This summer, I was fortunate to conduct research at an
amazing thematic summer camp for struggling readers. There, I functioned as a
participant observer and interviewed primary-aged boys about what they liked
and disliked about camp in general and about the guided reading portion of their
day. The overarching theme of the camp was “kids as change-makers” and the
subtheme for primary students was “composting with worms”. Interestingly, the
boys’ responses to my motivation-related questions largely aligned with a
recent article in The Reading Teacher,
written by Springer and colleagues (2017). The article detailed the importance
of fostering situational interest for
reading and provided recommendations for teachers aiming to cultivate
situational interest as a means of enhancing overall reading motivation.
Situational interest involves creating “a classroom climate
and instructional activities in which everyone is excited to participate”;
however, maintaining situational interest is thought to entail two phases: “the
catch and hold” (Springer, Harris & Dole, 2011, p.45). According to
Mitchell (1993) the catch aspect,
which many teachers are familiar with, involves an exciting, topic-related,
opening activity that ignites a fire for investigating the topic further via
reading. The hold is intended to keep
students interested in the topic throughout the lesson or unit. Hold activities
strive to be relevant and meaningful for children. Examples include “reading
[topic-related] books … with brilliant pictures,” “watching [topic-related]
YouTube videos,” and incorporating numerous opportunities for children to work
together towards a goal (e.g., kids working together to access a text and build
a model stemming from their reading).
Below I have listed some of the catch and hold activities
observed at the thematic summer camp described in the opening paragraph. Many
of these activities surfaced in the boys’ responses specific to what they
enjoyed most about camp and guided reading.
Catch Activities:
- Dissecting compost bins
- Digging for earthworms
- Observing worms closely with a magnifying glass
- Observing worms in a worm bin
- Sorting biodegradable and recyclable items
Hold Activities:
- Reading a recipe for making a dirt cup with gummy worms and making the recipe in small groups
- Reading Diary of a Worm by Doreen Cronin and Harry Bliss and writing a new version of the book with a partner
- Reading modified text from How to Start a Worm Bin by Henry Owen and making a worm bin as a class
- Reading Compost Stew: An A to Z Recipe for the Earth by Mary McKenna Siddals and Ashley Wolff and writing a persuasive letter (as a class) to the parent council for money to purchase compost bins for the school
- Reading a collection of especially descriptive worm poetry (pulled from online sources and books) and creating a worm sculpture individually and accompanying poem with a partner
References
Mitchell, M. (1993). Situational interest: Its multifaceted structure
in the secondary school mathematics
classroom. Journal of Educational Psychology, 85(3), 424–436.
Springer, S. E., Harris, S. & Dole J. A. (2017). From
surviving to thriving: Four research-based principles to build students’ reading interest. The Reading Teacher, 7(1), 43-50.
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