Research shows a general declining trend in reading motivation as students progress through their schooling experience. This qualitative study examines how adjusting practices of rewarding reading can improve reading motivation among students. Teachers are trained in the principles of motivation and introduced to the proximal reward theory…

Over the past two years, as a professor of reading education, I have listened to, collaborated, and met with various PreK-12 educators virtually and in person. I collected questions, comments, successes, and challenges related to the ongoing transitions and demands of this post-pandemic era on teachers, students, and parents. The topics of student…

Teachers who are successful at teaching both the skill and the love of reading provide a foundation for lifetime reading. All too often, building motivation for reading is neglected in reading instruction and classrooms. Nine teachers were trained in seven motivational principles and then invited to make an implementation plan using as many of the…

The authors share findings from a study that incorporated two types of participatory interview approaches (conversational drawing interviews and walking tour interviews) to elicit young students' (K-2) motivation-related perceptions of a reading intervention to better understand and support their motivation for doing reading in the program. All 14…

This study explores the relationship between the books students select for independent reading and their motivation to read. Instructional recommendations based on key findings are presented. To gather data, study participants completed the Motivation to Read Profile-Revised. They also shared information about the books they had selected for…

Interest-based instruction involves attending to students' individual interests, including their existing topical interests, and triggering new situational interests, which can be cultivated during instruction. Understanding four teaching actions--approaching curricular planning intentionally, contextualizing learning, building relevance and value…

The author examines the benefits of journaling in his fifth-grade classroom. Reviewing student journal data from the past 25 years, he shares an effective method for preparing a classroom for daily journaling, one that minimizes teacher-issued prompts and implements procedures for sharing and reflecting. Positive effects include insights into…

The early emergent stage of writing consists of drawing and scribbling. This article provides a rationale for teachers to reframe their dispositions toward scribbling and reshape their interactions with writers in the early emergent stage. These teaching tips were derived from the authors' study of teacher, parent, and young students' perceptions…

Gamification uses game elements such as quests, challenges, levels, and rewards to motivate and engage students in the classroom. Given the engagement that students feel during gameplay, it is sensible to include elements of game design to motivate students and create a space for comprehensive vocabulary instruction. Designing a gamified…

Many students have experienced author visits, but one K-4 elementary school aimed to meet its school improvement goal to motivate writers through a yearlong collaboration with a published children's book author/illustrator, Ryan Hipp. This article details the positive components of the yearlong collaboration that included three in-person sessions…

Students need inspiration to write. Assigning is not teaching. In order to inspire students to write fiction worth reading, teachers must take them through the process of writing. Physical objects inspire good writing with depth. In this article, the reader will be taken through the process of inspiring young writers through the use of boxes.…

In 2010, more than 40 states adopted the Common Core State Standards. Initially, the standards were quickly and easily embraced, but over the past year the standards have become enmeshed in various controversies, raising many questions about how the standards were written and what they include. This article attempts to provide authoritative…

The authors discuss the burgeoning number of graphic novels being published for young readers (approximately PK-3) and suggest a new term for identifying this format and audience: primary graphic novels (PGNs), for primary level students. They go on to describe a series of lessons they conducted with a class of 1st and 2nd graders to capitalize on…

For most classroom teachers, recognizing when students are engaged in literacy activities--and perhaps more glaringly, when they are not--is a process that is key to evaluating the potential success of the instruction being offered. Students who are engaged have their eyes on what they are doing, are ardently attending to the teacher's read aloud…

Canine-assisted reading programs show promise as an innovative method for engaging reluctant readers and motivating them to practice. In such programs, specially trained dogs visit classrooms and libraries, and children read to them. Children who struggle with reading may be motivated to read more because they find dogs to be calming and…