Reading Motivations and Habits by Michelle Nixon

            Based on the results from the surveys Team Green has researched, we came to the conclusion is that students are more enthused and motivated to read when they choose books that are on their level, which makes it easier for them to comprehend, and when they choose books that they enjoy reading. When I observed my third graders, I noticed that when they went to the media center to check out books, most of the students chose books with characters they can relate to. They also chose fiction and non-fiction books. The third grade girls were most interested in books that had female characters around the same age as them. These books were mainly fiction. The boys chose informational books about famous football and basketball players as well as informational books on insects.

            When developing a literature-based lesson plan or unit plan with my third graders, I like to take into consideration my students’ interests and genre preference. This often keeps them interested in the lesson. Before developing the lesson or unit plan, I would give my students a survey on different topics to see which topic they would enjoy learning about the most. The topic that has the majority of the class’ votes will be the topic I will plan a lesson or unit for considering the reading levels and interests of my students.

CLC Survey Results

            In the study entitled Attitude About Reading (Cruea, 2006), a survey was given to a group of third grade students about what turns them on to reading and what turns them off. Surprisingly the results of the survey showed that students enjoy reading best when they are in a learning environment and when they get to choose the books that they find interesting to them. The results also showed that students enjoy when an adult is reading them to. Although students prefer to read at school the results from the survey also indicated that students are motivated to read when they read for fun.

            The results of the survey indicated that children are much more inclined to read when a book is not forced on them, and they have to opportunity to read what they prefer. Questioning students about what they have read builds comprehension and also excites the students when the books they are reading intrigue them (Cruea, 2006).

            A study entitled Survey of Student Reading (Shatter, 1951), another survey was given to three groups of sixteen to eighteen year olds. The student’s reading levels were classified as low, normal, and advanced. When given the results of the amount of books read within a six-month period, the low group averaged reading about 0.4 books. The results of the normal group averaged reading about 3.0 books, and finally the results of the advanced group averaged reading about 6.0 books. The students preferred reading fiction books as opposed to nonfiction. Magazines, romance novels, comics and occasionally newspapers were on each of the student’s preferred reading list.

In conclusion, conducting surveys in our classrooms and reviewing survey research is an excellent way to gain an understanding into the reading habits, attitudes, and motivations of elementary, middle school, and high school readers.