The effect of reading circle method on primary school 4th grade students' reading motivation

The aim of this study is to examine the effect of reading circles on primary school fourth grade students' reading motivation. For this purpose, the research was designed as an explanatory mixed method research. The research was carried out in a public primary school in Eyyübiye district of Şanlıurfa province in the second semester of the 2019-2020 academic year. Within the scope of the study, the reading circle method was applied with the participation of 5 students attending the fourth grade and at the end of the process, the change in reading motivation of these students was examined. The research lasted for 12 weeks and 6 reading circle sessions were held with the students. The study was planned as an action research. The sessions with the participants were videotaped and notes were taken by the researcher during the sessions. While collecting the quantitative data of the study using the Reading Motivation Scale developed by Yıldız (2010); During the collection of qualitative data, semi-structured interview form, video recordings and the researcher's notes were used. After examining the video recordings and the researcher's notes, they were reported systematically. Qualitative data obtained from the semi-structured interview form were also analyzed and presented by using the descriptive analysis method. The data obtained from the quantitative step of the research show that the reading circles method affects students' reading motivation. The data collected using the Reading Motivation Scale were analyzed using the Wilcoxon Signed Ranks Test and it was stated that the reading circle method had an effect on reading motivation because the significance value was p .043 <.05. It has been obtained using. When the video recordings and the researcher's notes are examined, it is seen that the reading circle method has a positive effect on the reading motivation of the participants. It is also striking that the participants enjoy the act of reading, thanks to the adoption of the roles and the fact that they find themselves intertwined with the book over time. In addition, looking at the data obtained from the interview form, it is seen that the participants found the reading circle method quite entertaining, useful and functional, and that thanks to this method, their interest in the act of reading increased and they started to enjoy this action.