The Effects of Reading Workshop on 9th Grade Students' Reading Motivation and Value of Reading

Abstract

This action research was designed to increase reading motivation in a diverse group of ninth grade students. All student participants were from a mid-sized urban school district. Students participated in two reading workshop sessions. After reading for 30 minutes daily they completed reading logs that made use of three literacy strategies. Students also had an opportunity to share their book with their peers. The MPR, Motivation to Read Profile, was administered at the beginning and end of this study to determine students' self-perception of themselves as readers and their value of reading. Aesthetic prompts were used to assess students' interest in and connection to the books they selected. The reading workshop sessions had no substantial impact on students' perceptions of themselves as readers or their value of reading according to the comparison of results ofthe MPR, however; 100% of students were more interested in, engaged by, and connected to the books that they were able to select as compared to the books they had been assigned to read in other classes as measured by their post-reading workshop interview responses.