In getting elementary students to read (whether they be beginners or reading on a middle/high school level), so much of the motivation is extrinsic. Many schools do Accelerated Reader which gives students a certain amount of points depending on which book they read and how well they do on the test. After reaching a certain amount of points they get prizes, sometimes the whole class is even rewarded. Some books are selected by the teachers for students to read which can discourage the student from wanting to read because they don't like the subject, author, etc. That was the case for me in many instances.

How can we as teachers direct students toward a more intrinsic motivation when it comes to reading?

As far as intrinsic forms of motivation, I think a good way to get children to read is through free reading time. By giving students time to read as well as materials that they are interested in, teachers can encourage a love of reading. Providing alot of reading materials for students is also helpful. As a future elementary school teacher, I plan on having magazines, novels, newspapers, and anything else I can find available to students in the classroom.

It's so funny that you should bring this up Dani! I am in the process of doing an action research project for one of my classes and this is basically what I am going to research. I am going to look at the number of books that students read and whether or not they are allowed to choose their own books and also whether or not they are given time in class to read. I'll have some results by the end of the semester so I'll share what I find with you. Maybe it will help!

I think some extrinsic motivation for reading is fine in moderation, because I feel that it at least gets children to start reading. Hopefully, if kids are able to read about what they are interested in, they will be intrinsically motivated to read, and not need extrinsic motivation. I agree wih Nikki that free reading time and lots of materials to choose from is very important. If students can see reading as a pleasure and an adventure, rather than an assignment, then I feel that they will be more apt to read on their own.

Students can be highly motivated to read in a few different ways. A lot of these are more easily implemented in elementary classrooms than in middle or high school classes. One way is to introduce them to a wide variety of materials. Allowing students to explore novels, poetry, folk literature, and picture books is a great way to give them the opportunity to find a style/subject book they like to read. Another important thing for teachers to do is to know your students. If you have a student who doesn't like to read novels, help them know its ok to read picture books, they aren't just for babies. Through helping students find topics or styles of literature that they enjoy they will be more likely to motivate themselves to read more books because it becomes fun. I know as a student if my teachers had introduced me to folk literature as good books to read, I would have enjoyed reading a lot more and would have been more motivated to read, not just for AR points.
Its all about once again knowing your students and helping them to find something that is interesting to them that serves the purpose of helping them learn to read and enjoy doing it.

To kind of piggy-back on Katie and Nikki's ideas, I think finding something that is of interest to the student is very important. I'm art ed and over the summer I taught a class on graphic novels to some students in the camp for which I was also a counselor.

Graphic novels are becoming hugely popular amongst high school students; students think they are cheating because the pages aren't filled with words, but they are still reading often times about heavy subjects and complex story lines. Our entire camp had to read Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi. It is an autobiographical story about the author's childhood growing up in Iran during the Islamic revolution. We also showed them the movie on it. While this was a mandated reading, many students enjoyed it because it was a graphic novel, something they already like to read. It also exposed them to another culture and religion in addition to being an autobiography.

Many graphic novels are written for a teenage and older audience so this may not be a good idea for elementary, but appealing to the students' interest is definitly key.

I agree that graphic novels are a great way to motivate students with reading. Another one that I highly recommend is <i>The Invention of Hugo Cabret</i> by Brian Selznick.
Here is a link to the book's website.

Thanks for the link- that is awesome! It is really neat to see the sequence of drawings without words.