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Doing Extensive Reading with SCRUM

scrumTo promote extensive reading, we show how teachers can use Scrum (Sutherland & Sutherland, 2014), an established method for efficiently managing projects. Our preliminary results show that Scrum may markedly help students increase the amount they read, possibly contributing to a 60% increase in reading word counts.

First, we outline a 10 step process for using Scrum to promote extensive reading. (1) Pick the General Scrum Reading Manager (the teacher). (2) Make teams of 3-4 members who will meet for a weekly Scrum. (3) Pick Reading Scrum Masters for each team. (4) Using post-its, each group makes a “Book Pile” of books that they want to read. (5) On their post-its, each member estimates how long a book will take to read. (6) Students set Reading Sprint Goals for the week. (7) Students make work visible, using the Scrum Board. (8) During Weekly Scrum, group members ask each other the three key Scrum reading questions. (9) Every 2 weeks, groups Report and Review their progress to the class. (10) At each Report and Review, groups reflect on how to improve.

During a period of four weeks, 27 students did a total of four reading Scrums. We then compared student reading word counts between the four week period before they did Scrum and the four week period while they did Scrum.

The results were encouraging. During the four week period before Scrum, each student read an average of 28,670 words. During Scrum, each student read an average of 46,919 words. This is nearly a 64% increase in reading amount.

At this point, we cannot claim that Scum will greatly increase student reading amounts. There are other variables that may have contributed to the increase for our students. However, this study does show the potential of Scrum for helping students read more, and we suggest that other teachers and researchers try Scrum in more rigorous experiments to see if it really works for promoting extensive reading.

This paper was presented at the 9th Annual Extensive Reading Seminar held at Nanzan University in Nagoya, Japan on October 1, 2016. The original title was “Applying Scrum Principles to ER Instruction,” by Joseph Poulshock and Douglas Forster. Click here for a PDF of the talk.

Reference
Sutherland, J., & Sutherland, J. J. (2014). Scrum: The Art of Doing Twice the Work in Half the Time. New York: Crown Business.

The Benefits of Extensive Reading

TheBenefitsOfERWhat is the most important improvement a language teacher can make? According to Paul Nation, it’s “Adding an extensive reading program to a language course.”

But what are the benefits of extensive reading, and why should we practice it? In this workshop at JALT National (11/23/2015), we gave a core definition and summarized 9 benefits of ER.

First, we stated that ER is a reading BEE (a meeting for communal enjoyment). Readers commune with authors, story characters, and other readers. BEE stands for the idea that ER is Big, Easy, and Enjoyable.

Next, we stated the benefits of ER, saying that “ER makes MASTERFUL English.” Each letter in MASTERFUL summarizes one of the 9 benefits of ER.

  • Motivation: ER motivates reading and learning.
  • Attitude: ER improves attitudes.
  • Syntax: ER develops learner syntax and grammar.
  • Thinking: ER improves thinking, that is writing.
  • Ears: ER benefits listening skills.
  • Riches: ER enriches physical, emotional, and intellectual life.
  • Fluency: ER increases reading automaticity and fluency.
  • Uber-text: ER employs the supreme form of content, namely stories.
  • Lexis: ER improves vocabulary and word knowledge.

Click here or on the image for a PDF of the talk.

 

Promote Big Reading Through the As If Principle

AsIfJALTNational2015By Douglas Forster and Joseph Poulshock

What is the As If Principle? 

“If you want a quality, act as if you already have it.” — William James, 1884

We presented our latest iteration of insights about As If Principle at the JALT National Conference in Shizuoka on November 21, 2015. We summarized and demonstrate five practical case studies and practices that use the “As If Principle” (AIP) to motivate students to do big reading: (1) The Five-Minute Drill, (2) The Reading Poster Project, (3) The Reading Photo Project, (4) The Confidence Trick, and (5) The Power Pose. Besides these activities, we discussed ways to research the efficacy of the As If Principle.

Click here or on the image to download the PDF.

 

Story Versus Non-Story

5-StoriesPan-SigDo Stories Promote Learning More Than Non-Stories?

This is my talk for the PanSIG 2015 Conference of the Japan Association for Language Teaching (JALT). May 16-17, Kobe City University of Foreign Studies.

Click on the image or here for a PDF of the talk.

Abstract: Two groups of university students read separate variations of one text. The Story Group (SG) read a variation embedded in story grammar, i.e., with a character who faced conflict and tried to resolve it. The Non-Story Group (NSG) read a variation with the same facts, but not embedded in story grammar.

After reading and a delay, SG and NSG Groups took identical quizzes about the text. The SG and NSG groups got statistically similar results on the quiz, but in one subset of the SG Group, learners performed better. The small sample and mixed results indicate a need for more research on this topic.

For some reason, my last name was omitted in the program, so I’m “Joseph Warren” instead of Joseph Warren Poulshock.

Researching the “As If” Principle and ER

AsIfResearch400x300Presentation for the Seventh Annual Extensive Reading Seminar, Sunday September 28, 2014 Keisen University, Tokyo Japan.

Click the image to download the PDF.

“If you want a quality, act as if you already have it” (William James, 1884) This is the As If principle (AIP), and research shows that it applies to many kinds of behaviors.

To apply the AIP in ER, students participated in a photo contest, acting as if they liked reading by taking pictures of themselves enjoying books. They wrote captions on the pictures promoting reading, and they rated the pictures for the contest.

Pre-post questionnaires suggest students might gain reading motivation by doing this activity. Authors will summarize their results and discuss the implications of AIP research in ER.