TM Raising Students Who Want to Read

1Let me begin by stating my thesis immediately. No reading program is complete if it doesn’t include motivation. It’s that simple. Of course I agree that a comprehensive reading program needs to cover the basics: phonemic and phonological awareness, phonics, vocabulary development, comprehension strategies, fluency, and automaticity. But even with all of that, a program will be incomplete if it doesn’t incorporate motivation. Good teachers already know that. A few years ago the National Research Council confirmed that one of the main stumbling blocks that can prevent children from becoming skilled readers is a lack of motivation (Snow et al., 1998). In the next few pages, I will discuss what I mean by motivation and the difference between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. As you’ll see, I believe they are interrelated, but a key goal is to develop students ’ intrinsic motivation. Next I’ll lay out nine principles that teachers can follow in order to help students become motivated readers. Along the way I’ll include tips, in th