Maintaining Student Motivation in Novel Studies

Motivating students to be active readers is challenging when everyone is reading the same novel during a class literature study. Choosing a novel that everyone will enjoy is virtually impossible. This dilemma led me to construct an independent book study for my advanced language arts class. I used independent study was a way to keep my pupils motivated and excited about their reading, and it also helped to keep me directly connected to them and their learning needs. The following is my experience in facilitating my first independent book study. 

Redefining the Traditional Concept of Independent Book Study

In the past, my notion of an Independent Book Study was a free-for-all class structure in which students read silently, kept a reading log, and completed a book report at the end. It was that idea that kept me away from using an independent study as the basic structure for a literature unit. However, at one point, I had an advanced language arts class where the pupils held a variety of interests, skill levels, and learning needs. When I approached them about the last book study of the year, their responses were so diverse that I decided to give the concept of independent study a try. The result was that each person chose a book that was personally motivating to read, and ultimately to share, at the end of the unit.

The basic structure was simple. Each individual was given a spiral notebook that they divided into four sections:

1. Reading Log (smallest section): A list of the pages read per class day.

2. Journal Entries (largest section): A three paragraph letter to me; described below.  

3. Word Study: A list of unknown or interesting words found during reading.

4. Independent Research Topic: A topic related to the book that they researched and presented to the class at the conclusion of the study.

Each person then chose a day of the week to turn in their notebooks. I accepted five notebooks a day, because I read and responded to each section of the journal, as well as took personal notes on the instructional needs of the pupils. The journal entries were the largest section of the notebook, as each person was required to write four entries a week. The three paragraphs were structured as the following: a brief summary, thoughts and connections, "wonderings” about the book, and questions about events, characters, vocabulary words, confusing sections, or questions for the author. I stressed the importance of this section, as it was our main line of communication during the study. The resulting entries were more than three paragraphs, and as a teacher, I felt I learned more about each one of my students during this time than any other time throughout the year. In the research portion, pupils kept notes and summaries of their research topic collection. I scanned this section whenever I had possession of their notebooks, and let kids know if it looked like they were falling behind, or a little off-track. At the end of the project, each person was required to create a final research summary and presentation. This was interesting, because students chose topics of personal interest that related to their books. As a result, the presentations were as unique as each one of my pupils.

Developing Assessments for Independent Book Study 

I used websites to create and download rubrics to assess learners’ weekly work and the research presentation. Again, I was impressed with the volume of work I received from every individual in class. In addition to the volume of work, everyone demonstrated deeper levels of thought about their reading as they completed journal entries and responded to questions I posed throughout the notebooks. When I say everyone, I mean everyone. Even the most reluctant readers! It was also exciting to see my students race in to class so they could get their journals to read my responses. This was one of the best aspects of the project. Class time was spent reading and writing, and I conferenced with individual learners, as well as read and responded to journals. The only section I plan to revise is the word study. In the future, I will add a culminating assignment to pull the word study together and link it with the rest of the study. Overall, the study was a success, and it inspired every learner. Use your imagination and try it! Here are some more literature study ideas.

Novel Studies Lesson Plans:

Salvaged Pages: Writing a Response to Literature

This lesson uses the Holocaust as the topic of study in order to have pupils respond from different perspectives on this time in history. Although this lesson is based on the book Night by Elie Wiesel, there are many books and topics that could fit into this literature response structure, and could easily become an independent study.

Literature Circles

Have your creative authors take on the role of an illustrator for a specific book. They can illustrate a scene, poster, or comic strip from the book of their choice. Note: Use this a guideline, and ask your learners to make one illustration per chapter when they are reading a longer book.