278 PART 2 COMPONENTS OF LITERACY DEVELOPMENTRunning Records. Te.docx

278 PART 2 COMPONENTS OF LITERACY DEVELOPMENT
Running Records. Teachers use running records (Clay, 2005) to
examine children’s
oral reading behaviors, analyze their comprehension, and
determine their
reading levels. Although they’re most commonly used with
young children, running
records can also be used with older students. Children read a
book, and
afterward they orally retell what they remember of it.
Think-Alouds. Teachers assess students’ ability to apply
comprehension strategies
by having them think aloud and share their thinking as they read
a passage
(Wilhelm, 2001). Students usually think aloud orally, but they
can also write their
thoughts on small self-stick notes that they place beside
sections of text, write
entries in reading logs, and do quickwrites.
Teachers also use other assessment tools, including tests, to
evaluate students’
comprehension; the Assessment Tools feature on page 278
presents more information
about comprehension tests. No matter whether teachers are
using informal assessments
or tests to examine students’ comprehension, they need to
consider whether
they’re assessing literal, inferential, critical, or evaluative
thinking. The emphasis in
both assessment and instruction should be on higher level
comprehension.
Motivation
Motivation is intrinsic, the innate curiosity that makes us want
to figure

things out. It involves feeling self-confident, believing you’ll
succeed, and viewing the
activity as pleasurable (Guthrie & Wigfield, 2000). It’s based
on the engagement theory
that you read about in the first chapter. Motivation is social,
too: People want to
socialize, share ideas, and participate in group activities.
Motivation is more than one
characteristic, however; it’s a network of interacting factors
(Alderman, 1999). Often
students’ motivation to become better readers and writers
diminishes as they reach the
middle grades, and struggling students demonstrate significantly
less enthusiasm for
reading and writing than other students do.
Many factors contribute to students’ engagement or involvement
in reading and
writing. Some focus on teachers’ role—what they believe and
do—and others focus
on students (Pressley, Dolezal, Raphael, Mohan, Roehrig, &
Bogner, 2003; Unrau,
2004). Figure 8–6 summarizes the factors affecting students’
engagement in literacy
activities and what teachers can do to nurture students’ interest.
Teachers’ Role
Everything teachers do affects their students’ interest and
engagement with literacy,
but four of the most important factors are teachers’ attitude, the
community teachers
create, the instructional approaches they use, and their reward
systems:
Attitude. It seems obvious that when teachers show that they
care about their
students and exhibit excitement and enthusiasm for learning,
students are more
likely to become engaged. Effective teachers also stimulate

students’ curiosity and
encourage them to explore ideas. They emphasize intrinsic over
extrinsic motivation
because they understand that students’ intrinsic desire to learn
is more powerful
than grades, rewards, and other extrinsic motivators.
Community. Students are more likely to engage in reading and
writing when
their classroom is a learning community that respects and
nurtures everyone.
In this video clip, a
fourth grade teacher
models the think-aloud
procedure. Notice how she
explains the benefits of strategic
thinking to her students.
ISBN 1-269-30927-7
Literacy for the 21st Century: A Balanced Approach, Sixth
Edition by Gail E. Tompkins. Published by Pearson. Copyright
© 2014 by Pearson Education, Inc.
CHAPTER 8 PROMOTING COMPREHENSION: READER
FACTORS 279
FIGURE 8–6 Factors Affecting Students’ Motivation
Students and the teacher show respect for each other, and
students learn how to
work well with classmates in small groups. In a community of
learners, students
enjoy social interaction and feel connected to their classmates
and their teacher.
Instruction. The types of literacy activities students are
involved in affect their
interest and motivation. Turner and Paris (1995) compared
authentic literacy
activities such as reading and writing workshop with skills-
based reading programs
and concluded that students’ motivation was determined by the

daily classroom
activities. They found that open-ended activities and projects in
which students
were in control of the processes they used and the products they
created were the
most successful.
Rewards. Many teachers consider using rewards to encourage
students to do more
reading and writing, but Alfie Kohn (2001) and others believe
that extrinsic incentives
are harmful because they undermine students’ intrinsic
motivation. Incentives
such as pizzas, free time, or “money” to spend in a classroom
“store” are most effective
when students’ interest is very low and they’re reluctant to
participate in literacy
activities. Once students become more interested, teachers
withdraw these incentives
and use less tangible ones, including positive feedback and
praise (Stipek, 2002).
ROLE FACTORS WHAT TEACHERS DO
Teachers Attitude ● Show students that you care about them.
● Display excitement and enthusiasm about what you’re
teaching.
● Stimulate students’ curiosity and desire to learn.
Community ● Create a nurturing and inclusive classroom
community.
● Insist that students treat classmates with respect.
Instruction ● Focus on students’ long-term learning.
● Teach students to be strategic readers and writers.
● Engage students in authentic activities.
● Offer students choices of activities and reading materials.
Rewards ● Employ specific praise and positive feedback.
● Use external rewards only when students’ interest is very low.
Students Expectations ● Expect students to be successful.
● Teach students to set realistic goals.

Collaboration ● Encourage students to work collaboratively.
● Minimize competition.
● Allow students to participate in making plans and choices.
Reading and Writing ● Teach students to use reading and
writing strategies.
Competence ● Provide guided reading lessons for struggling
readers.
● Use interactive writing to teach writing skills to struggling
writers.
● Provide daily reading and writing opportunities.
Choices ● Have students complete interest inventories.
● Teach students to choose books at their reading levels.
● Encourage students to write about topics that interest them.
ISBN 1-269-30927-7
Students’ Role
Motivation isn’t something that teachers or parents can force on
students; rather, it’s
an innate, intrinsic desire that students must develop
themselves. They’re more likely
to become engaged with reading and writing when they expect
to be successful, when
they work collaboratively with classmates, when they’re
competent readers and writers,
and when they have opportunities to make choices and develop
ownership of their
work. These factors influence students’ motivation:
Expectations. Students who believe they have little hope of
success are unlikely
to become engaged in literacy activities. Teachers play a big
role in shaping students’
expectations, and teacher expectations are often self-fulfilling
(Brophy,

2004): If teachers believe that their students can be successful,
it’s more likely that
they will be. Stipek (2002) found that in classrooms where
teachers take a personal
interest in their students and expect that all of them can learn,
the students are
more successful.
Collaboration. When students work with classmates in pairs and
in small groups,
they’re often more interested and engaged in activities than
when they read and
write alone. Collaborative groups support students because they
have opportunities
to share ideas, learn from each other, and enjoy the collegiality
of their classmates.
Competition, in contrast, doesn’t develop intrinsic motivation;
instead, it
decreases many students’ interest in learning.
Reading and Writing Competence. Not surprisingly, students’
competence in
reading and writing affects their motivation: Students who read
well are more
likely to be motivated to read than those who read less well, and
the same is true
for writers. Teaching students how to read and write is an
essential factor in developing
their motivation. Teachers find that once struggling students
improve
their reading and writing performance, they become more
interested.
Choices. Students want to have a say in which books they read
and which topics
they write about. By making choices, students develop more
responsibility for their
work and ownership of their accomplishments. Reading and
writing workshop are

instructional approaches that honor students’ choices: In
reading workshop, students
choose books they’re interested in reading and that are written
at their reading
level, and in writing workshop, students write about topics that
interest them.
How to Engage Students
Oldfather (1995) conducted a 4-year study to examine the
factors influencing students’
motivation. She found that students were more highly motivated
when they had opportunities
for authentic self-expression as part of literacy activities. The
students she interviewed
reported that they were more highly motivated when they had
ownership of
the learning activities. Specific activities they mentioned
included opportunities to do
the following:
Express their own ideas and opinions
Choose topics for writing and books for reading
Talk about books they’re reading
Share their writing with classmates
ISBN 1-269-30927-7
FACTORS 281
Pursue authentic activities—not worksheets—using reading,
writing, listening,
and talking
Ivey and Broaddus (2001) reported similar conclusions from
their study of the factors
that influence sixth graders’ desire to read. Three of their
conclusions are noteworthy.
First, students are more interested in reading when their

teachers make them feel confident
and successful; a nurturing classroom community is an
important factor. Second, students
are more intrinsically motivated when they have ownership of
their literacy learning; students
place great value on being allowed to choose interesting books
and other reading
materials. Third, students become more engaged with books
when they have time for independent
reading and opportunities to listen to the teacher read aloud.
Students reported
that they enjoy listening to teachers read aloud because teachers
make books more comprehensible
and more interesting through the background knowledge they
provide.
Some students aren’t strongly motivated to learn to read and
write, and they adopt
defensive tactics for avoiding failure rather than strategies for
being successful (Paris,
Wasik, & Turner, 1991). Unmotivated readers give up or remain
passive, uninvolved in
reading. Some students feign interest or pretend to be involved
even though they aren’t.
Others don’t think reading is important, and they choose to
focus on other curricular
areas—math or sports, for instance. Some students complain
about feeling ill or that
classmates are bothering them. They place the blame anywhere
but on themselves.
Other students avoid reading and writing entirely; they just
don’t do it. Still others
read books that are too easy for them or write short pieces so
that they don’t have to exert
much effort. Even though these strategies are self-serving,
students use them because they
lead to short-term success. The long-term result, however, is

devastating because these
students fail to learn to read and write well. Because it takes
quite a bit of effort to read
and write strategically, it’s especially important that students
experience personal ownership
of the literacy activities going on in their classrooms and know
how to manage their
own reading and writing behaviors.
Assessing Motivation
Because students’ motivation and engagement affect their
success in reading as well as
writing, it’s important that teachers learn about their students
and work to ensure that
they’re motivated and have positive attitudes about literacy.
Teachers observe students
and conference with them and their parents to understand
students’ reading and
writing habits at home, their interests and hobbies, and their
view of themselves as
readers and writers. There are also surveys that teachers can
administer to quickly estimate
students’ motivation toward reading and writing; these surveys
are described in
the Assessment Tools feature on page 282.
Comparing Capable and Less Capable
Readers and Writers
Researchers have compared students who are capable readers
and writers with other
students who are less successful and have found some striking
differences (Baker &
Brown, 1984; Faigley, Cherry, Jolliffe, & Skinner, 1985; Paris,
Wasik, & Turner,
1991). The researchers have found that more capable readers do
the following:
Read fluently
View reading as a process of creating meaning

ISBN 1-269-30927-7
Teachers assess students’ motivation in several ways. They
observe students as they read and write, read
entries in their reading logs, and conference with them about
their interests and attitudes. At the beginning
of the school year, teachers often have students create interest
inventories with lists of things they’re interested
in, types of books they like to read, and favorite authors.
Teachers also administer attitude surveys.
These surveys assess students’ motivation:
■ Elementary Reading Attitude Survey
The Elementary Reading Attitude Survey (McKenna & Kear,
1990) assesses first through sixth grade
students’ attitudes toward reading at home and in school. The
20 items begin with the stem “How
do you feel . . .” and students mark one of four pictures of
Garfield, the cartoon cat; each picture
depicts a different emotional state, ranging from positive to
negative. This survey enables teachers
to quickly estimate their students’ attitudes.
■ Motivation to Read Profile
The Motivation to Read Profile (Gambrell, Palmer, Codling, &
Mazzoni, 1996) consists of two parts, a
group test and an individual interview. The test is a survey with
20 items about self-concept as a reader
and the value of reading that students respond to using a 4-point
Likert scale. The interview is a series
of open-ended questions about the types of books students like
best and where they get reading
materials. Each part takes about 15 minutes to administer.
■ Reader Self-Perception Scale
The Reader Self-Perception Scale (Henk & Melnick, 1995)

measures how students feel about reading and
about themselves as readers. It’s designed for third to sixth
graders. Students respond to “I think I am a
good reader” and other statements using a 5-point Likert scale
where responses range from “strongly
agree” to “strongly disagree.” Teachers score students’
responses and interpret the results to determine
both overall and specific attitude levels.
■ Writing Attitude Survey
The Writing Attitude Survey (Kear, Coffman, McKenna, &
Ambrosio, 2000) examines students’ feelings
about the writing process and types of writing. It has 28 items,
including “How would you feel if your
classmates talked to you about making your writing better?” It
features Garfield, the cartoon cat, as in the
Elementary Reading Attitude Survey. Students indicate their
response by marking the picture of Garfield
that best illustrates their feelings.
■ Writer Self-Perception Scale
The Writer Self-Perception Scale (Bottomley, Henk, & Melnick,
1997/1998) assesses third through sixth
graders’ attitudes about writing and how they perceive
themselves as writers. Students respond to statements
such as “I write better than my classmates do,” using the same
5-point Likert scale that the Reader
Self-Perception Scale uses.
These attitude surveys were originally published in The Reading
Teacher and are readily available at
libraries, online, and in collections of assessment instruments,
such as Assessment for Reading Instruction
(McKenna & Stahl, 2008).
ASSESSMENT TOOLS
Motivation
ISBN 1-269-30927-7

FACTORS 283
Decode rapidly
Have large vocabularies
Understand the organization of stories, plays, nonfiction books,
and poems
Use comprehension strategies
Monitor their understanding as they read
Similarly, capable writers do the following:
Vary how they write depending on their purpose and audience
Use the writing process flexibly
Focus on developing ideas and communicating effectively
Turn to classmates for feedback on how they’re communicating
Monitor how well they’re communicating in the piece of writing
Use formats and structures for stories, poems, letters, and other
texts
Postpone attention to mechanical correctness until the editing
stage
All of these characteristics of capable readers and writers relate
to comprehension,
and because these students know and use them, they’re better
readers and writers
than students who don’t use them.
A comparison of the characteristics of capable and less capable
readers and writers
is presented in Figure 8–7. Young children who are learning to
read and write often
exemplify many of the characteristics of less capable readers
and writers, but older
students who are less successful readers and writers also
exemplify them.
Less successful readers exemplify few of the characteristics of
capable readers
or behave differently when they’re reading and writing. Perhaps
the most remarkable

difference is that more capable readers view reading as a
process of comprehending
or creating meaning, but less capable readers focus on decoding.
In
writing, less capable writers make cosmetic changes when they
revise, rather than
changes to communicate meaning more effectively. These
important differences
indicate that capable students focus on comprehension and the
strategies readers
and writers use to understand what they read and to make sure
that what they
write will be comprehensible to others.
Another important difference between capable and less capable
readers and
writers is that those who are less successful aren’t strategic.
They seem reluctant
to use unfamiliar strategies or those that require much effort.
They don’t seem to
be motivated or to expect that they’ll be successful. Less
capable readers and writers
don’t understand all stages of the reading and writing processes
or use them
effectively. They don’t monitor their reading and writing
(Keene & Zimmermann,
2007). Or, if they do use strategies, they remain dependent on
primitive
ones. For example, as they read, less successful readers seldom
look ahead or back
into the text to clarify misunderstandings or make plans. Or,
when they come to
an unfamiliar word, they often stop reading, unsure of what to
do. They may try
to sound out an unfamiliar word, but if that’s unsuccessful, they
give up. In contrast,
capable readers know a variety of strategies, and if one strategy

isn’t successful,
they try another.
Less capable writers move through the writing process in a
lockstep, linear approach.
They use a limited number of strategies, most often a
“knowledge-telling”
strategy in which they write everything they know about a topic
with little thought to
choosing information to meet the needs of their readers or to
organizing the
ISBN 1-269-30927-7
information to put related ideas together (Faigley et al., 1985).
In contrast, capable
writers understand the recursive nature of the writing process
and turn to classmates
for feedback about how well they’re communicating. They’re
more responsive to the
needs of the audience that will read their writing, and they work
to organize their
writing in a cohesive manner.
This research on capable and less capable readers and writers
has focused on
comprehension differences and students’ use of strategies. It’s
noteworthy that all
research comparing readers and writers focuses on how students
use strategies, not on
their use of reading and writing skills.
FIGURE 8–7 Capable and Less Capable Readers and Writers
COMPONENT READER CHARACTERISTICS WRITER
CHARACTERISTICS
Belief Systems Capable readers view reading as a
comprehending process,

but less capable readers view reading as a decoding process.
Capable writers view writing as communicating ideas, but
less capable writers see writing as putting words on paper.
Purpose Capable readers adjust their reading according to
purpose,
but less capable readers approach all reading tasks
the same way.
Capable writers adapt their writing to meet demands of
audience,
purpose, and genre, but less capable writers don’t..
Fluency Capable readers read fluently, but less capable readers
read word by word, don’t chunk words into phrases, and
sometimes point at words as they read.
Capable writers sustain their writing for longer periods
of time and pause as they draft to think and reread what
they’ve written, but less capable writers write less and
without pausing.
Background
Knowledge
Capable readers relate what they’re reading to their background
knowledge, but less capable readers don’t make
this connection.
Capable writers gather and organize ideas before
writing, but less capable writers don’t plan before
beginning to write.
Decoding/Spelling Capable readers identify unfamiliar words
efficiently, but
less capable readers make nonsensical guesses or skip
over unfamiliar words and invent what they think is a
reasonable text when they’re reading.
Capable writers spell many words conventionally and use
the dictionary to spell unfamiliar words, but less capable
writers can’t spell many high-frequency words, and they
depend on phonics to spell unfamiliar words.
Vocabulary Capable readers have larger vocabularies than less
capable readers do.

Capable writers use more sophisticated words and figurative
language than less capable writers do.
Strategies Capable readers use a variety of strategies as they
read,
but less capable readers use fewer strategies or less
effective ones.
Capable writers use many strategies effectively, but less
capable writers use fewer strategies or less effective ones.
Monitoring Capable readers monitor their comprehension, but
less
capable readers don’t realize or take action when they
don’t understand.
Capable writers monitor that their writing makes sense,
and they turn to classmates for revising suggestions, but less
capable writers don’t

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