Running Head: Literature Review

Literature Review Rachael A.M. Somes EDU 744 March 23, 2012 University of New England

Running Head: Literature Review

Every teacher can speak to the experience of once having a student that seemed

disinterested in reading. This can range from being a child that simply needs a little push or some coaxing to get into reading a text, to a child who all out refuses to read. Often times, reluctant readers mask their aversions to reading by using other, less desirable behaviors such as shutting down, looking for escapes (aka the bathroom/ water fountain/nurse) or becoming naughtier during reading times. Research has shown that while any child can be a reluctant reader, the majority of youths that fall into this category are young boys and they remain the most unenthusiastic about reading, peaking especially in the middle school years. Educators are left scrambling and searching for ways to help engage young

males and create enthusiasm for reading. The most important factor to gure out is what is causing the disengagement from reading? The root of this problem needs to be identied before helpful interventions can be put into place and made productive. Many research studies lead to the primary factor of disengagement with young males being the disconnect between reading and real life or simply put, basic disinterest. My guiding question for this literature review will explore the idea of readers

theater intervention as a means of engaging reluctant male readers. Is there enough of a purpose behind readers theater to spark interest in this group? Will a real life purpose of performing a readers theater script be a motivating enough hook for these at risk students? The articles that follow are resources that were read and interpreted to help increase knowledge concerning student motivation and readers theater interventions. Although not all of the articles lend themselves directly to the idea of

Running Head: Literature Review

reluctant male readers, the information provided in each can be generalized to this focus group. Speed does matter in reading by Timothy V. Rasinski This commentary evaluates the effects of disuent reading across the many

aspects of reading behaviors. Rasinski makes a case for disuent reading as the cause for less overall reading, poor comprehension and reading frustration. A key nding in this article is Rasinskis ndings as director of a university reading diagnostic clinic. He states, Often the children we see in our clinic demonstrate remarkable strengths. Many have excellent vocabularies; they know the meanings of many words. Others manage to read with few errors in word recognition. Still others demonstrate high levels of comprehension. One of the most common manifestations of reading problems in children we see, however, is slow, disuent, inefcient reading. (146) A strength of this commentary and of Dr. Rasinskis work lies in the fact that

readers theater is promoted in the commentary as an authentic and natural way of increasing reading uency scores. Rasinski also uncovers In a 10-week implementation of Readers Theatre in which small groups of second-grade students were introduced to, practiced, and performed a new script each week, students made signicant gains in reading rate and overall reading achievement as measured by an informal reading inventory (Martinez, Roser, & Strecker, 1999). Rasinski touches on the fact that many times students are placed in special

services at schools (ex. Title 1) due to disuent reading. The reading rate may serve as a signicant factor in classroom teachers perceptions of those students reading prociency or lack thereof.

Running Head: Literature Review

Reading Fluency: The Road to Developing Efcient and Effective Readers by Helen R. Abadiano and Jesse Turner Abadiano and Turner highlight the lack of appropriate uency instruction as one

of the major reasons why students, as assessed by the NAEP in 1995, are lacking in procient reading standards. This article is broken up into ve sections and informs the reader as to what uency means, how uency is assessed, the connections between phonics and reading instruction, the research on which its based, and ways of addressing uency in the classroom. This article highlights the fact that research supports the fact that teachers can

encourage and help their students become more uent readers with proper instruction and modeling. A list of strategies to have students read repeatedly is provided and includes, but is not limited to, richly dialogued readers theater. The article explores the studies of Susan Keehn and The effect of instruction and practice through readers theater on young readers oral reading uency (2003). In this study, readers theater was implemented in a second grade classroom. There were two different ways of implementing this intervention and it was concluded in the results of the study that both treatment groups made statistically signicant growth in oral reading uency during the nine-week Readers Theatre intervention. All children, regardless of reading ability, made growth through the intervention of purposeful re readings via Readers Theatre. (pp. 49-50) An area of interest that is limited in this article and many others that have been

encountered is the underlying issue of motivation and the roll that it plays in repeated readings to increase uency instruction. It is discussed how More often than not,
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Running Head: Literature Review

uency development depends less on any one particular repetitive reading intervention, but more on creative, caring innovative teachers who make students repetitive reading experiences and participation in Readers Theatre inviting, engaging and fun. Thus future research should not only focus on empirical data, but also explore the affect experiences of readers in reading intervention programs and go beyond mere affect sizes to the heart of what motivates struggling readers. (55). The latter seems to be the probing question at the heart of the Literature

Reviews guiding question and warrants further exploration as an expansion of the question in what stands to be a motivating factor for reluctant male readers. Establishing Guidelines For Using Readers Theater With Less-Skilled Readers by Steven D. Rinehart This article summarizes important factors in the uency equation. Logically, it

equates reading with the Matthew Effect (Stanovich, 1986) whereas the rich get richer or the good readers get better because their continued success in literacy activities not only sustains but also generates its own improvement and growths. (66) Consequently, the poor get poorer. That is, poor readers fall even further behind because, in part, the difculty itself becomes an impediment for practice. Thus their gains are slower overall. (66) The purpose of this article was to review the ndings of the potential benets of incorporating readers theater into classroom instruction. The article asks the question of is there a right or a wrong approach to teaching readers theater? The conclusion is while there is probably no right way to do readers theater, there are some effective ways to proceed. (74). Effective practice includes, but is not limited to, incorporation of known books, integration with reading and writing activities, manageable texts, strong introductions, and routine.
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Running Head: Literature Review

Reader theater proves to be effective and a strength in increasing uency gains

for a number of reasons. Motivation and condence are major players in this and readers that struggle with these factors may result in less risk taking. Through the intervention of readers theater and the effective guidelines that the article presented, greater condence and accuracy are in reach. The article introduces a related study that correlates with the Literature Reviews

guiding question in where for a nine week time period, readers theater was uses as the primary instructional method for a group of second grade students during Title 1 instruction. The guidelines of this research, over this given time span, mirror the guiding question goals. The results of this given study proved favorable in supporting the intended outcome for reluctant male readers. Using Readers Theatre to Foster Fluency in Struggling Readers: A Twist on The Repeated Reading Strategy by Brenda-Jean Tyler and David J. Chard. This article addresses a plethora of background knowledge concerning uency

for educators. The author begins by taking you on a reading journey and putting you in the shoes of a disuent young male reader named Mike. From there, the role of uency and how it works in the process of reading are both explored. Repeated readings and readers theater are both presented as research-based strategies in which to effectively improve on uency scores. Readers Theater is more heavily addressed and the motivation piece that goes hand-in-hand with readers theater was explored. The rationale of purposeful repeated readings and the authenticity that Readers Theater provides was a common thread throughout.

Running Head: Literature Review

References Abadiano, H., Turner, J. (2005). Reading Fluency: The Road to Developing Efcient and Effective Readers. The NERA Journal, 41(1), 50-56. Rasinski, T. (2000). Speed Does Matter in Reading. The Reading Teacher, 54(2), 146-51. Reinhart, S. (2001). Establishing Guidelines for Using Readers Theater With LessSkilled Readers. Reading Horizons, 42(2), 65-75. Tyler, B.J. & Chard, D. (2000) Using Readers Theatre to Foster Fluency In Struggling Readers: A Twist on the Repeated Reading Strategy. Reading & Writing Quarterly, 16, 163-168.