A reader asked this week, “Are you sure that intrinsic motivation is really better than extrinsic?  The students I’m tutoring really like it when I give them prizes.”
 
Yes, I’m certain that intrinsic motivation is a more effective principle for teaching and learning than extrinsic motivation in the classroom and when tutoring.  Extrinsic rewards and prizes will not teach children to read.
 
Let’s begin by looking at the Top 20 Principles for PreK through 12 Education, published by the Coalition for Psychology in Schools and Education of the American Psychological Association.  I’m only citing Principle #9 at this time, even though I hope you will take the time to read all 20 principles.  These principles for effective teaching and learning work in the classroom and with one-on-one tutoring.  I like this explanation because it explains so clearly why intrinsic is better than extrinsic.

 
“Intrinsic motivation refers to engaging in an activity for its own sake. To be intrinsically motivated means to feel both competent and autonomous (e.g., “I can do it for myself”). Students who are intrinsically motivated work on tasks because they find them enjoyable. In other words, participation is its own reward and is not contingent on tangible rewards such as praise, grades, or other external factors. In contrast, students who are extrinsically motivated engage in learning tasks as a means to an end, such as to get a good grade, to get praise from their parents, or to avoid punishment.” 
 
The Coalition continues:
 
“These benefits occur because students who are intrinsically motivated are more likely to approach their tasks in ways that enhance learning, such as attending more closely to instruction, organizing new information effectively, and relating it to what they already know. They also feel more self-efficacious and are not burdened by achievement anxiety. On the other hand, students who are more extrinsically motivated may be so focused on the reward (e.g., getting a high grade) that learning is superficial (e.g., the student may resort to shortcuts such as skimming the reading for specific terms rather than absorbing the entire lesson), or they may become discouraged if the pressures are too high. Furthermore, externally motivated students may disengage once the external rewards are no longer provided, whereas intrinsically motivated students show more long-lived mastery of learning goals.”  (page 16)
 
 
In schools, after-school programs, and even in one-on-one tutoring, motivation all too often takes the form of extrinsic rewards, prizes, or even food.  Such extrinsic rewards have been proven to be ineffective.  Edward Deci and Richard Ryan, two excellent researchers, have been studying and testing the effects of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation in the classroom for over 30 years.  From their research, they concluded that intrinsic was superior to extrinsic.

I’m a motivational psychologist.  All of my reading programs only use intrinsic motivation, that is, internal motivation, motivation that comes from within.  The children read because they want to read, not to obtain a prize or reward. When tutoring, I want to kindle in each student a desire to read and enjoy reading.  I use hands-on projects to help generate intrinsic motivation. 
 
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See:  Tutoring Hint #7:  Intrinsic Motivation Is Better than Extrinsic Rewards
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It is not possible for a teacher, parent, or tutor to motivate a student, but you can create a motivating environment.  Tutoring is perfect for creating an intrinsically motivating environment. 
In each chapter in my new tutoring program (Why Can’t We Teach Children to Read?—pictured at the top of the page), students practice vowel clustering by reading, decoding, encoding, and working with the words introduced that day.  With the vowel boards used in the book, children and teens can see and hear the vowel sounds.  Hands-on learning techniques increase intrinsic motivation and individualize instruction.  Individualized instruction is essential for intrinsic motivation. 

Students learn a different vowel cluster each day.  To increase intrinsic motivation, the students use the words they are learning and place these words on puppets, rockets, and a variety of other hands-on projects.  Completing a project helps struggling students learn organizational skills and learn to read and follow directions.  The students work hard to complete their projects, but learning can also be fun. 
 
These hands-on projects become teaching tools and are also motivational tools to encourage students to want to learn.  They are not simply arts and crafts projects; they are a teaching technique building the student’s confidence and reading skills.  I want to undo the harms of reading failure.   I want to encourage children to try again and believe that they can learn to read.  Intrinsic motivation works hand-in-hand with vowel clustering because students must have skills if they are going to believe that they can read and then build an internal desire to read.  
 
So, yes, you want to use intrinsic motivation with your tutoring program. 
 
If you have more questions about using intrinsic motivation when tutoring, please contact me.  I’m always happy to help.

Just the other day a reader asked me, “Do You Believe in the Science of Reading?”  My answer was, yes and no. 
 
If you are talking about the actual scientific research that is being conducted in reading, then my answer is definitely yes.  As the author of several published scientific studies and books on teaching reading, I believe in the value of true scientific research. 
 
I also believe that true scientific research can help us reduce learning losses and teach failing students to read.  Scientific research can be very helpful when tutoring struggling students.
 
However, if you are talking about people who use the term “science of reading” as a label or new name for phonics, then, no I do not. 

We cannot simply say that phonics is the science of reading because there are scientific research studies that do not identify phonics as the best way to teach struggling students to read.  Phonics is one method, but it is certainly not the only method discussed in scientific research.  Therefore, it is not accurate to say that phonics is the science of reading.

 
What is the difference?

I distinguish between researchers doing scientific research in reading and those labeling their work as “science of reading.”  Why?  Because these are two totally different groups with two totally different objectives.  We have seen this happen before. 
 
Look-say enthusiasts, when they came under fire for the fact that look-say techniques were not working, quickly changed their terminology to whole language.  When whole language came under fire for also not working, they changed to blended literacy.  So, there is a long-standing tradition of just changing the label when a reading teaching method does not work. 
 
For those in the phonics camp who are now doing the same thing (changing phonics to science of reading), they will unfortunately get a similar result—failure.  Changing the label does not make an ineffective teaching method become more effective. 
 
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For more on the reading wars between whole language and phonics, see:  Reading Wars are Over!  Phonics Failed.  Whole Language Failed.  Balanced Literacy Failed. Who Won?  It Certainly Wasn’t the Students.
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We need to remember that phonics is an old concept, not a new idea.  Phonics education was first introduced in schools in 1690 with the New England Primer.  Like whole language, phonics has failed many times. 
 
You can change the name, but unless you change the teaching method, it is still the same.  Phonics instruction, even systematic phonics, uses a list of rules that predict when a letter of the alphabet will use a particular letter-sound.  As Sarah Forrest, a reading specialist with the Easyread System, explains—such phonics rules are only accurate 60% of the time. That means that, almost half the time, phonics rules give an inaccurate prediction, or the rule is simply wrong.
 
For those of us who are tutoring struggling and failing students, such inaccurate and unpredictable predictions lead to failure.  And this is why I do not support the “science of reading” that is just a relabeling of phonics.
 
Since it is not correct to say that phonics is the science of reading because there are scientific research studies that do not support phonics as the best way to teach all children to read, we must be careful with the labels that we use.  Even many phonics experts will tell you that phonics does not work for every student.  Let’s look at some scientific research. 

 
What does scientific research about reading tell us? 

The National Reading Panel (2000) stated that, “systematic phonics approaches are significantly more effective than non-phonics [whole language]….  However, phonics instruction failed to exert a significant impact on the reading performance of low-achieving readers in 2nd through 6th grades” (p. 94).

 
This is an important research study for us to look at because most phonics supporters cite the National Reading Panel (even though the research is over 20 years old) as being absolute proof that phonics is best for every student.  Yet, read the quote again.  I even gave you the page number.  Yes, this is a direct quote, and the National Reading Panel did actually make this statement.
 
The National Reading panel said that phonics does not work with low achieving students.  Remember, the Nation’s Report Card stated that over 60% of students cannot read at grade level—these are low achieving students.  If you are tutoring a struggling student in reading, you are tutoring a low-achieving student.  That’s why the student has come to you for tutoring help. 
That is also why scientific research is so important.  We need to know what works and what does not work with low achieving students before we select a tutoring method.

 
What do the phonics experts say?
 
The fact that phonics doesn’t work for low-achieving readers is not a new discovery.  Scientific research on phonics has always shown that phonics does not work with struggling and failing students. 
 
As far back as 1967, Jeanne Sternlicht Chall a very strong advocate and believer in systematic phonics, visited over 300 classrooms to conduct her research.  While she concluded that systematic phonics was superior to “look say” whole language in 90% of the classrooms, she also clearly stated and warned that a purely phonics approach would leave many students failing.
 
Linnea C. Ehri (2001), another strong advocate for phonics, studied 66 phonics vs. whole language groups and again found systematic phonics to be superior to whole language but also found that systematic phonics “…did not help low achieving readers that included students with cognitive limitations.”  
 
A cognitive limitation is having difficulty with perception, memory, expression and/or processing skills.  If you are tutoring a struggling or failing student in reading, you are tutoring a student with cognitive processing limitations.  Let’s look at a definition.
 
As Hands on Learning Solutions states,
 

“Just about any learning disability or learning challenge can be traced back to a processing problem. Challenges in processing come in all sorts of shapes. A student can have an auditory or visual processing issue, a dyslexic processing style, comprehension difficulties, trouble maintaining attention long enough to process, weak memory, speech and language disorders, sensory processing issues, organization problems, or simply slow processing to name just a few examples.”
 

Most learning differences (I like saying learning differences rather than learning disabilities.)  fall into the category of cognitive processing limitations.  This means that if you are tutoring a student who is struggling or failing in reading, you need a teaching method that works with students who have cognitive processing limitations. As Ehri clearly stated, phonics does not.
 
Similarly, Gerald Hughes and Jennifer Means explain in Gifted Not Broken:  Understanding Dyslexia, ADHD and the Autism Spectrum, phonics does not work with struggling students:


“…20% of all children will show little or no lasting improvement in reading ability using phonics-based programs.  ...using a phonics-based program on this particular group of children, is more than likely doomed to failure because it is focused on the very weaknesses of the child. Experience has repeatedly shown that when subjected to an extensive phonics-based program, many of these children will experience frustration, anger and ultimately continued failure.”

 
Therefore, what scientific research about reading tells us is that, as far back as 1967, we have known that phonics does not work with struggling and failing students.  So, why are we trying to pull science of reading out of a magic hat and say, “look what we have discovered.”  Because the Reading Wars have not really ended.  We have just landed in a new phase where phonics will dominate until it is proven to have failed once again.  Because, no matter how you label it (phonics, systematic phonics, science of reading), phonics is phonics.
 
 
What do struggling and failing students need in reading?
 
When tutoring or teaching in the classroom, you need to use the most effective teaching method to help students to learn to read.  Remember, as we’ve said before, no two students are exactly the same or learn the same—not even identical twins.
 
If you are using a teaching method that is not effective, your tutoring efforts will not be effective, either.  We talked earlier about how important it is to select an effective teaching method when tutoring.  So, don’t get caught up in a “fad” or advertising gimmick.  Also, don’t believe something just because it is on the Internet.  When you are reading and evaluating to see if a particular teaching method would work for your student(s), read carefully. 
 
Check to see if the author cites any research.  Some Science of Reading enthusiast will say, “I have over 200 studies that prove….” But they never cite those 200 studies, provide you with any links to those 200 studies, or even quote any of those studies.
 
Trust me, if someone has 200 quality, verifiable scientific research studies that prove the point they are trying to make, they are going to quote those studies.  So, do not get taken in by fancy writing.  Follow the research that actually exists. 
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In an interview with the National Institute of Health, Dr. Sally Shaywitz, a leading reading expert, stated that "Teaching matters and good teaching can change the brain in a way that has the potential to benefit struggling readers." 
 
Therefore, we need to search for good teaching methods backed by actual scientific research in reading.  Don’t just use a teaching method because it is popular this fall, and everyone is using it.  Check to see if the teaching method meets the needs of the student who you are tutoring.
 
As Dr. Sally Shaywitz goes on to say, “Children do not learn to read by memorizing a word list.  Most children, especially those who struggle in reading, do not learn to read by memorizing phonics rules” (p. 78). 
 
Some will say, “but she talks about systematic phonics in her book.”  Yes, she does, but she also clearly states that systematic phonics will not meet the needs of all struggling students. 

You must select a teaching method that fits the needs of your student.
 
At my reading clinic, I have worked with children who had failed multiple years.  Even if a student has been retained, we stress sending the child back to the classroom reading at their actual age level. 

• Some children have moved up 4 grade levels in reading in one year using vowel clustering.

 

• At-risk children placed in Reading Recovery failed, but the same students succeeded with vowel clustering.  They returned to the classroom reading at age level.

 

• Even failing special needs students placed in one-on-one pull out programs in systematic phonics, came to the reading clinic and with vowel clustering they succeeded.  They learned to read.

 

• Students who failed under whole language in the classroom came to my program to study vowel clustering. They returned to the classroom reading at their age level. 

 

• Balanced literacy failed as well (combining whole language and phonics), but vowel clustering taught the children who failed in the schools under balanced literacy to read at their respective age levels. 

A person asked me the other day, “Why do you do so many craft projects in your reading clinic?  I’m sure that the children enjoy the projects but doesn’t that waste time?  Why don’t you just sit down and read?”
  
I smiled and then began to explain.  The craft projects that I use at my reading clinic are actually teaching tools.  I use the craft projects to help children overcome the anxiety of failure and the disappointment of not being able to learn to read. Learning to read is very hard for some children.  They find it frustrating.  Reading then becomes something that they dread and feel very negative about; this leads them to not want to read.  In contrast, craft projects provide an intrinsically motivational environment that encourages students to read. Intrinsic motivation is an internal desire within the student. Craft projects are intrinsically gratifying and children in my programs read to make hands-on craft projects.

We must create a learning environment that encourages all students to want to learn.  This is true whether we are teaching 30 children in the classroom or tutoring a single student in a one-on-one tutoring session. 

Therefore, craft projects do not waste time.  Instead, they make learning easier for the child. They make learning to read take less time than usual.  What may look like a mere craft project becomes a hands-on teaching technique that helps struggling students learn to read.
 
Is using craft projects successful?
We have had children move up 4 grade levels in reading in one year.  These were children who were failing in school and who had also failed to learn to read with systematic one-on-one phonics tutoring.  So, yes, using hands-on crafts as a teaching tool can teach students to read.
 
I am a motivational psychologist.  I work with children and teens who are struggling in reading or, in many cases failing in reading.  My programs help students “erase” that feeling of “I can’t” or “I failed.”  At my reading clinic, we’ve helped many failing students return to the classroom and do well.  A 15-year-old who failed for nine years in reading learned to read in 3 ½ years.  So, the methods that I use are very successful, and they work for all ages.  
 
The first step is to create a learning environment. 
Hands-on craft projects help create a learning environment that encourages children to want to learn.  Creating an intrinsically motivating learning environment is how we had two students move up 2 grade levels in reading after only 48 hours of instruction. 
 
The hands-on craft project becomes the teaching tool that helps to create an intrinsic learning environment.  Intrinsic motivation is more successful in the classroom and for learning than extrinsic motivation.  Intrinsic motivation is the key to successful learning. 
 
Let’s stop and define our terms. 
 
How does intrinsic motivation work?
Motivation is the driving force that explains student behavior in the classroom, especially how a student approaches trying to learn something new—like reading.  Motivation can be intrinsic (internal) or extrinsic (rewards).
 
Intrinsic motivation can involve the student’s internal desire to explore a new topic, to try to learn something even though it may be hard, to want to learn, to keep trying and to try again in the face of failure.  Intrinsic motivation produces better long-term outcomes and classroom performance, better grades, better test scores, and a stronger desire to learn.
 
Tutors must use intrinsic motivation as well as teachers.  Even though you may only be working with one student, it is critical to focus on intrinsic rather than extrinsic motivation during tutoring sessions.
 
What is extrinsic motivation?
Extrinsic motivation is an incentive or reward that drives a student to perform a particular behavior—grades, competition, food, money, promise of a prize or reward.  Extrinsic rewards can turn negative if the student doesn’t feel that the reward is worth the effort.  For example, the student might not work unless you offer two candy bars instead of just one.  Also, extrinsic motivation does not give long-term positive effects.  Extrinsically motivated students lack an internal desire to learn; they must be prodded, threatened, or bribed each time you want a certain action (completing an assignment).  Such compliance is not true motivation.
 
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For more about intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, read Group-Centered Prevention in Mental Health:  Chapter 6, “Is Intrinsic Motivation Better Than Extrinsic Motivation?” 
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Why are we talking about motivation? 
You may even be asking, what does motivation have to do with reading?  Everything.  If a student is not motivated to want to learn to read, the chances are very strong that they will never be able to.  Unfortunately, it is not possible to motivate another person.  Yes, you can bribe.  Yes, you can offer rewards or incentives.  Yes, you can threaten or force.  But those methods are not true motivation.
 
This is not just a play on words.  Motivation is an essential ingredient for learning.  Motivation is a vital part of tutoring and classroom success.  In any classroom or one-on-one tutoring setting, motivation becomes the guiding influence that encourages the student to strive to achieve and perform up to their potential.  Intrinsic motivation occurs when a student wants to master a task (like learning to read) instead of just completing an assignment to get it finished and out of the way, not really caring about the quality of their work.  Research shows that intrinsic motivation leads to better classroom performance and learning than extrinsic rewards.

So, yes, we must build motivation, especially intrinsic motivation into our reading program.  Without intrinsic motivation, students will become bored, not pay attention, not be willing to tackle hard learning tasks, and not believe that it is possible to learn to read.  When you remember that according to the Nation’s Report Card over 60% of students in the 4th, 8th, and 12th grade cannot read at grade level, then the importance of incorporating intrinsic motivation into your reading program takes on new urgency. 
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For more on the Nation’s Report Card, read Why Does Phonics Education Fail?_______________________

How do you generate intrinsic motivation?
We’ve already seen that you cannot motivate a person or even a student.  So, how do we create intrinsic motivation in the classroom or when we are tutoring?  We create a motivational environment that will generate intrinsic motivation in the student.  At my reading clinic, hands-on projects as puppets, pop-up books, rockets, race cars, alligators, volcanoes, octopuses, squids, frogs, and even a rainforest are intrinsically enjoyable.  The hands-on project is always tied to the vowel sound that we are studying.  Remember, it is a teaching tool, not just a craft project.  Hands-on learning techniques and hands-on projects help to create an intrinsically motivating learning environment.
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For more on creating a motivational environment, read:  Teaching Technique #8:  Hands-on Learning
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Preview
from pages 109-110.
How to Make a Hands-On Teaching Aid


The first thing to remember about using a hands-on teaching aid is that you do not want to make the hands-on project in its entirety at the beginning of the session.  The idea is to make the puppet as you teach.  This gives a reluctant child a chance to get excited about making a puppet while they are learning.

The Sir Iggy puppet is an excellent example.  You can build a puppet as you teach the letter sounds throughout the four levels.  The puppet also corresponds to the stories because the stories are about Sir Iggy.  Then, you can use the Sir Iggy puppet to reteach any sections that the student is having trouble with.  Here’s an example.
               
A Sir Iggy puppet was a perfect teaching tool for my student who was having trouble with letter i vowel sounds.  Sir Iggy’s name includes two of the vowel sounds for the letter i:  short i and the ir sound.  Sir Iggy makes kites.  He is also a tiny giant; so there were lots of opportunities to practice letter i words when making a Sir Iggy puppet. 
 
I increased my students’ interest in Sir Iggy by making the puppet a medieval knight from the 1300’s.  The idea of kites had been brought back to Europe by Marco Polo around 1282; therefore, Sir Iggy could have been a kite maker in the 1300’s.  My student loved history and became very excited about making a medieval costume for the puppet.  We did a little research.
 
A medieval costume for men would’ve been a belted tunic with a mantle and possibly a hood over the head.  We used two 2-litre pop bottles to make the puppet (You may also use plastic water bottles.).  Since the story says that Sir Iggy is a tiny giant, my student wanted her puppet to be tall but not too tall.
 
Since my main goal in making the puppet was to encourage my students to work on difficult vowel sounds, we glued the two 2-litre pop bottles together end to end.  That left a bottlecap on each end.  We set the bottles aside to dry and worked on letter sounds.
 
Later, we came back and added a head for Sir Iggy by rolling a sock down and shaping it to fit on one of the bottle caps.  We glued the sock in place, and while it was drying, we worked on more letter sounds.
 
Next, we returned to the puppet and added a tunic.  I had cloth scraps available, but you may also use paper.  In medieval times, men’s tunics would be floor-length; so, we covered the puppet from head to toe in the cloth selected.  We glued it in place and set it aside to dry while we went to work on more letter sounds.
 
Then, we came back to make a mantle (shaped like a long cape) with a hood.  Again, my student selected cloth from the creative box, but paper would also work.  The mantle was laid aside until we added the words. 
 
Yes, all this time, the student had been capturing words and writing them on manuscript writing paper using colored pencils.  She decorated the tunic by gluing short i vowel sound words along the lower edge.  She glued long i vowel sound words along the lower edge of the mantle.  She added a face to Sir Iggy by gluing on sequins and other tiny decorations for eyes, a nose, and a mouth.  She used yarn for hair.  Words along the border of the mantle and tunic help to stiffen the cloth and create a structure for Sir Iggy‘s costume.
 
The last part of Sir Iggy’s costume was to make a kite.  In medieval times, kites were not diamond-shaped or triangles as we often see today.  Kites were boxy.  Kites often depicted animals, birds, or flowers.  My student decided on a pink boxy kite.  She added ir and schwa sound words to the kite.
 
The bottom bottlecap became the puppet handle, and my student was ready to go and teach others about letter i vowel sounds.  We made up a puppet play and had Sir Iggy teach about letter i vowel sounds.
 
You can use any kind of puppet.  The idea is to make the puppet one step at a time so that you are constantly going back-and-forth working on the puppet and then going and working on letter sounds and words.  This back-and-forth process encourages students who are reluctant to work on difficult tricky vowel sounds.  Quite simply, they want to finish the puppet.  To finish a puppet, you need to capture words.  Don’t let a puppet become just a simple arts and craft project.  Instead, use the puppet as a teaching tool.  The student must learn the words to finish the puppet.

Learning really can be fun.  You can even add a bit of history to your puppet making as I did with Sir Iggy.
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If you’d like to see a longer preview from the book, click here. 
 
If you have questions or need help in tutoring, please contact me.  I’m always happy to help.​