Feature Article

    Looking for Lizard Music: The Internet as a Reading Motivation Tool

    Stephanie Rosalia
    (August 2002, 169 - 171.)

    This conversation with twelve-year-old Dylan actually took place:

    Dylan: I'm so bored! I'm tired from riding my bike and there's nothing to do. When's dinner? I'm starving.

    Mom: We have an hour until dinner. Why don't you read a book?

    Dylan: Books are boring. There's nothing to read.

    Mom: You must be kidding! We have hundreds of books in this house—surely you can find something to read. Read today's paper.

    Dylan: Those books are bootleg [sic]. Besides, the news is boring. I'm going online for a while.

    One hour later at the dinner table:

    Mom: So, what did you look at online?

    Dylan: I e-mailed Ryan about his birthday party and I IM'd [instant message] with Rob. Rob showed me this really cool Web site last week about lizards. I was just on it and I found out that the ground walnut shells we're using for bedding could make my lizard sick. We have to get sterilized sand instead. Can you buy me this book about Uromastyx? It's called Basic Care of Uromastyx and a lot of people in the chat room recommended it.

    Mom: Chat room?

    Dylan: Yeah, there was a link on the lizard site to a chat room for lizard and snake owners. I got Ryan some information about his Ball Python, and I was the only one there who had a Mali Uromastyx, so I gave everyone information about it. They sell the book at Barnes and Noble.

    Mom: How do you know that?

    Dylan: Because I went to the Barnes and Noble site to look for the Uromastyx book. They have it. They also have the book about BMX biking that I want.

    Mom: How do you know you will like it?

    Dylan: Because I read the reviews on the Barnes and Noble site and lots of people liked it. You know how much I love my BMX biking. I want to read that book before I go to Woodward [biking camp].

    Mom: Kids can write reviews at Barnes and Noble?

    Dylan: Yeah, I reviewed that book on exorcisms I read.

    Mom: You did?

    Dylan: Yeah, it was awesome!

    Mom: Well, okay, but I want you to check the library to see if they have them before you decide to buy those books.

    Dylan: Okay, but not the school library—there’s nothing to read there.

    True or false:

    1. Dylan read independently for an hour before dinner.

    2. The Internet motivated Dylan to read books.

    Web sites, e-mail, chat rooms, online book reviews—is this reading? Some educators would say it is and some would say it is not. Dylan dismissed reading a book or a newspaper as "boring." Yet he spent the better part of an hour online reading information about the care and characteristics of his pet, interacting with others through e-mail and real-time chat exchanges, and reading and writing book reviews. Without a printed or bound page in sight, he acquired knowledge, exchanged ideas, educated others, sought and received information, and was motivated to acquire books on subjects of interest to him. Certainly the desire to read books about his interests was motivated by Dylan's online experience. Yet many teachers and librarians not only do not recognize extracurricular nonfiction as suitable reading, but they also do not include the use of electronic or multimedia resources in their definitions of literacy. Dylan's comment about how there was "nothing to read" in his school library reflects this situation.

    Independent reading is reading that students do for fun with no strings attached: no lists to check off, no reports to write, no deadlines to meet, and no grades, judgments, evaluations, or prizes to be won or lost. Motivation to read independently means to choose reading from among other recreational options with no extrinsic rewards attached; the reading experience and the pleasure or satisfaction derived from it is itself the reward.

    This excerpt is from an article by Stephanie Rosalia on pages 169-171 of the August 2002 issue of VOYA. Read further in the magazine to discover Web and book resources on the topic, and answers to these questions:

    • Why is independent reading important?

    • Why do students stop reading?

    • Can the Internet motivate independent reading?

    Stephanie Rosalia is a graduate student in school library media at Queens College, Graduate School of Library and Information Studies, City University of New York. She is also a business owner and the mother of two teenage boys, for whom the desire to read has not always burned hot. Motivating the love of reading in her sons and all young people is her lifelong passion.