State of the Art: Reading - November 1993
                2. Effective reading instruction can develop engaged 
readers who are knowledgeable, strategic, motivated, and socially 
interactive.
Our [National Reading Research Center's] overarching goal is to study 
how to cultivate highly engaged, self-determining readers who are the 
architects of their own learning. A unifying theme running throughout 
our research is that students will acquire the competencies and 
motivations to read for diverse aesthetic and academic purposes, such
as gaining knowledge, interpreting an author's perspective, escaping 
into the literacy world, performing a task, sharing reactions to stories 
and informational texts, or taking social and political action in 
response to what is read.
                                 (Alvermann and Guthrie 1993, p. 135)
Until recently, reading instruction focused almost exclusively on 
cognitive aspects--for example, the mechanics of reading. However, 
teaching students to become literate involves much more. Literacy 
depends on a myriad of factors related to the context of literacy 
activities (e.g., the kind of social interaction that takes place during 
a reading group discussion) and the child's personal attributes, 
including cognitive development. An engaged reader: 1) uses prior 
knowledge to gain information from new material; 2) uses a variety of 
skills in a strategic way to gain information independently; 3) is 
internally motivated to read for information and for pleasure; and 4) 
interacts socially to make gains in literacy development.
The context of literacy instruction and personal attributes in addition 
to cognitive development influence children's reading success in 
profound ways. Therefore, when planning instruction, teachers must make 
provisions in daily lessons for factors such as students' motivation to 
read. For example, choosing to read is an important ingredient of 
engaged reading. It has been found that allowing students to choose 
reading material of interest to them is a powerful motivator that
fosters independent reading habits. Effective teachers make use of this 
knowledge on a regular basis in planning and executing instruction.
Engaged reading, wherein students construct their own knowledge, is a 
form of engaged learning. Engaged reading goes beyond a reader's 
interaction with text. It is a means by which one becomes a member of a 
community of readers and society at large. To be engaged readers,
students must recognize the value of reading and their own potential as 
readers and learners. Teachers can help students develop this 
recognition by providing them with access to multiple sources of reading 
and resources for learning.
Engaged reading develops in literacy classrooms where self- and mutual 
assessment are as routine as they are in everyday life. These 
assessments which promote engaged reading take a variety of forms, 
including: the constant, strategic monitoring of one's progress while 
reading (i.e.,metacognition); the comparing of one's opinions and 
reactions to what one has read with those of others; and the monitoring 
of other people's reactions to one's own constructions of meaning.
When such processes become regular events during literacy instruction, 
assessment and literacy learning become intertwined, such that learning 
is supported at the same time that it is assessed.
--- GEcho 1.11+
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