Exploring Reading Motivation Strategies: Sparking Where the Learners Are

This study unveiled the reading motivation strategies of elementary teachers. There were eight (8) elementary teachers from Sta. Cruz, North District, Division of Davao Del Sur, who participated in the study. This study made use of a phenomenological approach to extract the ideas of the participants. An in-depth interview was employed to gather information with regard to their respective reading motivation strategies, coping mechanisms with the challenges, and insights. Using the thematic analysis, the following themes emerged: giving of rewards, activating prior knowledge, and effective literacy-based instruction. To overcome challenges in motivating learners to read, three themes were identified: providing varied reading strategies, encouraging learners, and incorporating reading into other areas. The insights drawn from the findings of the study were fostering the love for reading, employing differentiated reading activities, and the significant role of teachers in reading. The importance of reading motivation strategies was highly underscored in this study to cultivate an environment where reading becomes rewarding and enriching experience for learners. Results also revealed that teachers should sustain motivating learners to read to foster literacy proficiency and intellectual growth.