Four your consideration...

I still feel a mile wide and an inch deep but it's at least a better vector than I've had to date. I really want to make this a resource I (and dare I be so optimistic as to say "and my classmates") might reference when teaching literature and reading skills in WSFCS (or other) English classrooms a year from this fall. While there is some literature, none I've found yet addresses the "so what" of how to use the clear trends of recreational readers and non-recreational readers, to help all teens be better readers and have better attitudes about reading. Soooooooo....

Research Question(s):

1. What role does recreational reading have in adolescents' attitudes about literacy in the classroom and its importance in their lives?
2. What characteristics differentiate recreational readers and non-recreational readers in an English classroom?
3. What teaching methods are/are not effective with recreational readers and non-recreational readers?
   

Subjects:

• Four recreational readers from high school English classrooms
  
• Four non-recreational readers from same high school English classrooms
  
• Four English teachers in those high school classrooms

Methodology: I will select for student subjects by administering confidential surveys and consultation with teachers to find four recreational readers and four non-recreational readers. The survey is intended to illicit responses to questions about how frequently students read for fun, why they do so and what their attitudes about reading are all in general terms. Next, detailed observation of their participation in an English classroom will characterize how their attitudes manifest in the school environment. Next, in-depth interviews will be conducted to clarify what was observed and further expand on both the students' responses to the initial surveys and their classroom behaviors. Finally, interview of the teachers who led these classes will be conducted to gain insight into the teachers' perspective of how recreational and non-recreational readers participate in the classroom environment.

Analysis: This data once organized will hopefully inform classroom methods and characteristics/behaviors to be encouraged in order to improve the attitudes towards, and performance of reading.

neat!