Interest in Self Sustained
Reading
Jody Jarrell
Second Grade
Cedar Ridge Elementary School
Background

When I looked around my classroom
during Self Sustained Reading I noticed
my students did not seem that
interested while they read. Their
attentions were elsewhere in the room.

I wanted to find a way to change
student’s motivation while having to
read for a period of thirty minutes each
day in my classroom.
Background Continued…
 Research
suggests that a child will pick
a book based on interest regardless of
his/her reading level (Hunt 96/97)
 If
the book that a child chooses is
above their level and it can retain their
interest then they will retain
information from the text regardless of
level. (Krashen 2003)
Research Question
 Will
students when given a
wide thoughtful choice of
books based on interest,
become more motivated to
read?
Methods

Cedar Ridge Elementary
– Title 1 School

475 Students
– 57% have Free/Reduced Lunch
Methods
 Participants

10 Second Grade Students
• 5 Boys & 5 Girls


2 Hispanic (placed out of ESL) & 8 Caucasian
Reading Levels
• 4 - 25/26 and above
• 4 – between 21/22 & 25/26
• 2 – Below 21/22
Intervention
 Students
read in their groups each day for
30 minutes.
 I observed them and took anecdotal notes.
 On Mondays, students filled out a book
critique form about one book they read
during SSR.
Data Collection

Interest Survey

2 groups formed
• Control Group (Animal Books)
• Non Control Group (Range of Genres)

Garfield Reading Survey (Pre & Post)

Daily Anecdotal Notes


Monitored Students’ Reading Patterns and
Behaviors for 30 minutes each day from 1:50pm –
2:20pm
Book Critique Form
Kid Pics. Red Group
Kid Pics. Blue Group
Garfield Results Pre & Post
 Both
groups I felt were not truly honest on
the pre test. As the students filled out the
post test, they took more time and really
thought about their choices.
 Blue
Group
 Red
Group
Book Critique Results
 Smiley
face responses for 4 weeks
from each group.
 Blue
 Red
Group
(Control) Group
Discussion

I learned through my notes that students respond
better to books that are about topics that interest
them.

Students are better focused while reading and can
recall more information about the text they read.

I understand that I need to offer books that are of
greater interest to each of my students in order for
them to be interested and to actually read for the
duration of the self selected block.
References

Dreher, Mariam Jean. (Dec 98/Jan99). Motivating children to read
more nonfiction. Reading Teacher, 52 (4), p. 414-418.

Hunt, Jr. Lyman. (96/97). The effect of self-selection, interest, and
motivation upon independent, instructional, and frustrational
levels. Reading Teacher, 50 (12), p. 278-282.

Krashen, S. (2003). Rewriting History: A Closer Look at Some SSR
Studies. Knowledge Quest, 31 (5), p. 48-49.

Krashen, Stephen. (2005). Is in-school free reading good for
children? Why the national reading panel report is (still)
wrong. Phi Delta Kappan, 86 (6), p. 444- 447.
Book Interest Survey Results
0
0
2
0
1
0
Action
Scary
4
Animals
FairyTales
3
Chapter
Funny
Joke
Sports
0
Adventure
0
Science
Picture
2
Rhyming
Nf iction
Fiction
0
0
Biography
1
6
1
Magazines
Garfield Survey - Blue Group
80
70
60
Percentage
50
Pre
40
Post
30
20
10
0
Adam
Renae
Chris
Students
Brandon
Kendra
Garfield Survey - Red Group
100
90
80
70
Percentage
60
Pre
50
Post
40
30
20
10
0
Jade
Keaton
Charley
Students
Betza
Matthew
Blue Group Book Critique Results
4.5
4
3.5
Feeling Scores
3
1st Week
2.5
2nd Week
3rd Week
2
4th Week
1.5
1
0.5
0
Brandon
Chris
Kendra
Students
Adam
Renae
Red Group Book Critique Results
4.5
4
3.5
Feeling Scores
3
1st Week
2.5
2nd Week
3rd Week
2
4th Week
1.5
1
0.5
0
Betza
Charley
Matthew
Students
Jade
Keaton