Four Ways to Motivate Adolescent Readers

While we might have those days where we sit back and really wonder how we get kids motivated and actually have them care, we still know it is very possible for each and every child to get excited about learning.  I came across a wonderful article on the All About Adolescent Literacy website called How Can Instruction Help Adolescent Students with Motivation? It is really a great article, and I recommend spending some time on the AdLit.org website as well.  

The article focuses on four main ideas that teachers can use in the classroom to motivate young readers and writers. 

1.       Set clear goals and expectations for performance.   Students have to know what is expected of them, and what we would like them to achieve and learn. Before having students read a chapter from a book for the night,  give them some background knowledge beforehand and explain what we expect them to discuss the next day. If students are unclear about the assignment, they will lack motivation to complete it or complete it successfully. 

2.       Guide Students to focus on their own improvement.  We have all seen other students looking at each other’s papers and asking how their peers did on a specific assignment.  We want students to focus on themselves and their own reading goals. The article states that teachers can work with literacy coaches and reading specialists to work with students to set up their own goals and find a way to track their progress. This will motivate students more when they focus on themselves and their own goals rather than how other students are doing. 

3.       Provide variety of choice in materials. This is mentioned in almost every motivation article I have read. Students are going to be more motivated to read something they picked out because it will be more interesting to them. It makes sense! When we go to the library, we pick books that are interesting to us. Let’s make sure we are giving students the same opportunity.

4.       Provide opportunities for students to interact through reading.  This includes small group discussions in the classroom. It is always nice to mix up the students in the group, especially so students of all abilities can discuss and learn together. 

National Institute for Literacy. (2007). Adapted from What Content-Area Teachers Should Know About Adolescent Literacy. Retrieved from http://www.nifl.gov/nifl/publications/adolescent_literacy07.pdf