Graduation Date
12-2005
Document Type
Master's Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Science
Department or Program
Education
Department or Program Chair
Madalienne F. Peters, EdD
First Reader
Madalienne F. Peters, EdD
Abstract
This study is an examination of animal-assisted therapy in an attempt to explore the ways it may serve as reading intervention program for struggling readers. Due to the low rate of literacy in the U.S., children are often put into reading intervention programs where they are required to read to an adult; potentially creating anxiety that may act as a deterrent to reading regularly, and thus contributing to the condition of aliteracy, that is, possessing the basic skills to read yet having no desire to do so. The purpose of this qualitative study is to explore the ways in which remedial readers respond to the activity of reading aloud to a dog at the resource reading lab at a suburban, public, elementary school in Northern California. Through observations, interviews and surveys, the feelings, perceptions and beliefs of four students and their parents, and the two literacy assistants at the research site are determined. Appendixes include: non-participant observation conducted; semi-structured audio-taped interviews; and questionnaires given to participating families.
Included in
Curriculum and Instruction Commons, Educational Methods Commons, Elementary Education and Teaching Commons, Other Education Commons