Hi All -
When I drafted this posting I was hoping to have one perfect
well-cited research article that I could give to any teacher who
questioned my policy of encouarging students to self-select. Well,
I received MANY leads and I'm sure one of them will help me in my
quest. As of yet, however, I have not found THE ONE. In fact, I have not had the
time to review all of the
leads you all sent me yet. But I am hopeful, and will post the article should I
find it.
In the meantime, here are most of the "straight up" responses:
-Have you checked out the work of Stephen D. Krashen (especially his book,
The Power of Reading)? He's an advocate of what he calls FVR - Free
Voluntary Reading - which, basically, entails students selecting reading
material they want to read and having a whole-school reading time each day
(everybody - students, teachers, admin, caretakers and secretaries -
everybody reads). There are no book reports, no tests - just reading for
the pleasure of reading. Krashen argues that this is a powerful literacy
strategy, and a key component is the free choice of books.
-Just an additional thought. It has been a couple of years since I
read Krashen. What I remember is that he makes the argument for
SSR by marshaling the studies and papers on reading. I think he
was pretty comprehensive. So the article you are looking for would
most likely have been cited by Krashen.
-I think the most compelling I've read (even though I did not need to
be convinced) is the stuff on
Free Voluntary Reading by Stephen Krashen. If you Google that you
will find it - but from memory he
includes a lot of links to research in his stuff.
- Try Jim Trelease! He's the author of The Read Aloud Handbook, and
his web site has good advocacy info:
http://www.trelease-on-reading.com/
-I saw your request for articles justifying free choice and found
this on Amazon.com:
http://www.amazon.com/Readicide-Schools-Killing-Reading-About/product-reviews/1571107800
I have not read this book, but it certainly looks interesting.
It may have the information that you are looking for or contain
additional research cited along those lines.
-There is a book called Subjects Matter which advocates for giving
students a say or choice in what they read. Among the reasons for giving choice
they cite are that choice improves student motivation and providing students with an
overall varied reading diet improves their reading skills. I hope this is helpful.
- I love Krashen...as I recall he's not just about SSR, but about
Free Reading. He's a strong advocate of students reading things
that interest them; one of the reasons he so opposes AR. His books
feature several main points in the margins, thus making them easy
to skim.
Michael Sullivan's "Connecting Boys with Books" MIGHT have comments
that would support your focus. He also wrote "Fundamentals of
Children's Services." You could contact him at talestoldtall.com.
He may well respond...he's a librarian, a good source of info, and
may have other suggestions.
-This isn't a specific article but consider looking under
differentiated instruction. Choice and student interest are one
way to differentiate plus choice is a powerful motivator.
-I was just reading Donalynn Miller's book called the Book Whisperer :
Awakening the Inner Reader in Every Child. perhaps it might help.
She is a sixth grade teacher who advocates self-selection. She
blogs for teachermagazine.org. She writes of her successes in
inspiring readers with an increase in test scores as a direct
result. She does this in part , by ensuring the kids self-select and
not reading class sets of books.
You might also look into Bookmatch by Linda Wedick. It discusses how
to teach students to independently select books that areinteresting
to them and at their level WITHOUT leveling all the books and
pigeon- holing students into a designated level. Good luck.
-This abstract was sent from someone's university library database:
Title: The Importance and Use of Student Self-Selected Literature
to Reading Engagement in an Elementary Reading Curriculum
Personal Author: Johnson, Denise; Blair, Anne
Journal Name: Reading Horizons
Source: Reading Horizons v. 43 no. 3 (January/February 2003) p. 181-202
Publication Year: 2003
Abstract: The purpose of this article is to discuss the importance
of student self-selecting literature and reading engagement in an
elementary reading curriculum. The article discuses the use of
self-selected reading in the context of child development, book
difficulty, independent reading time accountability, and a
supportive environment. The successful use of self-selected reading
by the Children's Choices Project is also discussed. Reprinted by
permission of the publisher.
ISSN: 0034-0502
-Could you be thinking of the work of Dr. Krashen or maybe Krashan? He
wrote the Power of Reading and other professional books. He supports
free voluntary reading to build reading and the idea that libraries
must have books that will attract and support the interests of kids.
I hope this helps.
-Look to RIF's research and statements regarding student choice
regarding reading materials, it's pretty powerful:
http://www.rif.org/educators/rifexchange/programdescriptions/QA_show404.mspx
-My school district brought in Lucy Calkins, Gaby Laden and Leah
Mermelstein to work with our K-6 staff around literacy and Readers
Workshop. They very explicitly state that students need both:
books that are "just right" and books that motivate students to do
the hard work of learning to read. Gaby discusses "stretch books,"
books that are so motivating to students that they are willing to
work hard to engage with them.
Our compromise? Students need to select at least one book that is
"just right" first, then are welcome to select 1-2 free reads.
After 2 years of this, students are just as likely to get multiple
books at their level. If a student reading at level K wants Harry
Potter, he can take it as his independent read (but he still has
books available for his reading work.
I also buy a lot of high interest, low level books. Non-fiction
works really well, but I also purchase Scooby Doo and Pokemon,
Beast Quest and Star Wars... whatever it takes to get kids walking
out with a book in their hands and a smile on their face.
-Locate articles by Stephen Krashen and check the ALA website for
their position papers. Each of these suggestions will give you the
language you need to communicate your feelings and the research you
need to back up you opinions. You are correct about free choices
and these suggestions will get you what you need.
-You might check Jim Trelease and Stephen Kreshen, I can't think of
anything right off hand
Part of that just right book concept is allowing students to have
free choice and determine for themselves the book that is just right.
Using the five finger rule is a good start..
-Have you read all the research that Steven Krashen has done? He's the
premier free-choice reading advocate.
http://www.sdkrashen.com/
-Try Richard Allington's ''What Really Matters for Struggling
Readers,'' particularly pages 61-63 (if you don't have the book you
may be able to pull up those individual pages on Amazon). The section
is titled ''Choice Is Also Important'' and Allington gives details of
a few studies supporting that.
-It's a whole book, not an article, but Kelly Gallagher's Readicide
is exactly what you need. He is a high school teacher in
inner-city LA schools, and he wants to combat "readicide" the
systematic killing of the love of reading. He squarely blames
teachers and schools for kids' lack of enjoyment while reading, and
he attributes it to the way we don't often let students choose
their own materials.
-I typed the term research on free choice reading into a Google
search and received a list of information
Here are the titles and URLS:
1 - “The Social and Ideological Construction of "Free-Choice
Reading." Paper presented 4/1999 Annual Meeting of American
Educational Research Association 4/19-23/1999 in Montreal, Canada
author Cynthia Lewis
Abstract is at URL full text link is at top of page
http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/custom/portlets/recordDetails/detailmini.jsp?_nfpb=true&_&ERICExtSearch_SearchValue_0=ED431848&ERICExtSearch_SearchType_0=no&accno=ED431848
2 - The Effects of Free Choice on Student Learning: A Study of
Summer Reading This article is available in full text if you take
a trial membership to Highbeam Research ???
School Libraries Worldwide
<http://www.encyclopedia.com/School+Libraries+Worldwide/ | January
1, 2008| Lu, Ya-Ling; Gordon, Carol
3 - “Implementing Response-to-Intervention in Elementary and
Secondary Schools” ... By Matthew K. Burns, Kimberly Gibbons (CRC
Press 2008_
This is an excerpt from a book available through Google Books The
section at this URL lists research done on free choice reading
http://books.google.com/books?id=NXwb_98yTVoC&pg=PA68&lpg=PA68&dq=research+on+free+choice+reading&source=bl&ots=jC2R9iq95H&sig=EkcOTvHOjv0L2PcVuB3Vl4VTuqk&hl=en&ei=IVaISqCnDM-ntgfVm9XnDA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3#v=onepage&q=&f=false
4 - “Differentiated instruction: a guide for middle and high
school teachers” By Amy Benjamin (200)
This is another excerpt from a Google Book that talks about
research into free choice reading
http://books.google.com/books?id=03bBUdZpRksC&pg=PA72&lpg=PA72&dq=research+on+free+choice+reading&source=bl&ots=-1xrKSrMXO&sig=zTZDv9eAWbAOOJXUNkzrpJI4GX8&hl=en&ei=IVaISqCnDM-ntgfVm9XnDA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=7#v=onepage&q=&f=false
There were quite a few more. Hope this helps. I wonder if David
Loertscher has any information in his library media research?
-The Kelly Gallagher hit led me to look at Nancie Atwell, who wrote
"The Reading Zone". This article looks pretty good, but again,
it's allegorical:
http://content.scholastic.com/browse/article.jsp?id=8132
-Finally there is an attachment that is pretty interesting.
A lot of people wrote and said they'd been looking for the same thing. So, please,
if you have a specific article that would work in the situation I described, please
post it to the listserv! Meanwhile, I will keep following up on the leads you all
sent in. Thank you again!!
-Margie
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Margaret Jones" <margiedee@EMAIL.COM>
> To: LM_NET@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU
> Subject: Target: Support for Free Choice
> Date: Sun, 16 Aug 2009 04:13:39 -1000
>
>
> Hi All -
> I just reviewed the archives and have not found what I really
> need - an article by a respected educator or research piece that
> justifies free choice (giving students the power to choose their
> own books). I believe that free choice has a positive impact on
> student achievement and leads to a lifetime love of reading, but
> I'd like to have some research to counter that teacher who thinks
> I should only allow each student in his class (and presumably,
> every student in the school) to select a just right book each
> week. Thank you in advance!
> Margie Jones
> margiedee@email.com
> Media Specialist
> South Street School
> 129 South Street
> Danbury, CT 06482
>
>
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Danbury, CT 06482
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