Literacy Matters - Winter 2020

which suggests teachers incorporate complex comprehension reading activities instead of mundane reading tasks residing on the lower comprehension skills alone (Applegate & Applegate, 2010). The idea of students’motivation to read being impacted by their expected success also relates back to the previously mentioned research noting that those students who are “good” at reading are the ones who read more and read for enjoyment. Incorporating Authentic Tasks In continuing to consider ways of increasing student motivation to read, the authenticity of tasks must be considered. By using authentic tasks during literacy instruction, it is hoped that students place more value on the assignments because they will be able to see the relevance of the activity to daily life. In creating authentic tasks, teachers attempt to mirror real-life situations and provide students opportunities to apply the knowledge they are learning. Parsons andWard (2011) set up the standards for authentic tasks as those which not only are relevant to students’ lives but also work to enhance motivation and build academic vocabulary through parts of a lesson such as collaboration with other students. The idea of authentic tasks relating to students’ lives is related to the increasing value given to a specific task, which will increase a student’s motivation according to the expectancy-value theory described by Applegate and Applegate (2010) and others. Real-world Reading Materials Authentic reading materials are another necessary part of creating authentic lessons within the classroom. To help with realistic literacy encounters, teachers should utilize non-fiction along with fictional text within the classroom to teach literacy components easily implemented with the quickly increasing amount of non-fiction resources, including online literacies (Williams, 2009). Using resources such as newspapers, magazines, and web-based literacy is more real-life than using only a textbook to educate students about a concept. Higher-level reading strategies and skills were evident in the results of a study of tenth graders by Braten, Ferguson, Anmarkrud, and Stromso (2013) making it clear through a science lesson requiring students to read multiple conflicting sources about the same topic that advanced reading skills are imperative in acquiring new knowledge through text sources. In connecting this with South Carolina Social Studies Standards, students could be introduced to an almanac as they learn about farmers and their community. This could also be integrated with science lessons on plants. Another literacy integration idea could include reading or creating diagrams and instructional guides as students learn about inventors. Newspapers, magazines, digital literacies, and other real- world forms of literature should be incorporated within the classroom to teach students concepts in a more appropriate way. By increasing the number of authentic texts used in the classroom, hopefully, students’ perceived value of a lesson and skills used to be successful will increase motivation and create purposeful readers. Authentic or relevant tasks and materials are also part of culturally relevant pedagogy, which Nowell (2017) found as a topic of interest for all three teacher participants in

classroom. One teacher participant specifically noted the ability to cover content more deeply as a result of integrating instead of separately teaching language arts and social studies. This outcome again supports the ideas shared earlier from Afflerbach et al. (2013) and Applegate and Applegate (2010) about challenging our students to think critically instead of merely memorizing facts regarding historical events. Motivation Motivation related to literacy. Motivating students requires teachers to know their students on an individual level and use that personal knowledge when planning educational lessons. Increasing students’motivation to read has been the focus of many educational researchers. “Heavy reading is the best predictor of school success” (Miller, 2012, p. 89). Reading is essential in student success, including both the amount of reading and quality activities completed before, during, and after reading. The following paragraphs will give an overview of recent research relating motivation to reading success. According to Miller (2012), to develop reading proficiency, students need to read often. This is difficult for teachers because students who are “good” at reading enjoy reading and will often read and for pleasure. Students who do not like reading or feel they are “bad” at reading are reluctant to invest time in reading. This creates a problem for both students and teachers since increasing time spent reading appears to improve reading, yet those students with concerning literacy skills are generally those reluctant to read. Miller also encourages students to self-select books and read at any given opportunity. She worked to engage her students in learning through choice and dialogue, showing interest and continuing to help students progress in reading skills. Lastly, Miller states, “reviewing my district’s curriculum and state standards, I redesigned my instruction around the knowledge and skills students must learn, instead of teaching specific books” (Miller, 2012, p. 91). This shows an individualized planning approach to literacy instruction that accounts for instructional needs and students’ interests. Teachers must realize that using the same unit for years, does not mean they need to continue using that same material. An evaluation of materials should take place yearly, leading to modifications based on changing interests of incoming students along with state standards. Motivation related to students’ perception of success and value. Applegate and Applegate (2010) bring attention to the expectancy-value theory explaining that student motivation is dependent on expected success or failure related to a specific task and value placed on the task by the individual. Although studies show that motivation to read decreases with age, their study aimed to provide empirical data strengthening the relationship between motivation and complex comprehension tasks. Results of the study implied that higher-level thinking related to reading activities increased motivation in both genders; however, it did not have an effect on the decrease of motivation with age but may delay the rate of this decline. Their findings related to motivation increase were evident in their study showing increased motivation as a result of higher-level thinking,

Reading Matters Authenticity Matters

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