The Influence of Texts, Tasks, and Environment for Developing Motivated and Engaged Readers
Teaching Readers (Not Reading) Book Study
Last month my 14-year-old daughter and I went shopping in Madison (WI). We stopped at a Barnes & Noble. No plan other than to look around and maybe find a gift for someone for the holidays - or for ourselves.
We have a common interest in macabre fiction, which led us to looking at the horror section. She had just watched the first of the two It movies, based on the Stephen King novel. “Do you think I can handle the book? The movie wasn’t that bad.” I paused, thinking back to when I read it (and mentally noting I was the same age as her), and shared that there are some pretty mature scenes in the book that may not have been in the movie. “Okay,” she replied. “My teacher said the same thing.” She found another King book, The Mist, which I confirmed was probably a better choice for now.1
While I was debating whether or not to purchase Let the Right One In by John Ajvide Lindqvist, I noticed a stranger next to us also looking at the titles in this section.
As I flipped through the pages while asking my daughter if I should buy it, he interjected. “It’s not the author’s best book.”
“Really? I enjoyed both movies based on the book.”
“I don’t really like vampire books,” he acknowledged, and then suggested some related titles. “Have you read Carrion Comfort by Dan Simmons?”
This conversation became a back and forth of recommendations and subsequent associations with related books.
“Summer of Night by Dan Simmons is also good; reminded me a bit of Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury,”
My daughter, quietly listening, waited until the unknown reader left for another section. “What about The House on Haunted Hill? I remember you wanting to read that one in October.” I put back Let the Right One In and grabbed Shirley Jackson’s classic haunted house story.
“Good suggestion,” I affirmed. “I need to branch out to new authors. Did you want to read it too?” She shrugged her shoulders and made a “maybe” face as we headed to the counter.
Texts, Tasks, and Environments as Third Teachers
The idea that an educator is not the only teacher in the room is not new.
The Third Teacher: 79 Ways You Can Use Design to Transform Teaching and Learning offers several examples of how the learning environment can serve as a “third teacher” for students. With the right structure, access to excellent literature, and the support of faculty who understand the importance of time for purposeful talk, kids can become teachers for each other and themselves.
My previous experience is an example.
The horror section served as a sort of mediator for our discussion.
The conversation was unprompted yet purposeful and welcomed.
By housing these texts of a certain genre in a specific area, the space encouraged customers to come together and talk about their common interests.
I now have Carrion Comfort on my to-read list. He might have Dandelion Wine on his.
For my daughter, I imagine there was a bit of bootstrapping as she listened in on my conversation with this other person. We were speaking the language of the genre, for example talking about the subgenres within the genre (“I don’t really like vampire books.”). These conversations can deepen the knowledge of anyone listening, which creates a better understanding of the elements that authors of the genre use when writing, which can improve readers’ comprehension and understanding of these complex texts.
And this type of learning happens without the presence of a formal teacher, or even the actual reading of a book.
What propelled this learning was the affective factors of reading: motivation and engagement.
Peter Afflerbach notes the reciprocal nature of these influences.
“[T]he motivated student reader expects to be engaged when reading in school and out. In turn, engagement optimizes students’ experiences and achievements with reading, adding to their positive reading experiences. Students who have experienced success in reading look forward to reading and they are motivated to read more.” (p. 107)
Accepting that one influence is mutually dependent on another, Afflerbach also stresses the importance of not isolating the affective aspect of reading from the cognitive.
“Students who are motivated to read, but who must participate in school reading that they consider boring, irrelevant, or useless may approach subsequent reading tasks with lessening motivation. In effect, they may learn to be less engaged, hampering learning. When texts and reading assignments lead students to question the value of what is read, future motivation and engagement are at risk.” (p. 107-8)
It begs the question: is the reading curriculum making our students less-effective readers?
An example:
There are high-interest texts in a classroom that would motivate students to read. But if time to select books and to read them is lacking, then these libraries simply become window dressing. It’s a façade that camouflages the reality that a scripted curriculum - teaching reading - is the priority, and that teaching readers is not. Short term goals such as doing well on tests supplant the long term vision of developing literate individuals and engaged citizens.
Embracing Creative Constraints
On Terry Underwood's
, one of his readers left a comment on this post about our school's work with involving students in selecting texts to enhance the school library.“Wonder what Black and Latino kids would have chosen. Oh wait, their school libraries are closed and they are reading partial texts from overpriced books that are Common Core ‘conscious.’”
This is an important point and can be generalized to a variety of challenging situations.
What I have found helpful is accepting and even embracing the constraints of our current reality. We can make a difference in the reading lives of our kids, no matter how small the step.
For example, in our discussion thread this week, I shared a story of one English teacher's high school shutting down the building library. The librarian position had been cut a few years previous. Instead of getting rid of all the books, she volunteered to house some of those titles in her classroom library. Now kids come from all over the school to check out books from her classroom. Some of her students help manage this library which builds identity and engagement.
Here are additional suggestions within our control by colleagues from the thread that can support motivation and engagement with readers:
Mary Howard: “Know our kids, know the research, have ongoing support, and understand unique cultures and backgrounds beyond our own.”
Belinda Whyte: “If we can get [public] libraries involved in our schools, that is going to help bridge the gap for students without access to books.”
Sally Rowlands: “Lobby school leadership to purchase a broad range of texts; read to, think aloud, encourage conversations and personal reflections across the different texts and purposes.”
Micki Uppena (from the first book study discussion thread): “Focus on reading aloud as the lesson plan.”
Conclusion: Negotiation as a Reading Reader Strategy
As we left Barnes & Noble, my daughter shared that she wanted to read the next book in the Arc of a Scythe young adult series by Neal Shusterman.
“But I can’t because ____ (her friend) is reading it right now.” The series is available in the teacher’s classroom library.
I didn’t say anything for a moment. After several seconds, I asked a question. “Does your friend like the same books that you do?” She said she did. “Okay…what if you finished The Mist, and then offered your copy to her to read once she finished that book you want to read? Would that motivate her to finish it?” She gave it some thought, and then agreed it might help.
This negotiation strategy must have proven effective.
Earlier this week, my daughter asked me where I was in The Haunting of Hill House. “Oh, I think about 1/4 of the way through. It’s been a struggle to read of late with school and preparing for an upcoming presentation.2 Do you want it?”
She shrugged, offered that same indifferent response, and said it was up to me. “I have other books I can read until you are done.”
I handed the book over to her. Well played! I thought. As the child of an educator, she knows what motivates me: to see students becoming readers.
For an excellent guide in this genre, check out Danse Macabre by Stephen King. One chapter offers a review of King’s top 10 horror classics. The Haunting of Hill House is one of them. (In the introduction to the Penguin Horror series version of Shirley Jackson’s book, Guillermo Del Toro offers another excellent analysis of the genre.)
I’ll be facilitating a leadership institute at LitCon on Saturday, January 28 in Columbus, Ohio. This one-day workshop will walk leaders at every level through the tenets of my book, Leading Like a C.O.A.C.H., with a goal toward developing a small project that addresses some type of inequity in their school. Register here.
Absolutely phenomenal post Matt. I think that you definitely touched on a major contributor by wondering :is the reading curriculum making our students less-effective readers?" by addressing the issue of time. Time is pretty is pretty much the only thing in life that once expended can never be replenished. When it's gone - it's gone. So maybe that's where we begin as educators. I once worked with a school that was rigidly faithful to the basal teacher guide. Every question. Every activity. EVERY EVERY! I engaged them in what I called ARGUING WITH THE PUBLISHER. We went through a lesson for a specific book (a different one at each grade) and I wrote the suggestion from the plan with added columns: How will this benefit kids? How long would the __ take. What ELSE could we do with that time that would maximize the benefit. While it took some time, it engaged teachers in some very powerful conversations about the limited precious time we have with kids. In fact several teachers even said, "You mean I can choose to do something else and not what is in the book. Sad statement but reality. So what if we put our questions related to this around time. How often do we talk about the benefit of anything (or lack thereof). What if we asked, "What is the book that goes with the lesson. What other book would allow us to accomplish the same goals that would be more motivating? Is there a poem or article. What will we do with the added time. Will the book motivated readers. What are we sacrificing by the choices we make. For me, time is the one we never talk about and develop a plan for and it should be at the forefront. You showed in your post how teachers are capable at looking at alternatives in the library story. But we have to provide time for those conversations. And of course the big one: How much of that precious time are we allocating for time spent reading CHOICE books. And let's not forget the nonsensical mandates as is happening in Virginia now. I'm not sure if you saw this wonderful piece by Dorothy Suskind - The Science of Reading and the Perils of State Literacy Policies: Virginia’s Cautionary Tale but take a look at the "Not scientifically based " and specifically #11: Student book choice. Right now we face a hidden enemy that is complicating all of this and they are changing schools in ways that do great harm. Very scary times indeed but it's incredible what individual teachers can do to hold tight to what they value
https://ncte.org/blog/2022/12/science-reading-state-policies/?fbclid=IwAR0LeHhG7uE27YS4L2kioHkzujs17BPsUgF3IJBZ0MbmSylhBulAkWcIry4
What a powerful example Matt – thank you!
Afflerbach's quote (p 142): ‘Epistemology and epistemic beliefs … it’s our knowledge about knowledge – the state of knowledge, how it is created, and what counts a “knowledge”. And, “Its how and what we think about knowledge”… epistemology helps readers vet the meaning they construct or choose to avoid particular texts altogether.”
These ‘big, new words’ frightened me when reading the chapter the first time – I got the intent, but this post has prompted me to revisit my first thinking with new meaning. It reminds me of Pennac – The rights of the reader. This has consolidated my understandings about the reader having multiple chances, choices, confidence, challenge, and conversations. If young people do not have the opportunities to access a broad range of reading materials there will be, yet another c, consequences. The is a moral and societal imperative, here. What do we have to do for ourselves, and students, to enable critical reading and higher-order thinking in order to become informed and active citizens or educators?
This brings us around to the Conclusion chapter and our responsibility as educators to read the broad range of reading (and literacy) research – to analyse, synthesise, make connections to the curriculum, discuss our understandings with colleagues, question and challenge the scienceS. p163 – ‘Teaching readers demands new approaches to practice and ongoing research to further explain the powerful interrelationships between the factors that are the focus of teaching READERS.’