Literature Circle and Gifted Students: Boosting Reading Motivation and Performance
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of literature circles on the reading comprehension and attitudes toward reading of gifted students in an elementary school. Using a quasi-experimental design, this action research compared two groups of gifted fourth grade students in the reading programs. The experimental group included twenty gifted/high-achieving students that participated in weekly literature circles for four weeks. The control group had nineteen gifted students that received the traditional, skill-based reading instruction. Pre- and post-assessments in reading performance of both groups were taken to compare growth. A survey was also conducted at end of the intervention to examine participant attitudes toward literature circles versus skill-based reading. The results indicate that the literature-circle group showed positive attitudes towards reading and also slightly more progress in reading than the skill-based group. The findings of this study support the potential benefits of incorporating literature circles into reading instruction for gifted students in elementary schools.
Keywords
Reading Instruction, Literature Circle, Gifted Students, Reading Performance
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Recommended Citation
Smith, Andrea and Feng, Jay, "Literature Circle and Gifted Students: Boosting Reading Motivation and Performance" (2018). Georgia Educational Research Association Conference. 53.
https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/gera/2018/2018/53
Literature Circle and Gifted Students: Boosting Reading Motivation and Performance
The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of literature circles on the reading comprehension and attitudes toward reading of gifted students in an elementary school. Using a quasi-experimental design, this action research compared two groups of gifted fourth grade students in the reading programs. The experimental group included twenty gifted/high-achieving students that participated in weekly literature circles for four weeks. The control group had nineteen gifted students that received the traditional, skill-based reading instruction. Pre- and post-assessments in reading performance of both groups were taken to compare growth. A survey was also conducted at end of the intervention to examine participant attitudes toward literature circles versus skill-based reading. The results indicate that the literature-circle group showed positive attitudes towards reading and also slightly more progress in reading than the skill-based group. The findings of this study support the potential benefits of incorporating literature circles into reading instruction for gifted students in elementary schools.
