Findings
Section 3: Together, Our Understanding of Purpose to Read Grows
At this stage of my research, I felt successful in building higher levels of intrinsic motivation for reading. Almost every student was enjoying the book and feelings toward reading at school had gone up. I now wanted to push my research to find a deeper, more authentic purpose for reading. I wanted to go beyond reading for enjoyment, but what would the next step look like?
In my past five years teaching middle school, I focused on guiding students toward a love of reading and never wanted to go much deeper than that. Maybe I was scared that analyzing literature was too hard for all students. I also think I attributed the skill of analyzing to something we do with “the classics”. Not modern day, young adult fiction.
Before starting my action research this year, I identified several reasons to read. Reading for pleasure, reading for knowledge, and reading as a model for good writing. I felt like there was another reason out there but I couldn’t quite identify it until stumbling upon the following quote in the book Empowering Struggling Readers.
Interpretation may be considered the highest level of ELA activity. The ability to interpret text enables students to fulfill the primary goal of the discipline, namely, making meaning of human nature and understanding how society works. Interpretation involves learning to both infer and be able to explain an author’s purposes, messages, and themes based on evidence, knowledge and experiences (Hall, Burns and Edwards, 2011, 24).
The word “interpreting” brought back boring memories of writing essays during high school but also helped me realize that this was something I was missing in my instruction. The way I had been taught to interpret literature was boring and the purpose was to get a grade. The focus then was more on the writing, less on how we came to our interpretations. The reason we interpret literature should be to make meaning of human nature and the way the world works, as the quote implies. If this is the focus, the purpose for reading becomes more authentic. Students will read so they can understand the world and their place in it. When students add their own experiences to the author’s message, they are now constructing new knowledge, the highest level of critical thinking according to the revised Bloom’s Taxonomy (2012).
Student understandings of the purpose for reading
Wondering what the students thought, I asked about the purpose of reading in a journal entry. We were halfway through the book Unwind. I put up the following questions, “Why do people read stories? Why do people write stories? What is the purpose of stories?” and asked students to answer them in a full, detailed, reflection. I was expecting short answers but was surprised to find most students dug deep and answered these questions in well thought out answers. I was especially struck by one student’s answer. Claire wrote, “I think people write stories to entertain people, teach someone a very important lesson, to make us stay away from electronics, and mostly to make us think. I think the purpose of stories is to make us think as if we were in so and so’s shoes…and imagine what life must be like for them…I think the author really wants us to feel, and experience what life would be like if…”
This student pointed out many of the same purposes I saw for reading: for enjoyment, to learn, to think, and to empathize. Here the student gives a connection between reading and two of the skills Tony Wagner points out as essential for success in life: empathy and thinking (2002).
Not all students saw these purposes, however. Most cited enjoyment and getting information as a reason to read. I realized that I needed to be more explicit in teaching that we can read to better understand the world and ourselves. Although students wanted to read for enjoyment, asking them to interpret would allow them to interact with the book. Now there was a reason to do a project and have discussions. Assignments related to our reading weren’t just tacked on by the teacher, they were vehicles to allow students to think deeper about themselves and their world based on the book’s messages and themes.
If this was our new purpose, it seemed like discussions would be essential to our process. Hearing others’ opinions and rethinking and defending our own ideas would allow for higher levels of critical thinking, thus, deeper thinking. I wondered how these discussions should take place. Students did not want to stop while reading. They barely tolerated quick questioning, let alone deep discussions about the world and human nature. Would it be more beneficial to discuss at the end of the book, I wondered. Together, we could see the whole picture and go deeper since we would all be finished reading. At this point we would also be working on a project. I thought that would give us an authentic reason to talk and think about bigger themes.
As I thought this, I felt guilty. My instincts told me I should have students discuss as they read. I wanted to point out moments in the book that were important. Get an argument going about the author’s views on abortion. Talk about why the characters did the things they did. It was frustrating to just read. At the time I felt like I was choosing enjoyment instead of deep thinking, as if I had to pick one or the other.
Enjoyment or Deep Thinking: Do I Have to Choose?
It was clear that students were also struggling with this conflict between enjoyment and deep thinking. One day I posed an innocent question to the class, expecting a quick discussion. I asked the class, “Why do we read?” The quick question turned into a heated debate between one female students and a huge majority of the class, or at least the vocal ones.
One student, Greta, expressed how she likes to read and move on. Two boys expressed an opposite opinion, that discussing a book was very important to hear others opinions and to build a better understanding of the book. Greta would argue back that she didn’t care what others had to say, she understood the book without talking about it, and that discussions were boring. Most students who participated in the discussion agreed with the boys. Interestingly, about a fourth of the class was actually reading the book during the discussion. Before we started I asked them to put the books away, but they chose to keep reading. I took their nonparticipation to mean they agreed with Greta and did not want to discuss either.
Journal prompt:
Where are you on the spectrum between wanting to read and move on and wanting to discuss a book with others? Why?
I asked students to address this question in their journals. Students who wanted to discuss or placed themselves in the middle of the spectrum cited two main reasons. Some students saw discussing as a way to understand the book better. They could questions their classmates if they didn’t understand it on their own.
“Discussing the book with others because if you don’t understand what the book is talking about people from the group can explain it to you.” -Aaron
“I am in the middle because sometimes I like to discuss the book but other times I just want to read. I like to discuss the book when I’m confused or there’s a really important event but other wise I just like to read on. –Patricia
Other students saw discussion as a way to think deeper about the book.
I put myself on this point (in the middle but closer to reading alone) on the spectrum because I like reading alone and just moving on, but I think it’s necessary to discuss it. Without discussing it, it loses the purpose of reading at school.”-Cat
“I think discussing the book is better because it’s good to be able to analyze a book and understand it rather than just reading it.” -Sue
Although these students seemed to hint to discussion being about something deeper than just understanding, neither was able to explain what that really meant. I wondered of they had the same questions I did. What is the next step past understanding and how does discussion get us there?
Other students clearly stated that they did not want to discuss and why.
“I want to read alone and move on. I think discussing the book is a waste of time and it doesn’t help at all. I would just like to move on.” –Lucas
“I like reading alone because talking about the book is really boring and annoying and personally I (would) rather just not read here.” –Greta
I wondered what caused students to answer in this way. Was it about personality, learning style, confidence, or effort? I noticed that the students who spoke up for having discussions are very vocal in class anyway. Would they vote for having a discussion no matter what we talked about? Or was it more about effort? As the conversation got going, the students came up with great reasons for discussing but they all involved thinking hard about the book and putting effort into a conversation. Since she was the main proponent of not discussing, I took a closer look at Greta’s journal, survey answers, and grit test to see if I could find some answers.
Greta: A closer look at one student’s feelings about reading
Greta marked that she hated reading at home and at school on her initial reading survey. She didn’t like reading at home because she doesn’t like the homework and doesn’t like it at school because she wanted to pick her own books. When asked how do you feel about reading and yourself as a reader, she wrote, “I like reading but I hate book/writing assignments.” I have observed her passion for reading. As I gave out the Unwind books, she immediately started reading on her own and finished the book an a few days. When asked why people read and write stories in the earlier journal prompt, she wrote, “People usually read stories when they’re bored and want to escape; which is why I think the purpose of stories is entertainment.” Looking at her initial survey answers and reflections, I seemed as though she enjoyed reading but didn’t want to do anything else with it. She clearly wanted to read and move on, just as she argued in class.
Reading for enjoyment was fine but why didn’t she want to do anything else with the book? I wondered if her level of grit was a factor. The Grit test, designed by Duckworth, Peterson, Matthews and Kelly (2007), is a measure of persistence and passion for long-term goals. I had given a Grit test earlier in the year when my research was more focused on studying persistence in reading. Greta scored relatively low with a GRIT score of 2.5. Gritty students keep working hard toward challenges, despite failure, boredom, or disappointment (2007) but here was a student who cited boredom (in the quote above) as the main reason she didn’t want to discuss books with others. She also exhibits a seeming lack of patience and persistence when it came to long term projects and assignments. But then I thought about how Greta was willing to spend 30 minutes discussing how she hates to discuss? Is she persistent when she feels like it? Under what conditions would Greta want to discuss or think deeply and work hard on something?
Greta and I talked one day about something that she is very passionate about, Comic-Con. This is an annual comic book convention in San Diego. She shared with me her struggle to get tickets and how badly she wanted to go. I asked her to explain the convention to me and she spent the next half-hour excitedly detailing the many events. Together we wondered what a HTH Comic-Con would look like. We brainstormed how to get the whole school involved and thought about ways to focus it on all books, not just comics. Unfortunately, with my short stay in her class, the idea never came to fruition. I could see the light in her eyes, though. I could tell from her excitement that this was a project she could put her heart and soul into. It had personal meaning to her and she was intrinsically motivated to pursue it. The problem was, it wasn’t personally meaningful to all students. I proposed the idea to the whole class and only got a lukewarm response. How could I possibly think of a project that all students would be excited to work on?
The experience with Greta made me think about having students design their own projects in relation to Unwind. If I gave them the freedom and choice to complete any project they wanted, what would happen? Would they find meaning and excitement in the project? Would they naturally think deeper about the themes in the book or stay at surface level meaning? I hoped that all students, even those who normally hate book related discussions or assignments, would enjoy this project.
In my past five years teaching middle school, I focused on guiding students toward a love of reading and never wanted to go much deeper than that. Maybe I was scared that analyzing literature was too hard for all students. I also think I attributed the skill of analyzing to something we do with “the classics”. Not modern day, young adult fiction.
Before starting my action research this year, I identified several reasons to read. Reading for pleasure, reading for knowledge, and reading as a model for good writing. I felt like there was another reason out there but I couldn’t quite identify it until stumbling upon the following quote in the book Empowering Struggling Readers.
Interpretation may be considered the highest level of ELA activity. The ability to interpret text enables students to fulfill the primary goal of the discipline, namely, making meaning of human nature and understanding how society works. Interpretation involves learning to both infer and be able to explain an author’s purposes, messages, and themes based on evidence, knowledge and experiences (Hall, Burns and Edwards, 2011, 24).
The word “interpreting” brought back boring memories of writing essays during high school but also helped me realize that this was something I was missing in my instruction. The way I had been taught to interpret literature was boring and the purpose was to get a grade. The focus then was more on the writing, less on how we came to our interpretations. The reason we interpret literature should be to make meaning of human nature and the way the world works, as the quote implies. If this is the focus, the purpose for reading becomes more authentic. Students will read so they can understand the world and their place in it. When students add their own experiences to the author’s message, they are now constructing new knowledge, the highest level of critical thinking according to the revised Bloom’s Taxonomy (2012).
Student understandings of the purpose for reading
Wondering what the students thought, I asked about the purpose of reading in a journal entry. We were halfway through the book Unwind. I put up the following questions, “Why do people read stories? Why do people write stories? What is the purpose of stories?” and asked students to answer them in a full, detailed, reflection. I was expecting short answers but was surprised to find most students dug deep and answered these questions in well thought out answers. I was especially struck by one student’s answer. Claire wrote, “I think people write stories to entertain people, teach someone a very important lesson, to make us stay away from electronics, and mostly to make us think. I think the purpose of stories is to make us think as if we were in so and so’s shoes…and imagine what life must be like for them…I think the author really wants us to feel, and experience what life would be like if…”
This student pointed out many of the same purposes I saw for reading: for enjoyment, to learn, to think, and to empathize. Here the student gives a connection between reading and two of the skills Tony Wagner points out as essential for success in life: empathy and thinking (2002).
Not all students saw these purposes, however. Most cited enjoyment and getting information as a reason to read. I realized that I needed to be more explicit in teaching that we can read to better understand the world and ourselves. Although students wanted to read for enjoyment, asking them to interpret would allow them to interact with the book. Now there was a reason to do a project and have discussions. Assignments related to our reading weren’t just tacked on by the teacher, they were vehicles to allow students to think deeper about themselves and their world based on the book’s messages and themes.
If this was our new purpose, it seemed like discussions would be essential to our process. Hearing others’ opinions and rethinking and defending our own ideas would allow for higher levels of critical thinking, thus, deeper thinking. I wondered how these discussions should take place. Students did not want to stop while reading. They barely tolerated quick questioning, let alone deep discussions about the world and human nature. Would it be more beneficial to discuss at the end of the book, I wondered. Together, we could see the whole picture and go deeper since we would all be finished reading. At this point we would also be working on a project. I thought that would give us an authentic reason to talk and think about bigger themes.
As I thought this, I felt guilty. My instincts told me I should have students discuss as they read. I wanted to point out moments in the book that were important. Get an argument going about the author’s views on abortion. Talk about why the characters did the things they did. It was frustrating to just read. At the time I felt like I was choosing enjoyment instead of deep thinking, as if I had to pick one or the other.
Enjoyment or Deep Thinking: Do I Have to Choose?
It was clear that students were also struggling with this conflict between enjoyment and deep thinking. One day I posed an innocent question to the class, expecting a quick discussion. I asked the class, “Why do we read?” The quick question turned into a heated debate between one female students and a huge majority of the class, or at least the vocal ones.
One student, Greta, expressed how she likes to read and move on. Two boys expressed an opposite opinion, that discussing a book was very important to hear others opinions and to build a better understanding of the book. Greta would argue back that she didn’t care what others had to say, she understood the book without talking about it, and that discussions were boring. Most students who participated in the discussion agreed with the boys. Interestingly, about a fourth of the class was actually reading the book during the discussion. Before we started I asked them to put the books away, but they chose to keep reading. I took their nonparticipation to mean they agreed with Greta and did not want to discuss either.
Journal prompt:
Where are you on the spectrum between wanting to read and move on and wanting to discuss a book with others? Why?
I asked students to address this question in their journals. Students who wanted to discuss or placed themselves in the middle of the spectrum cited two main reasons. Some students saw discussing as a way to understand the book better. They could questions their classmates if they didn’t understand it on their own.
“Discussing the book with others because if you don’t understand what the book is talking about people from the group can explain it to you.” -Aaron
“I am in the middle because sometimes I like to discuss the book but other times I just want to read. I like to discuss the book when I’m confused or there’s a really important event but other wise I just like to read on. –Patricia
Other students saw discussion as a way to think deeper about the book.
I put myself on this point (in the middle but closer to reading alone) on the spectrum because I like reading alone and just moving on, but I think it’s necessary to discuss it. Without discussing it, it loses the purpose of reading at school.”-Cat
“I think discussing the book is better because it’s good to be able to analyze a book and understand it rather than just reading it.” -Sue
Although these students seemed to hint to discussion being about something deeper than just understanding, neither was able to explain what that really meant. I wondered of they had the same questions I did. What is the next step past understanding and how does discussion get us there?
Other students clearly stated that they did not want to discuss and why.
“I want to read alone and move on. I think discussing the book is a waste of time and it doesn’t help at all. I would just like to move on.” –Lucas
“I like reading alone because talking about the book is really boring and annoying and personally I (would) rather just not read here.” –Greta
I wondered what caused students to answer in this way. Was it about personality, learning style, confidence, or effort? I noticed that the students who spoke up for having discussions are very vocal in class anyway. Would they vote for having a discussion no matter what we talked about? Or was it more about effort? As the conversation got going, the students came up with great reasons for discussing but they all involved thinking hard about the book and putting effort into a conversation. Since she was the main proponent of not discussing, I took a closer look at Greta’s journal, survey answers, and grit test to see if I could find some answers.
Greta: A closer look at one student’s feelings about reading
Greta marked that she hated reading at home and at school on her initial reading survey. She didn’t like reading at home because she doesn’t like the homework and doesn’t like it at school because she wanted to pick her own books. When asked how do you feel about reading and yourself as a reader, she wrote, “I like reading but I hate book/writing assignments.” I have observed her passion for reading. As I gave out the Unwind books, she immediately started reading on her own and finished the book an a few days. When asked why people read and write stories in the earlier journal prompt, she wrote, “People usually read stories when they’re bored and want to escape; which is why I think the purpose of stories is entertainment.” Looking at her initial survey answers and reflections, I seemed as though she enjoyed reading but didn’t want to do anything else with it. She clearly wanted to read and move on, just as she argued in class.
Reading for enjoyment was fine but why didn’t she want to do anything else with the book? I wondered if her level of grit was a factor. The Grit test, designed by Duckworth, Peterson, Matthews and Kelly (2007), is a measure of persistence and passion for long-term goals. I had given a Grit test earlier in the year when my research was more focused on studying persistence in reading. Greta scored relatively low with a GRIT score of 2.5. Gritty students keep working hard toward challenges, despite failure, boredom, or disappointment (2007) but here was a student who cited boredom (in the quote above) as the main reason she didn’t want to discuss books with others. She also exhibits a seeming lack of patience and persistence when it came to long term projects and assignments. But then I thought about how Greta was willing to spend 30 minutes discussing how she hates to discuss? Is she persistent when she feels like it? Under what conditions would Greta want to discuss or think deeply and work hard on something?
Greta and I talked one day about something that she is very passionate about, Comic-Con. This is an annual comic book convention in San Diego. She shared with me her struggle to get tickets and how badly she wanted to go. I asked her to explain the convention to me and she spent the next half-hour excitedly detailing the many events. Together we wondered what a HTH Comic-Con would look like. We brainstormed how to get the whole school involved and thought about ways to focus it on all books, not just comics. Unfortunately, with my short stay in her class, the idea never came to fruition. I could see the light in her eyes, though. I could tell from her excitement that this was a project she could put her heart and soul into. It had personal meaning to her and she was intrinsically motivated to pursue it. The problem was, it wasn’t personally meaningful to all students. I proposed the idea to the whole class and only got a lukewarm response. How could I possibly think of a project that all students would be excited to work on?
The experience with Greta made me think about having students design their own projects in relation to Unwind. If I gave them the freedom and choice to complete any project they wanted, what would happen? Would they find meaning and excitement in the project? Would they naturally think deeper about the themes in the book or stay at surface level meaning? I hoped that all students, even those who normally hate book related discussions or assignments, would enjoy this project.