel for the student.

Choice can also be given in the way students respond to literature. As educators, we need

to provide extension and enrichment response activities for our students. Having students

complete a book talk on a novel they have recently read, or an independent novel study will
motivate the student to not only read the story but to also ensure that they are comprehending the

novel. These enrichment activities create an opportunity for students to dive in and move beyond

the text and extend their comprehension further, rather than just reading because they have to or

because it is the only option (Tompkins, Bright, & Winsor. 2015. p. 211). Educators need to

provide readers with access to a wide variety of literature, encourage students to expand on the

type of literature they are reading, and provide students with autonomy, to further a love for

reading for gifted readers.

Conclusion: Josh
As has been mentioned, the overall idea here was to think about how we as teachers can

work towards motivating all students to become readers. Here we have addressed that there are

various types of readers who exist upon our proposed reader spectrum, and tried to think about

how we can best accommodate all of these readers. We felt that this was quite important, because

no matter what class a teacher may end up with, there is a going to be a bit a spectrum present in

that group. The idea of having to reach a wide variety of student needs is simply a reality for

teachers, and with that in mind, we tried to think about how a teacher could reach all of these

students and help them love reading.

We have looked at how those whose reading habits are pretty well non-existent, can

benefit from gaining some confidence in the various stages of reading and how as they begin to

gain some confidence, they can benefit from learning how to choose their own books. Secondly,

we discussed readers who read a little more but still show an overall disinterest in reading. We

discussed how this second group may benefit greatly from having book choices tailored to their

preferences. Helping these students to find books that are right for them can be done through

personal preference surveys so that the teacher really get to know what these readers like and

what might help them move beyond their disinterest and come to see reading as something that
they like to do. Our third group was our occasional readers who are very capable readers who

can get through whatever kind of reading they might need to do. The key in the previous

statement is get through, we do not want reading to be something that our students just get

through, so here with these readers who might read on occasion we must still work to help them

grow a love for reading. It was suggested that we could increase the amounts of time in which

students get to read just for pleasure, allowing students to see that they can have times where

they read because it is fun, rather than simply out of obligation. A second idea suggested was to

maybe change up the ways in which students respond to books, by having more informal

discussions with teacher about what they read rather than more traditional book reports. Lastly,

we looked at those readers who are very strong students, or those who may be gifted. With the

last group, the key was to find a balance between books that are challenging for these strong

readers, while at the same time catering to their interests. It was noted that by simply finding

texts which challenge strong students to continue growing reading skills, we are not necessarily

instilling a love for reading, and so we need to find those books which would both challenge and

keep these readers interested.

A big emerging theme in the discussion of these readers along with our theoretical

spectrum is that in order to motivate readers and help these various readers to read more, we

need to look for ways to encourage a love of reading. More specifically, we need to build up

skills in our students which allow them to choose books based on their interests. How we aid

students in finding texts which pique their interests may vary, depending on where they fall on

this spectrum, but allowing students choice is key. Whether that means giving a student who

does not normally read, the skills to begin picking books in general, or giving our strong students

some help in finding books that they are both interested in and find challenging. Either way, a lot
of it comes down to meeting students where they are at and giving them necessary tools to take

pick out books that will keep them engaged. While it can be extra work, if we can work with our

students and try to figure out what they need to get them started on the road towards loving

reading, then we can allow all students to begin thinking about reading in a positive light.
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