2.++Motivation+and+Introduction

**Motivation Strategies**
Students are unlikely to be convinced or adequately motivated by pedagogical reasons for reading in every content area classroom. Teachers need to set authentic purposes for reading that pique students’ curiosity and prepare them for the information ideas they’re going to read about.


 * ♠ Offer students the chance to read beyond the textbook. Popular content area journals, newspapers, trade nonfiction, and online resources provide teachers with access to reading material that can provide depth, authenticity, and timeliness that textbooks simply cannot.


 * ♣ Have students participate in setting purposes for reading by using anticipation guides . After you’ve selected a text for students to read, go over it carefully and make a list of the key ideas they will encounter. Provide students with a list of statements based on your list and have them rate their level of agreement or disagreement before they read. (This guide then becomes a powerful tool for assessing learning or changed attitudes after reading and discussion as well).


 * ♥ Focus on surprising facts or information, controversial ideas or points of view, and content about which students likely have misconceptions. In preparation for a reading on bacteria and viruses in a biology class, for example, students might be asked to respond to statements such as “A typical square inch of human skin hosts thousands of bacteria,” “A population is stronger when there are a number of viral and bacterial diseases present within it,” and “Viruses can be killed using antibiotics.”


 * ♦ Organize the classroom to motivate reading and discussion. Use a technique such as jigsawing to create an authentic knowledge gap in your classroom. Have small groups of students read and discuss a handful of different texts with complementary or contrasting views on a question or issue from your content area (differing points of view on the American Revolution; multiple reviews of a book, film, piece of music or art; sections of a chapter that can be understood independently). Then reshape the groups to include students who have each read one of the different texts. Students are then challenged to share an overview of their reading and synthesize the varying content they collectively read.

>