Abstract:
When evaluating the classroom learning environment, little attention is given to the classroom physical setting and the way it affects how students perceive their learning environment. Reading attics in the first graders classroom were built to examine whether they impact students’ motivation to read or not. Therefore, the purpose of the study is to explore the effectiveness of the reading attics on first graders’ motivation to read. This study is qualitative in nature and employs three instruments: the management personnel focused-groups, interviews with the teachers and a personal journal entry. Qualitative data analysis yielded results showing that teachers and management personnel believed that the reading attics increased students’ excitement and motivation in the classroom and with a better communication of the reading attics’ purpose, these lofts would have been used to their fullest and would have minimized disruptive behaviors. Further research could evaluate the students’ perceptions regarding the impact of the reading attics on students’ motivation to read and collect more data to examine the effectiveness of physical learning environments of schools on teaching and learning practices.
