Two Mount Saint Mary College professors and an alumnus recently shared their original research project at the Literacy Research Association’s 71st Annual Conference in Atlanta, Ga.
Rebecca Norman, associate professor of Education and Graduate Program Coordinator at the Mount; Nancy Benfer ’03 MSEd ’14, Bishop Dunn principal and Mount adjunct professor; and Benfer’s son, Mount alumnus Charles Benfer ’21; presented “I Started This Whole Read to Younger Kids Thing and I Read More: Repeated Reading for Authentic Purposes” in early December.
An excerpt from their presentation reads: “As literacy teachers and teacher educators, we strive to create independent readers who read often and for enjoyment. After all, children who read often become better readers and enjoy reading more than those who do not read often…With these goals in mind, we designed a study in which readers practiced a self-selected book for a week and then read that book to younger children, thus giving the readers authentic purposes for rereading their book and providing them with an authentic audience. We hypothesized that the readers who read aloud would become better readers than those who read silently. What we found was an increase in enthusiasm for reading throughout the school, especially for the children who read aloud.”