Teacher Booktalks: An Examination of Motivational Influence on Intermediate Grade Readers Follow Us on Twitter stevenlayne and benzulau 2 Dr. Steven L. Layne Benjamin Zulauf JUDSON UNIVERSITY
Overview Personal impact story (The Transall Saga) led to informal research in-district and outside of district Consistent findings across grade levels: 1, 3, 9, & 11 Search yielded few empirical studies involving teacher booktalks 2
Research Question What role do bi-weekly booktalks play in influencing fifth-grade students' choice reading selections? 3
Selection Book talk~ ~ Original list created based on titles previously read by the teacher of the treatment group ~ Revised list separated titles into four genres with equal representation from each: A total of 64 titles 1 6 from each genre 4
Frequency ~Twice a month: Sept., Oct., Nov., Jan., Feb., Mar., Apr. ~ Once a month: Dec. and May 5
Featured Books ~ Four titles displayed and booktolked per sesston ~ Three copies of each title available to kids ~ Four genres: Realistic fiction, Historical fiction, Nonfiction, and Fantasy 6
Presentation ~ Books displayed on the morning of each session 7
Delivery ~ Approximately 3-5 minutes in length ~ Two/four titles excerpted each SeSSIOn ~ Voice for delivery balanced across first-, second-, and thirdperson narration 8
Presentation ~ Book cover image projected immediately following respective booktalk 9
Follow Up > Random checkout order created prior to booktalks > Reserve forms available for featured titles when all copies are checked out 10
Fo llow Up J;r Specified time of day for students to checkout books from the classroom library J;r Pre-conference forms completed weekly in preparation for a reading conference 11
Name: Date: _ Pre-Conference Form - FICTION 1. What is the title of your book and who is the author? 2. Why did you select this book? (Check all that apply) Cover Popular Book/Series Author Genre Book Chat Recommended by: (Name) Other 3. What page are you on? 4. Who is the most important character so far? 5. How is this character like or not like you? 6. What is the biggest problem in this book so far? Turn paper over 12 Layne & Zulauf, 2014
IF YOU ARE STILL READING THE BOOK, PLEASE ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS: How do you think the problem will be solved? IF YOU HAVE FINISHED READING THE BOOK, PLEASE ANSWER THIS QUESTION: How was the problem solved? What detai Is from the text make you think the problem will be solved this way? Layne & Zulauf, 2014 13
Name:, Date: Pre-Conference Form - NONFICTION 1. What is the title of your book and who is the author? 2. Why did you select this book? (Check all that apply) Cover Author Popular Book/Series Recommended by: Genre (Name) Book Chat Other 3. What page are you on? 4. What do you believe is the purpose of this book? 5. What is something that surprised you? 6. Change the title of this book to something you like better and explain your decision Turn paper over 14 Layne & Zulauf, 2014
IF YOU ARE STILL READING THE BOOK, PLEASE ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS: What other information do you hope to learn before finishing this book? IF YOU HAVE FINISHED READING THE BOOK, PLEASE ANSWER THIS QUESTION: To whom would you recommend this book and why? If you were trying to interest a friend in this book, what story or piece of information would you tell him/her? Layne & Zulauf, 2014 15
Follow Up Book talk~ ~ Observations conducted in both control and treatment classrooms on three occasions: Nov., Feb., May 16
Frequency ~ Twice a month: Sept., Oct., Nov., Jan., Feb., Mar., Apr. ~ Once a month: Dec. and May 17
Featured Books ~ Four titles per session ~ Three copies of each title available to kids ~ Four genres: Realistic fiction, Historical fiction, Nonfiction, and Fantasy 18
Presentation ~ Books displayed on the morning of each day that booktalks were delivered in the treatment classroom 19
Presentation ~ Teacher draws minimal/no attention to books on display ~ Specified time of day for students to checkout books from the classroom library 20
Follow Up ~ Book update forms completed weekly 21
Name: Date: Book Update Form - FICTION 1. What is the title of your book and who is the author? 2. Why did you select this book? (Check all that apply) Cover Author Popular Book/Series Recommended by: Genre Gutter Display Book (Name) Other 3. What page are you on? 4. Who is the most important character so far? 5. How is this character like or not like you? 6. What is the biggest problem in this book so far? Turn paper over 22 Layne & Zulauf, 2014
IF YOU ARE STILL READING THE BOOK, PLEASE ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS: How do you think the problem will be solved? IF YOU HAVE FINISHED READING THE BOOK, PLEASE ANSWER THIS QUESTION: How was the problem solved? What details from the text make you think the problem will be solved this way? Layne & Zulauf, 2014 23
Name: Date: Book Update Form - NONFICTION 1. What is the title of your book and who is the author? 2. Why did you select this book? (Check all that apply) Cover Author Popular Book/Series Recommended by: Genre (Name) Gutter Display Book Other 3. What page are you on? 4. What do you believe is the purpose of this book? 5. What is something that surprised you? 6. Change the title of this book to something you like better and explain your decision Turn paper over 24 Layne & Zulauf, 2014
IF YOU ARE STILL READING THE BOOK, PLEASE ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS: What other information do you hope to learn before finish ing this book? IF YOU HAVE FINISHED READING THE BOOK, PLEASE ANSWER THIS QUESTION: To whom would you recommend this book and why? If you were trying to interest a friend in this book, what story or piece of information would you tell him/her? Layne & Zulauf, 2014 25
Research Question What role do bi-weekly booktalks play in influencing fifth-grade students' choice reading selections? 26
Research Question- Results Treatment Classroom: 385 circulations of featured titles ~Featured =titles displayed and booktalked Control Classroom: 7 6 circulations of displayed titles Two-tailed t-test revealed a statistically significant difference in the treatment classroom p < 0.0001 Booktalks appeared to play an influential role in fifth-grade students' choice reading selections 27
Gender )-Caveat: of the 53 titles with a clear male or female protagonist, 35 featured males and 18 featured females )-On average, male students checked out 13 books featuring a male protagonist and 4 books featuring a female protagonist )- Female students checked out 8 books with a male protagonist and 7 books with a female protagonist 28
Gender ~Herman checked out 23 books; twenty featured a male protagonist and three featured a female protagonist ~ Ethel checked out 23 books; 12 featured a male protagonist and 11 featured a female protagonist 29
14 12 10 8 6 Male Protagonist Female Protagonist 4 2 0 ~----------~----------~ Male Students Female Students 30
Influence ~ Pre-Conference forms were completed for a total of 137 "booktolked" titles ~ Students identified booktolks as on influential factor in their decision to read a title 132 times 31
2. Why did yau select tnjs bcok? {Check arl that apply) Cover Popular Book/Series Author Recommended by~!!!2!1 Mr.,Z book chat Other 32
Booktalks as an Influential Factor in Students' Reading Selections Booktalk Identified as a Factor Booktalk Not Identified as a Factor 33
Influence ~ Book Update forms were completed for a total of 32 "displayed" titles ~ Students identified the display as an influential factor in their decision to read a title 15 times 34
Book Display as an Influential Factor in Students' Reading Selections Book Display as a Factor Book Displayed Not Identified as a Factor 35
Other Interesting Finding~ School Library "Checkouts" >-Throughout the school year, students in the treatment group checked out "booktalked" titles from the school library 27 times; whereas, books on display for the control group were checked out 8 times. 36
School Library "Checkouts" Control Group School Library "Checkouts" Treatment Group 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 37
What the Treatment Teacher Had to Say By the third booktolking session, there was expressed interest in the featured titles when students entered the classroom This was the first of seven times that all 12 books were immediately checked out ~Out of 16 booktalking sessions, nearly half resulted in all 12 books being checked out 38
What the Treatment Teacher Had to Say Students' requests for book recommendations in the school library from the treatment teacher evolved into requests for impromptu booktolks by the fourth month of school A student -generated list for new students of "things you need to know about Mr. Z's class" included booktalks 39
Question: Have you ever had a classroom teacher who presented booktalks on a regular basis? ~Response: Of the 22 students in the treatment group, none reported having a previous teacher who delivered booktalks 40
Question: Were you introduced to a book this year through booktalks that you might not have otherwise read? ~Response: Of the 22 students in the treatment group, 20 indicated that booktalks had influenced their decision to read a title(s} that they would not typically have selected 41
Question: Do you think you read more books this year than in past years as a result of hearing booktalks? ~Response: Of the 22 students in the treatment group, 21 indicated that they had read more books this year as a result of listening to booktalks. 42
Question: Would you like if future teachers presented booktalk on a regular basis? If so, why? ~Response: Of the 22 students in the treatment group, 21 indicated that they would like for future teachers to deliver booktalks 43
Question: Would you like if future teachers presented booktalk on a regular basis? If so, why?»-"yes! Because I love books now and want to get introduced to more!"»- "Yes, because then a lot of students will get really interested in books which would lead to more reading for students."»-"yes because it helps me pick new books and expands the excitement of hearing a new book. It helps me pick out books that are similar to the ones that I like." 44
Question: Would you like if future teachers presented booktalk on a regular basis? If so, why? );--"No, because I only like Mr. Z booktalks" 45
"Getting to know good books and to hear what they are all about! It sparked my interest in reading! I hated reading in previous years." 46