An Investigation Of Increasing The Recreational Reading Habits Of Sixth Seventh And Eighth Grade Title 1 Students Through Teacher Read Alouds

Author : Mary E. Buschick
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 95 pages
Book Rating : 4.:/5 (16 download)

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Download or read book Increasing Reading Motivation in Elementary and Middle School Students Through the Use of Multiple Intelligences written by Mary E. Buschick and published by . This book was released on 2007 with total page 95 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The problem is that with each passing year it becomes increasingly harder to maintain student motivation to read and improve reading comprehension. The purpose of this project was to increase reading motivation in elementary and middle school students through the use of multiple intelligences. This project was conducted by four teacher researchers who taught in the second, fourth, sixth, and eighth grade levels. The 2nd and 4th grade teachers taught all subjects while the 6th and 8th grade teachers taught reading and language arts. There were 26 second graders, 25 fourth graders, 46 sixth graders and 33 eighth graders used in this study, for a total of 133. The research study began on Monday, January 29, 2007 and concluded on Friday, May 11, 2007. There were three tools used in this project to document evidence of the problem. The first tool was the observation tally sheet. During four 15-minute sessions of SSR, teachers made tally marks when one of the 15 listed behaviors was observed. Out of the 15 listed behaviors, four behaviors made up more than half of the total observed. These behaviors were staring into space, fidgeting, lack of interest, and not paying attention. The second tool was the student survey, which gathered information on student reading habits. The survey included nine questions created to determine students' feelings towards reading. Students were asked on a pictorial lichert scale to circle the expression that best suited their response. Although students believed they read well and enjoyed being read to by their teacher, the survey showed that students did not read at home, did not enjoy reading for fun, and were not comfortable visiting a library or reading new words. The third tool, the teacher survey, was used to gain insight on the lack of reading motivation and corrective strategies used by teachers at Sites A and B. This tool measured that the lack of reading motivation is common in other classrooms as well as the teacher researchers. It also showed that the two most common intelligences addressed in the classroom were verbal/linguistic and interpersonal, while the least common were intrapersonal and naturalistic intelligence. The teacher researchers chose to implement multiple intelligences as their primary solution to increasing reading motivation in elementary and middle school students. Multiple intelligences incorporate eight major intelligence areas. These areas, as defined by pioneering educators Howard Gardner and Thomas Armstrong, are titled: linguistic intelligence (word smart), logical-mathematical (number smart), spatial intelligence (picture smart), bodily-kinesthetic (body smart), musical intelligence (music smart), interpersonal intelligence (people smart), intrapersonal intelligence (self smart), and naturalist intelligence (nature smart) (Lash, n.d.). The intelligences reflect the structure of individual languages; the power restraints in yourself, expectations of others, cultural pressures, and accepted norms of thinking; and work to solve a problem or make a product (Chapman, 1993). Each person is born with all eight intelligences (Chapman, 1993) and it is therefore recommended that teachers use a variety of ways to teach a lesson (Safi, 1996). One of the most notable results of this study was a major decrease in non-movement and movement behaviors during SSR. Students became skilled in selecting books and choosing activities that suited their dominant intelligence. The results of the student survey showed that there was an increase of students reading at home, visiting a library, and feeling comfortable and confident when approaching a new word in reading. Through this study, the teacher researchers became more tolerant of students' needs and behaviors that are attributed to their dominant intelligence. (Contains 22 tables, 39 figures. The following are appended: (1) Observation Tally Sheet; (2) Student Survey; (3) Teacher Survey; (4) Venn Diagram; (5) Graphic Organizer; and (6) Intrapersonal Activity.) [Degree of Master of Arts in Teaching and Leadership, Action Research Project, Saint Xavier University.].