The Importance of Reading Across Genres

Authors

  • Jennifer Gingerich El Dorado Public Schools, El Dorado, Kansas
  • Michelle Adler Wichita State University, Wichita, Kansas

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.62704/0ef8bb17

Keywords:

intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation, genre, reading comprehension

Abstract

Research continues to demonstrate that motivated readers read more, yet too often students are not exposed to genres that might motivate them to continue reading. Further, students might not be encouraged to read outside their preferred reading genre. When students are unmotivated to read, they often do not read or do not finish the books they start. What would happen if students were encouraged to read from more genres and given the freedom to check out various genres of books from their school libraries? This study examines what happens to achievement and motivation when fourth-graders participate in a Genre Challenge that utilizes the Whooo's Reading app. Results indicate that comprehension scores in certain genres were impacted more than others, and while reading outside of the students' preferred genres did not significantly change, students did enjoy finishing books and were extrinsically motivated to finish the book so they could take the quiz on the app.

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Author Biographies

  • Jennifer Gingerich, El Dorado Public Schools, El Dorado, Kansas

    Jennifer Gingerich is a fourth-grade teacher in El Dorado, Kansas. She completed her Master's in Learning and Instruction Design at Wichita State University in May 2019 and can be reached at jmgingerich@eldoradoschools.org

  • Michelle Adler, Wichita State University, Wichita, Kansas

    Michelle Adler is an Assistant Professor and the Elementary Education Program Chair at Wichita State University. She can be reached at michelle.adler@wichita.edu.

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Published

2020-06-29

Issue

Section

Scholarly Articles