The desire and attention students develop towards reading is essential in understanding the progress and needs of the learners. Conducting student surveys is one of the tools necessary in performing a student evaluation to determine their attitudes towards reading. Part of the resources employed in conducting student survey is the McKenna and Kear Elementary Reading Attitude Survey which offers an insight into the responses students have towards recreational reading and the view they have towards academic reading. In this survey, the student of choice was John Smith who is a Grade 4 student. Smith is the best student to assist in completing this survey based on his average reading ability as suggested by the teacher. Smith portrays a jovial mood and has a lot of interest to play and spend most of his time outdoors which is a depiction of the characteristics of students of his age and grade. Additionally, Smith is not showing too much indulgence in reading which makes him the convenient target for the survey.
Report Findings
The “Reading Attitude Survey” was offered to Smith and the mode of responding explained to the student with clear emphasis on the need to reply sincerely to obtain the best results. I was able to stress to the learner, Smith, the response to be offered on the survey is not a depiction of how Garfield would respond but a response based on how he feels regarding the statement(McKenna " Kear, 1990). I read the survey questions to him, gave him a moment to think about the question, then I read it once again as he contemplated on a response. The student circled the answer which Smith deemed fit for the read statement. The student answered with ease the first ten questions appertaining to recreational reading, but he spent more time in selecting choices for academic reading which was the last half of the survey. In the first ten survey questions, Smith did not circle the first choice depicting “very happy” in any question, two showing “slightly happy,” 5 for “mildly upset” and 3 for “upset.” In the other half of the Reading Attitude Survey which focused on reading in a school-based environment or academic reading, Smith took more time in contemplating the responses, and there were instances I could read the statements up to four times before he could circle an answer(McKenna " Kear, 1990). In this second half section of the survey, there were three responses with the first choice showing happiness, three for "slightly happy," two for "slightly upset" and two for "upset." Based on the survey, Smith is unhappy about recreational reading and happy about academic reading.
Analysis
Smith showed a general unhappy response to recreational reading or reading during his free time at home. My first finding focuses on the feedback when Smith is asked about “reading a book during his free time in school”(McKenna " Kear, 1990). Smith offers a response of "slightly happy" which shows that he prefers spending his free time not reading during his free time in school but feels obliged to read since it is in school and this environment is associated with reading(Kostelnik, Whiren, Soderman, Rupiper, " Gregory, 2014). However, when we observe the response regarding reading for fun at home, Smith offers a "slightly upset" response which can be interpreted to show Smith does not value having to read at home as a fun activity. Additionally, Smith does not view reading as a fun activity since he responded with “very upset” in the question regarding reading during summer vacation and “very upset” when asked about reading as an alternative to playing at home.
My second finding is that the environment influences Smith's reading attitude. In the survey questions, when asked about his response to reading time in class, Smith offered a “very happy” answer in the interview. From this response, one can gain that Smith is enthusiastic about reading in a classroom environment. It is my opinion that class-based exercises seem to have a positive impact on Smith’s attitude towards reading which is a point to note from the study(Powell " Powell, 2015). Also, this point is supported by the response regarding how the learner felt about stories learned in class, where Smith chose “very happy.” It is easy to conclude that Smith grasps more from reading in class as opposed to home reading where he responded with “slightly upset” to the question on going to the bookstore in his free time.
The third is the conclusion that Smith has a positive attitude to new learning experiences. Smith offered a “very happy” response to the question on how he feels about using a dictionary and a “slightly happy” feedback in the first part of the survey when asked about reading different books(Powell " Powell, 2015). From these answers, one can settle on the possibility that Smith’s attitude towards reading is hyped by the experiences of learning new things from the dictionary and change of study materials.
Student Plan (Recommendation)
Based on the responses from Smith, First I would suggest more emphasis on reading in school since this is the environment he relates with reading. Second, I would assist the student to enjoy learning by asking him always to write five new words he has learned each day, at home and school, to encourage reading in both environments. Third, I will encourage the student to read aloud in class since this will motivate him to develop a positive reading attitude.
References
Kostelnik, M., Whiren, A., Soderman, A., Rupiper, M., " Gregory, K. (2014). Guiding children’s social development and learning. Nelson Education.
McKenna, M. C., " Kear, D. J. (1990). Measuring attitude toward reading: A new tool for teachers. The Reading Teacher, 43(9), 626–639.
Powell, R. G., " Powell, D. L. (2015). Classroom communication and diversity: Enhancing instructional practice. Routledge.
