The purpose of this capstone project was to design and implement a digital website where resources are readily available for teachers and students in order to increase motivation in reading. This project sought to answer the question Can providing student choice improve student motivation in a middle school English Language Arts class? My love of reading happened early in my life and it has made me a lifelong reader, and this inspired me to instill that love in middle school students. The research conducted in this capstone indicates that increasing student engagement in reading is highly dependent upon building student motivation, including allowing student choice, presenting students with literature relevant to them, and student interest. This increase could in fact lead to an increase in student reading success. The website provides several ways to do this: literature circles, independent reading, and encouragement options (book brochures, book trailers, and first chapter Fridays). Therefore, this project was designed to provide sixth, seventh, and eight grade ELA teachers with digital resources that will allow students to grow as readers, improve student academic achievement, and save teachers prep-time. With the nation continuing to score below average in reading proficiency, it is imperative that educators increase student motivation in reading in order to increase their reading proficiency and this project will help with that goal
