Conclusion
I started out the research process focused on the act of reading. Over half of the 8th graders in my classes did not enjoy reading at the beginning of the year and I wanted to change that. Knowing that by the end of 8th grade, reading ability is one of the strongest predictors of success in high school and beyond, I wondered how to build intrinsic motivation to read (Hall, Burns & Edwards, 2011).
During the first research cycle, I found that students wanted to read if the story was good. It was that simple. Give them a good book or the tools to find their own and they will read. The classroom setting and structures also mattered. Students wanted to be comfortable and have choice in how they read. This autonomy, or the opportunity to self-direct the reading experience, matched Daniel Pink’s theory of intrinsic motivation (2009). Students were more motivated to read because they had the freedom to choose the most appropriate structure and they were reading for enjoyment, not a grade.
I struggled with this focus on enjoyment, however. The Common Core standards call for students to read more complex text in order to be successful in college and the workplace. Was reading for enjoyment allowing students to interact with complex text, I wondered. Authors Shanahan, Fisher, and Frey state that by building skills, establishing purpose, and fostering motivation and persistence, teachers can help students to successfully comprehend more challenging text (2012). However, as I continued to read related literature I questioned if understanding complex text was indeed the end goal. In order to be successful outside of school students needed to do more than simply read and understand. They needed to do something with the information it contained. Wagner states that employers are looking for innovative workers today who can think and communicate effectively (2002).
I found that projects offered a way to move beyond comprehension, by building intrinsic motivation and providing an authentic purpose for reading. In addition, the collaborative nature of projects provided an additional layer of support for both understanding the text and creating products that represented students’ unique interpretations of the text. Book projects caused students to think deeper about the author’s messages and to connect those with their own personal experiences. By using the higher-level critical thinking skills Wagner endorses, students created their own meaning based on the book.
By the end of the second research cycle, my perspective on the purpose of reading changed. I originally thought that finding authentic purpose would cause students to want to read. Students, however, wanted to read for enjoyment. Now I see that enjoyment and authentic purpose help students come to a deeper understanding of the book. By first enjoying the story and then starting a project, students have a reason and the motivation to go deeper into the book’s themes. As one student, Gina, brilliantly said, “I think my project showed a deep thinking of the book. If I didn’t enjoy the book, I don’t think I would of been able to show deep thinking, and ideas.” Reading and projects lead to deeper thinking, the quality needed for lifetime success.
Breaking Down Walls with a Gateway Book
Like over half of my class, many students may enter middle school feeling negatively toward reading. Without giving books a chance, students may not reach enjoyment or deep thinking. I found that using a gateway book to start off the year could change attitudes toward reading and lead to enjoyment. A gateway book is an intriguing, action packed book with characters that students can connect to. The kind of book you can’t put down. Even if kids don’t like to read, they will probably get swept up in the storyline of a gateway book. I discovered that it helped to read together as a whole class, at least in the beginning, so all students could have a common understanding of the storyline, writing style, and characters. Some students ended up breaking off from the group to read ahead, but I kept reading out loud for students who needed that support.
I also discovered that a gateway book could move students from enjoyment into higher levels of critical thinking. A well-chosen book with complex themes and characters is just begging to be discussed. Students can’t help but argue over it, predict what will happen next and make connections to their own lives. Even without a teacher led discussion, students will be whispering about it to their friend as they read in the corner or talking about it as they walk out to their next class.
Finally, a gateway book can be the bridge to reading independently. Students came to trust my opinion and sought out other book recommendations. They were more willing to give books a chance after enjoying this first one. They saw that reading, discussing, and interacting with an enjoyable book is fun, not boring.
Other factors that build Intrinsic Motivation to Read
According to Daniel Pink in Drive, people are intrinsically motivated to learn and to succeed, and when the conditions are right, they don’t need external rewards such as grades. In fact, rewards can work against us, in that people are less likely to continue something when the external reward is taken away (2009). If this theory is applied to reading, students would be less likely to read on their own if a grade or points were originally attached and then stopped. In my research I wondered what would build intrinsic motivation to read, without attaching points or a grade. What classroom conditions would allow students to enjoy reading? I saw that Pink’s three essential elements, autonomy, mastery, and purpose, did change some students’ feelings about reading.
Autonomy: the desire to direct our own lives
Giving students choice, even if the class is reading the same book, is an extremely important factor in building intrinsic motivation to read. I received the most feedback from students about having control over their reading environment. They wanted to read at their own pace and in the method that they were most comfortable with. Autonomous reading means that students have control over task, time, technique, and team.
I gave students choice in task in two ways. While doing a workshop style approach to reading, I offered up many book choices. Students could read any book of their choice. In the second research cycle we read the same book but students had choice in the outcome. They chose whether or not to discuss, what type of project to do, and what to read when finished with Unwind.
By allowing choice in time, students could read at their own pace. Pace was mentioned the most when I asked about our reading structure in surveys and reflections. When I tried to keep everyone on the same page, students felt frustrated and held back, or confused and left behind. When I let go of that control and offered choice, students were happier and seemed more excited to continue reading. As students finished the book early, they went on to the sequel or a different book. The lack of uniformity did not affect their final projects or their level of thinking in a negative way. All students were able to interact with and talk about the book no matter how long it took them to read it.
It became clear that students needed choice in technique after a debate sprung up in one class about discussing while reading. Some students wanted to discuss the book while reading but others wanted to just read without stopping. Together the students and I attempted a hybrid model. Students who wanted to read and discuss or have the book read to them met with me in a small group. We read together in low voices. Those that wanted to read faster or without stopping to discuss read around the edges of the classroom. It wasn’t completely silent for the independent readers but quiet enough that they could block out our voices. This compromise allowed all students to read in the way they needed to.
Choice in team was the one area that the class and I struggled with. During reading time, most students made positive choices about their “team.” They were encouraged to sit anywhere around the room and often sat by friends. This was a problem on some occasions with a few students. As much as I wanted to allow complete autonomy in this area, sometimes I made the decision to move student from the outer edge of the classroom and into my small group. I did this because I knew they weren’t reading the book and as a way to maintain a quiet environment for the rest of the class. Choice in team worked well during our project work time. Students worked together in multiple ways to create better projects and to help each other think deeper about the book.
Mastery: the urge to get better at something that matters
Engagement and the desire to become better at something lead to mastery. Recognizing various reasons to read caused some students to be more engaged and to want to become better readers. During my two research cycles students found different reasons to get better at reading.
While I was with the first class as a co-teacher, one student’s aspiration to become a better writer increased her desire to read. She saw the connection between reading good models as a way to help with spelling, writing style, and story ideas. She did not like to read but was willing to put in the time and effort in order to build her writing skills.
With my second class, we discussed how reading could expand one’s worldview. We also connected this to the importance of class discussions and hearing each other’s opinions. Some students were more engaged in reading and discussing because they saw how this allowed them to open their minds and expand their worldview.
Understanding the connection between becoming a better reading and becoming a better writer didn’t come out of nowhere. My co-teacher had explained why reading is important for good writing. In the second class, I had helped make the connection between reading and understanding the world. Explicitly teaching reasons to read, what makes a good reader, and how to get better can led students to develop a desire to become better readers.
Purpose: the yearning to do what we do in the service of something larger than ourselves
Daniel Pink states that authentic purpose is one of three elements that leads to intrinsic motivation. Looking back on my research, I feel that in this case the opposite was true. Intrinsic motivation actually led to purpose. Students were intrinsically motivated to read because they enjoyed the story and appreciated the autonomy in task, time, technique, and team. Some students were additionally motivated by a desire to become better readers or writers or to expand their view on society. The idea of reading solely to do something “in the service of something larger than ourselves” did not seem to be a motivating factor while reading. Their purpose for reading was mostly to satisfy their own curiosity. The story was intriguing.
However, intrinsic motivation, in the form of enjoyment, led to an authentic purpose to think. This is where my research took a turn. I had been trying to develop an authentic reason to read. Now I see reading as a tool for establishing an authentic purpose to think. Reading is no longer the end goal. The objective now is deep thinking about our views on society and our place in it. Reading helps build these understandings and projects help us show our thinking.
If deepening our own personal understandings is an authentic purpose for reading, critical thinking becomes essential to the process. Books and our peers help us build new ideas about ourselves and the world and projects are the vehicle to show these new understandings. At this point my focus shifted away from the act of reading and toward critical thinking skills. I wondered what structures and project outcomes would lead to higher levels of critical thinking. This change in focus better aligns to the two skills Wagner declares students need today; the ability to think and to communicate those ideas effectively (2008).
Elements that lead to higher levels of critical thinking
Reading a book or assigning a project alone will not automatically cause students to think deeper. During my second research cycle, I taught how and why we should be thinking deeper about books in various ways. We discussed the purpose for reading; why people read and write stories and revisited this question often throughout the research cycle. We also used the revised Bloom’s taxonomy chart to understand the levels of critical thinking and to design projects that would demonstrate higher levels of thinking. Besides explicitly teaching, I also put in place several structures that led to higher levels of critical thinking:
Voice and choice:
By having students develop and choose their own projects, they were more excited about the project and more willing to think deeper about the book. This also led to a stronger desire for high quality end products. In order to reach these levels, students had to think deeper. The debate group, for example, became highly prepared for the actual debate by testing out their arguments on each other throughout the two-week work time. Students in the art group they needed to think deeper and more symbolically to make a more symbolic, beautiful piece of art.
Collaboration:
Students cited conversations with peers as having the greatest effect on their own deep thinking and 51% of the class said their peers helped them think deeper. There were many opportunities for students to collaborate while we worked on the projects. Some students formally worked together in a group while others completed individual projects but collaborated as needed. I noticed lots of unstructured conversation happening during project work time. Often, students were talking about Unwind( ), sometimes just because they wanted to and sometimes in order to make their project better. In my view, it was these unstructured, student-initiated conversations that led to deeper thinking about the book. I had originally felt guilty when reading Unwind straight through without stopping to discuss often. I now realize, that the informal conversations during project time were different than those while reading would have been. During reading, students were motivated to discuss only to understand the storyline. Conversations while working on projects had a different purpose. Students needed to come to a deeper understanding of the author’s messages and one’s own opinions in order to make their projects better. Students needed each other to build and test out their interpretations.
Opportunities for revision:
Students’ project ideas and final products changed many times throughout the research cycle. Change was encouraged through structures such as peer critique, exploring exemplar models and examining the revised Boom’s Taxonomy (a concrete way to measure critical thinking). These structures, problem solving challenges and having conversations with others, caused most students to slightly adjust or completely change their project idea.
These modifications made final products look better and caused students to think deeper. Students originally had project ideas such as write a summary, act out a scene, and create a book cover. By promoting a culture of revision, students were still able to act or draw as they wanted to initially, but the final results showed much deeper thinking.
Exhibition:
Most projects were displayed in some form for the rest of the class to see in an exhibition. By formally showing their work to the rest of the class, students continued to think deeply. They asked each other questions about the work, discussed and debated with the artists and authors, and came to new understandings of the book’s main themes. Project creators had to defend and explain their choices and viewpoints. By taking the teacher out and putting classmates in as the audience, students continued to learn from each other.
The Power of Process
Thinking back to when I started my research, I realize that my views on reading and projects were actually very similar. I was focused on the product. The act of reading. The product at the end of a project. Now I see that my focus should be on the process. What thinking is happening to get to the final product? What structures do I have in place to guide students in their journey to deeper meaning? In order to create a classroom culture that sees reading as a tool to deepen our opinions and views of the world, I need to make the process as important as the product. This requires explicit teaching of the purpose of reading and how to think critically. I also need to listen to the needs of my students and offer choices so they can find their own path to deeper meaning through books. Students need many opportunities to revise their products and their ideas through conversations with peers and myself. Finally, I need to allow opportunities for students to learn from each other in more formal ways such as through protocols or exhibitions.
In order to get to this level of deep thinking, students do have to actually read the book. By starting early in the year with an action packed, gateway book I can get students hooked on the story. Later we can tackle the deeper themes through a project that they enjoy. Listening to students and offering choice allows all students to find a pathway to both enjoyment and deeper thinking about books, the world and themselves.
Implications:
As Wagner states in The Global Achievement Gap, our world is rapidly changing and in need of people who can think, collaborate, and communicate effectively (2002). In order to get kids ready for the world of work in the 21st century, we need to push our own thinking about the skills they will need for the future. Students will need to read as they always have, but at an even higher level. Reading to simply understand is not enough today. Readers need to interact with texts and use the information to innovate and change the world. To do this, students need to build critical thinking skills. We, as teachers, can help build these skills by first offering great books to increase intrinsic motivation to read. Once students enjoy reading, we can guide them through projects and offer structures that will lead to deeper thinking about text and their world. By switching the focus from reading as the goal to a larger focus on the process of thinking and learning, students will have the elements needed for success in the world today.
During the first research cycle, I found that students wanted to read if the story was good. It was that simple. Give them a good book or the tools to find their own and they will read. The classroom setting and structures also mattered. Students wanted to be comfortable and have choice in how they read. This autonomy, or the opportunity to self-direct the reading experience, matched Daniel Pink’s theory of intrinsic motivation (2009). Students were more motivated to read because they had the freedom to choose the most appropriate structure and they were reading for enjoyment, not a grade.
I struggled with this focus on enjoyment, however. The Common Core standards call for students to read more complex text in order to be successful in college and the workplace. Was reading for enjoyment allowing students to interact with complex text, I wondered. Authors Shanahan, Fisher, and Frey state that by building skills, establishing purpose, and fostering motivation and persistence, teachers can help students to successfully comprehend more challenging text (2012). However, as I continued to read related literature I questioned if understanding complex text was indeed the end goal. In order to be successful outside of school students needed to do more than simply read and understand. They needed to do something with the information it contained. Wagner states that employers are looking for innovative workers today who can think and communicate effectively (2002).
I found that projects offered a way to move beyond comprehension, by building intrinsic motivation and providing an authentic purpose for reading. In addition, the collaborative nature of projects provided an additional layer of support for both understanding the text and creating products that represented students’ unique interpretations of the text. Book projects caused students to think deeper about the author’s messages and to connect those with their own personal experiences. By using the higher-level critical thinking skills Wagner endorses, students created their own meaning based on the book.
By the end of the second research cycle, my perspective on the purpose of reading changed. I originally thought that finding authentic purpose would cause students to want to read. Students, however, wanted to read for enjoyment. Now I see that enjoyment and authentic purpose help students come to a deeper understanding of the book. By first enjoying the story and then starting a project, students have a reason and the motivation to go deeper into the book’s themes. As one student, Gina, brilliantly said, “I think my project showed a deep thinking of the book. If I didn’t enjoy the book, I don’t think I would of been able to show deep thinking, and ideas.” Reading and projects lead to deeper thinking, the quality needed for lifetime success.
Breaking Down Walls with a Gateway Book
Like over half of my class, many students may enter middle school feeling negatively toward reading. Without giving books a chance, students may not reach enjoyment or deep thinking. I found that using a gateway book to start off the year could change attitudes toward reading and lead to enjoyment. A gateway book is an intriguing, action packed book with characters that students can connect to. The kind of book you can’t put down. Even if kids don’t like to read, they will probably get swept up in the storyline of a gateway book. I discovered that it helped to read together as a whole class, at least in the beginning, so all students could have a common understanding of the storyline, writing style, and characters. Some students ended up breaking off from the group to read ahead, but I kept reading out loud for students who needed that support.
I also discovered that a gateway book could move students from enjoyment into higher levels of critical thinking. A well-chosen book with complex themes and characters is just begging to be discussed. Students can’t help but argue over it, predict what will happen next and make connections to their own lives. Even without a teacher led discussion, students will be whispering about it to their friend as they read in the corner or talking about it as they walk out to their next class.
Finally, a gateway book can be the bridge to reading independently. Students came to trust my opinion and sought out other book recommendations. They were more willing to give books a chance after enjoying this first one. They saw that reading, discussing, and interacting with an enjoyable book is fun, not boring.
Other factors that build Intrinsic Motivation to Read
According to Daniel Pink in Drive, people are intrinsically motivated to learn and to succeed, and when the conditions are right, they don’t need external rewards such as grades. In fact, rewards can work against us, in that people are less likely to continue something when the external reward is taken away (2009). If this theory is applied to reading, students would be less likely to read on their own if a grade or points were originally attached and then stopped. In my research I wondered what would build intrinsic motivation to read, without attaching points or a grade. What classroom conditions would allow students to enjoy reading? I saw that Pink’s three essential elements, autonomy, mastery, and purpose, did change some students’ feelings about reading.
Autonomy: the desire to direct our own lives
Giving students choice, even if the class is reading the same book, is an extremely important factor in building intrinsic motivation to read. I received the most feedback from students about having control over their reading environment. They wanted to read at their own pace and in the method that they were most comfortable with. Autonomous reading means that students have control over task, time, technique, and team.
I gave students choice in task in two ways. While doing a workshop style approach to reading, I offered up many book choices. Students could read any book of their choice. In the second research cycle we read the same book but students had choice in the outcome. They chose whether or not to discuss, what type of project to do, and what to read when finished with Unwind.
By allowing choice in time, students could read at their own pace. Pace was mentioned the most when I asked about our reading structure in surveys and reflections. When I tried to keep everyone on the same page, students felt frustrated and held back, or confused and left behind. When I let go of that control and offered choice, students were happier and seemed more excited to continue reading. As students finished the book early, they went on to the sequel or a different book. The lack of uniformity did not affect their final projects or their level of thinking in a negative way. All students were able to interact with and talk about the book no matter how long it took them to read it.
It became clear that students needed choice in technique after a debate sprung up in one class about discussing while reading. Some students wanted to discuss the book while reading but others wanted to just read without stopping. Together the students and I attempted a hybrid model. Students who wanted to read and discuss or have the book read to them met with me in a small group. We read together in low voices. Those that wanted to read faster or without stopping to discuss read around the edges of the classroom. It wasn’t completely silent for the independent readers but quiet enough that they could block out our voices. This compromise allowed all students to read in the way they needed to.
Choice in team was the one area that the class and I struggled with. During reading time, most students made positive choices about their “team.” They were encouraged to sit anywhere around the room and often sat by friends. This was a problem on some occasions with a few students. As much as I wanted to allow complete autonomy in this area, sometimes I made the decision to move student from the outer edge of the classroom and into my small group. I did this because I knew they weren’t reading the book and as a way to maintain a quiet environment for the rest of the class. Choice in team worked well during our project work time. Students worked together in multiple ways to create better projects and to help each other think deeper about the book.
Mastery: the urge to get better at something that matters
Engagement and the desire to become better at something lead to mastery. Recognizing various reasons to read caused some students to be more engaged and to want to become better readers. During my two research cycles students found different reasons to get better at reading.
While I was with the first class as a co-teacher, one student’s aspiration to become a better writer increased her desire to read. She saw the connection between reading good models as a way to help with spelling, writing style, and story ideas. She did not like to read but was willing to put in the time and effort in order to build her writing skills.
With my second class, we discussed how reading could expand one’s worldview. We also connected this to the importance of class discussions and hearing each other’s opinions. Some students were more engaged in reading and discussing because they saw how this allowed them to open their minds and expand their worldview.
Understanding the connection between becoming a better reading and becoming a better writer didn’t come out of nowhere. My co-teacher had explained why reading is important for good writing. In the second class, I had helped make the connection between reading and understanding the world. Explicitly teaching reasons to read, what makes a good reader, and how to get better can led students to develop a desire to become better readers.
Purpose: the yearning to do what we do in the service of something larger than ourselves
Daniel Pink states that authentic purpose is one of three elements that leads to intrinsic motivation. Looking back on my research, I feel that in this case the opposite was true. Intrinsic motivation actually led to purpose. Students were intrinsically motivated to read because they enjoyed the story and appreciated the autonomy in task, time, technique, and team. Some students were additionally motivated by a desire to become better readers or writers or to expand their view on society. The idea of reading solely to do something “in the service of something larger than ourselves” did not seem to be a motivating factor while reading. Their purpose for reading was mostly to satisfy their own curiosity. The story was intriguing.
However, intrinsic motivation, in the form of enjoyment, led to an authentic purpose to think. This is where my research took a turn. I had been trying to develop an authentic reason to read. Now I see reading as a tool for establishing an authentic purpose to think. Reading is no longer the end goal. The objective now is deep thinking about our views on society and our place in it. Reading helps build these understandings and projects help us show our thinking.
If deepening our own personal understandings is an authentic purpose for reading, critical thinking becomes essential to the process. Books and our peers help us build new ideas about ourselves and the world and projects are the vehicle to show these new understandings. At this point my focus shifted away from the act of reading and toward critical thinking skills. I wondered what structures and project outcomes would lead to higher levels of critical thinking. This change in focus better aligns to the two skills Wagner declares students need today; the ability to think and to communicate those ideas effectively (2008).
Elements that lead to higher levels of critical thinking
Reading a book or assigning a project alone will not automatically cause students to think deeper. During my second research cycle, I taught how and why we should be thinking deeper about books in various ways. We discussed the purpose for reading; why people read and write stories and revisited this question often throughout the research cycle. We also used the revised Bloom’s taxonomy chart to understand the levels of critical thinking and to design projects that would demonstrate higher levels of thinking. Besides explicitly teaching, I also put in place several structures that led to higher levels of critical thinking:
Voice and choice:
By having students develop and choose their own projects, they were more excited about the project and more willing to think deeper about the book. This also led to a stronger desire for high quality end products. In order to reach these levels, students had to think deeper. The debate group, for example, became highly prepared for the actual debate by testing out their arguments on each other throughout the two-week work time. Students in the art group they needed to think deeper and more symbolically to make a more symbolic, beautiful piece of art.
Collaboration:
Students cited conversations with peers as having the greatest effect on their own deep thinking and 51% of the class said their peers helped them think deeper. There were many opportunities for students to collaborate while we worked on the projects. Some students formally worked together in a group while others completed individual projects but collaborated as needed. I noticed lots of unstructured conversation happening during project work time. Often, students were talking about Unwind( ), sometimes just because they wanted to and sometimes in order to make their project better. In my view, it was these unstructured, student-initiated conversations that led to deeper thinking about the book. I had originally felt guilty when reading Unwind straight through without stopping to discuss often. I now realize, that the informal conversations during project time were different than those while reading would have been. During reading, students were motivated to discuss only to understand the storyline. Conversations while working on projects had a different purpose. Students needed to come to a deeper understanding of the author’s messages and one’s own opinions in order to make their projects better. Students needed each other to build and test out their interpretations.
Opportunities for revision:
Students’ project ideas and final products changed many times throughout the research cycle. Change was encouraged through structures such as peer critique, exploring exemplar models and examining the revised Boom’s Taxonomy (a concrete way to measure critical thinking). These structures, problem solving challenges and having conversations with others, caused most students to slightly adjust or completely change their project idea.
These modifications made final products look better and caused students to think deeper. Students originally had project ideas such as write a summary, act out a scene, and create a book cover. By promoting a culture of revision, students were still able to act or draw as they wanted to initially, but the final results showed much deeper thinking.
Exhibition:
Most projects were displayed in some form for the rest of the class to see in an exhibition. By formally showing their work to the rest of the class, students continued to think deeply. They asked each other questions about the work, discussed and debated with the artists and authors, and came to new understandings of the book’s main themes. Project creators had to defend and explain their choices and viewpoints. By taking the teacher out and putting classmates in as the audience, students continued to learn from each other.
The Power of Process
Thinking back to when I started my research, I realize that my views on reading and projects were actually very similar. I was focused on the product. The act of reading. The product at the end of a project. Now I see that my focus should be on the process. What thinking is happening to get to the final product? What structures do I have in place to guide students in their journey to deeper meaning? In order to create a classroom culture that sees reading as a tool to deepen our opinions and views of the world, I need to make the process as important as the product. This requires explicit teaching of the purpose of reading and how to think critically. I also need to listen to the needs of my students and offer choices so they can find their own path to deeper meaning through books. Students need many opportunities to revise their products and their ideas through conversations with peers and myself. Finally, I need to allow opportunities for students to learn from each other in more formal ways such as through protocols or exhibitions.
In order to get to this level of deep thinking, students do have to actually read the book. By starting early in the year with an action packed, gateway book I can get students hooked on the story. Later we can tackle the deeper themes through a project that they enjoy. Listening to students and offering choice allows all students to find a pathway to both enjoyment and deeper thinking about books, the world and themselves.
Implications:
As Wagner states in The Global Achievement Gap, our world is rapidly changing and in need of people who can think, collaborate, and communicate effectively (2002). In order to get kids ready for the world of work in the 21st century, we need to push our own thinking about the skills they will need for the future. Students will need to read as they always have, but at an even higher level. Reading to simply understand is not enough today. Readers need to interact with texts and use the information to innovate and change the world. To do this, students need to build critical thinking skills. We, as teachers, can help build these skills by first offering great books to increase intrinsic motivation to read. Once students enjoy reading, we can guide them through projects and offer structures that will lead to deeper thinking about text and their world. By switching the focus from reading as the goal to a larger focus on the process of thinking and learning, students will have the elements needed for success in the world today.