Motivation is the driving force behind much of what we, as teachers, do and in what areas we succeed. That is no different for our students. The study by Taboada et al. (2008) determined that motivation and cognitive attributes independently contribute to a learner's reading comprehension. Students who are presented with opportunities to select reading materials of their personal interest and contribute to their learning by generating questions feel more autonomous and are able to internalize what they've read.
Instructional implications include fostering student motivation for reading through connections to background knowledge and interdisciplinary lessons. Taboada et al. (2008) states that providing texts that connect to ideas learned in science and social studies is more effective than selecting disconnected readings. By integrating topics form different disciplines, teachers can increase motivation and activate cognitive processes.
I am a strong advocate of interdisciplinary teaching, as I feel that it is a best practice in the field of education. This is the second year that I have implemented the Elementary Integrated Curriculum (EIC) for kindergarten. It "blends reading, language arts and mathematics instruction with lessons in science, social studies, music, art and physical education in a way that spurs creativity and critical thinking skills." One example of an integrated lesson that I taught was a read aloud that focused on story elements. I chose the book Thump, Quack, Moo by Doreen Cronin because it integrated the ideas of the Statue of Liberty and weather, which the students were learning about in social studies and science. My students were able to activate prior knowledge and I could tell that they were much more motivated than they would have been had I chosen a book completely disconnected from any other units.
The planning of interdisciplinary lessons exposes students to in-depth lessons as opposed to broad coverage. In addition, teachers should also provide differentiated student-centered activities, since the study indicates that self-efficacy can develop through curiosity, inquiry and interest. Teachers should discuss individuals' understanding of motivation and interest to better understand the relationship between motivation, cognitive processes and the use of reading comprehension strategies. This information can be very useful in developing interventions that can hopefully increase intrinsic motivation and reading comprehension success.
References
Taboada, A., Tonks, S.M., Wigfield, A., and Guthrie, J. (2008). Effects of motivational and cognitive
variables on reading comprehension. Reading and Writing, 22(1), 85-106.
Montgomery County Public Schools. (2010). Elementary integrated curriculum. Office of
Curriculum and Instruction Programs. Retrieved from http://www.montgomery
schoolsmd.org/curriculum/integrated/
Hi Christina,
ReplyDeleteFirst, I would like to say that I LOVE what you did with the title and background for your blog! Where did you find the leaf background? I didn’t see it in the template listings. Anyway – the whole effect is wonderful.
I enjoyed reading your post. I am also an advocate of the interdisciplinary approach to learning. You have probably read a lot of Howard Gardner’s work? Interdisciplinary methods would seem to work well with his theory of multiple intelligences. I also like the organic nature of interdisciplinary learning; although we often divide our study of the world into separate disciplines, an integrated approach would seem to give students a way of viewing the world that more closely reflects reality. It seems that teaching thematically would allow teachers and students to delve deeper into a subject – which would likely increase motivation levels for many students.
I’m an Art in the Schools volunteer coordinator and instructor at our local elementary school, and I get so excited about teaching lessons related to the Renaissance - an ideal topic for an interdisciplinary lesson. Just about any topic can be approached in an interdisciplinary manner, but the Renaissance provides such a fabulous way to bring together art, science, mathematics, history…you name it. Even focusing on an individual Renaissance figure such as Leonardo da Vinci allows for a great way to bring together numerous subjects. We taught the students how to create works using one-point and two-point perspective. They got so excited about using geometry and mathematics to create a work of art. During my years as an undergrad, most students on campus referred to math and science majors as “techies” and liberal arts majors as “fuzzies”. In my daughter’s classroom, the techies got excited about art – and the fuzzies got excited about math! It was such fun. I hope that as a teacher, I will have opportunities to motivate students by teaching thematically in collaboration with my colleagues.