Using Lesson Study to Increase Student Motivation to Read and Comprehend Science Texts

This study utilized lesson study to improve content area reading comprehension. One area of concern regarding content area literacy is students\u27 lack motivation to read. Three Living Environment teachers, including the author, from a suburban school district and their students participated in this study to increase students\u27 motivation to read and thereby increase reading comprehension levels. The teachers utilized literacy strategies from the literature paired with hands-on activities to increase motivation to read. Teachers used lesson study, a cyclical refinement process, to assess and improve the strategies. Data from midterm analysis demonstrated that the authors\u27 students, who were exposed to both studies, scored higher on novel reading comprehension questions than the average student in the district. This suggests that either the hands-on activities intrinsically motivated students to read or the reading strategies demonstrated in class were transferred to the novel situation