An investigation of the effects of child created materials on second graders' attitudes toward reading

Creaser, Barbara B. (1975) An investigation of the effects of child created materials on second graders' attitudes toward reading. Masters thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

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Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether the use of child created materials would effect a positive change in the attitude toward reading of grade two children. These materials were used within a planned supplemental program of recreational reading in an attempt to ease the transition between the skill's and recreational components of the reading program. -- A six-week experimental investigation was designed. A randomly selected sample of 18 grade two classrooms was selected from 12 schools representing a cross-section of socio-economic and educational backgrounds. These 18 grade two classrooms were divided into three groups with each of the classrooms having an equal chance of being randomly allocated to each of the treatment groups. The Control group, containing six classes, received a weekly cartoon of 30 library books, but had no special supplemental recreational reading techniques, and any program of recreational reading was a natural outgrowth of each teacher's usual pattern of instruction. The Experimental A group, containing six classrooms, received a weekly carton of 30 library books, and provision was made 30 minutes daily of a planned supplemental program of recreational reading focusing on library books. The Experimental B group, containing six classes, received a weekly carton of 30 library books, a weekly packet of ten different child created materials (five copies of each), and provision was made 30 minutes daily of a planned supplemental program of recreational reading focusing on child created materials. -- The Gates-MacGinitie Reading Achievement Test - Primary B was administered to all 18 classrooms prior to the treatment period in order to determine the reading achievement level of each of the students. The Primary Pupil Reading Attitude Inventory was administered as a pretest and as a posttest in order to determine the reading attitude level of each of the students. Treatment and interaction effects were analysed using a two-way analysis of covariance. The Tukey multiple comparison procedure was used to locate any specific source of difference between treatments. -- The analyses revealed the following major findings: 1. The results of the attitude toward reading posttest did not appear to be affected by the children's level of reading achievement. -- 2. There was no significant interaction between treatment and reading level. -- 3. The use of child created materials did not appear to significantly improve the children's attitude toward reading, with both the reading achievement scores and attitude toward reading pretest scores controlled. -- 4. The treatment effects did not appear to counteract the children's attitude toward reading pretest levels. -- 5. There was no significant interaction between treatment and levels of attitude toward reading. -- 6. The girls' attitude toward reading posttest scores were significantly higher than the boys'. -- 7. The three treatments did not appear to differentially affect the attitude toward reading for boys or girls when grouped by sex. -- From the major findings the following conclusion was drawn: -- The use of child created materials, produced outside the child/reader's classroom, and used within a supplementary program of recreational reading, does not appear to effect a positive change in attitude toward reading in grade two children as measured by the Primary Pupil Reading Attitude Inventory. This appears to be the case whether the data were examined according to the children's reading level as measured by the Gates-MacGinitie Reading Achievement Test - Primary B, or according to the children's pretreatment attitude toward reading as measured by the Primary Pupil Reading Attitude Inventory. When the data were examined according to the children's sex the findings also produce the same conclusion. -- Due to the limitations of this study, it is felt that this conclusion needs to be tentative. A discussion of the findings and conclusion and their implications was included.

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