Monday, April 04, 2005

Closing the Reading Gap

Providing books to children over the summer might be the best way to prevent summer reading loss. Reading researchers Richard Allington, Jennifer Graff, Lunetta Williams, and Courtney Zmach from the University of Florida-Gainesville tested that hypothesis in a three-year research study ending this summer. They shared preliminary results from their federally funded study at ASCD's Annual Conference.

They devised a book fair program that allowed 1,000 students entering 2nd grade to choose 10-12 free books to read during the summer. The children, all from economically disadvantaged families, agreed to complete a simple reading log about each book and return it by mail to the researchers. To discover more about what motivates students to read, researchers also interviewed a subset of students.

Researchers are finding that allowing choice and creating opportunities for social interaction about their reading increases students’' intrinsic motivation to read and stems the loss of reading skills that children who do not read books over the summer often experience.

The presenters also recommended another novel way to get books into the hands of students during the summer: open up school libraries at least one day each week.

Learn more about What Research Says About Reading.
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