Free Choice:

1. Free Choice: The Key Component to Motivation and Comprehension within the Classroom By: Kate Luvera

2. Supporting Emerging Literacy with Free Choice • Research documents that perceived “control” and “free choice” in upper primary grades are associated with academic achievement in reading (Skinner, et al. 1990; Sweet, et al. 1998). • An increase in teacher control and a decline in student choices has led to a large decline in motivation of upper primary students (Guthrie and Davis 2003).

3. Free Choice • “Free choice increases the breadth and depth of reading (Wigfield and Guthrie 1997) and is related to the development of intrinsic motivation that is linked to developing comprehension (Wigfield and Guthrie 1997).” • Free Choice  Engagement  Sustained Reading Deep Reading = Developed Comprehension

4. Intrinsically Motivated • When students are given a choice they become not only motivated but also completely invested and committed to their work and their individual success. • Students are able to choose what they would like to read while still following teacher assignments and projects. • Free choice virtually increases motivation to read as well as expanding among students’ reading comprehension.

5. Student Motivation • Mathias wrote: “I’m looking forward to writing the letter to the author so I can share my ideas with him. I’m nervous that I will not have everything finished.” • Luisa, a high-achieving, self-motivating student notes: “I’m looking forward to completing all the assignments. I’ve never done anything like them before and they seem very interesting.” • Keith, a quiet student who struggled with reading, wrote: “I’m looking forward to actually reading Night, because this book seems very interesting to me.”

6. Self-actualize • From completing various teacher assigned tasksstudents are learning the material, as well as understanding what they can do and what they could improve on. Pinpointing their own strengths and weaknesses. This self-actualization helps students to continue to set their own goals for improvement and success. • Luisa noted: “The only assignment that I was concerned with was the journals because I never felt like I was good at writing them. They were challenging and it always seemed like I didn’t detail them and put enough information in them. Although, I managed to get them all done... I also thought I did a pretty good job at them.”

7. Self-actualize cont. • When students share their strengths and weaknesses, it offers teachers opportunities to arrange lessons and curriculum to suit their students’ needs. • Education then can go beyond differentiation to become personally relevant to each student.

8. Examples for Your Content Area • English: Providing students with a choice of a book to read over a period of time, while having all the students completing the same assignments. (looking for key components of theme, plot, character development, symbolism, etc.) • History: Selecting several different books covering a one topic (i.e. WWII), then have students choice which book they would enjoy reading. (Warfare, Uniform, Home front, Technology, Music, Politics, Presidency, etc.)

9. Examples for Your Content Area • Math and Science: Research based project where students select an area they would like to learn more about and select their choice of a book to read along side their project. • Foreign Language: Students are able to choose a reading on a piece of the country’s culture and share their findings to the class. (Sports, Cuisine, Architecture, History, etc.)

10. Any Thoughts or Questions?

11. Works Cited • Gordin, Carol A.1, carol.gordon@rutgers.edu, and Caroline Gordon2, messengc@naugy.net Messenger. "Supporting Emerging Literacy With Free Choice." School Library Monthly 28.5 (2012): 16-19. Education Full Text (H.W. Wilson). Web. 18 June 2012.