Experiment compares students receiving an instructional intervention designed to increase intrinsic motivation with students receiving traditional instruction. Concept-oriented reading instruction (CORI) integrated reading and language arts with science inquiry, emphasizing learning goals, real-world interaction, competence support, and collaboration. Results reveal that children in CORI classrooms scored higher on motivation than did children in traditional classrooms. (Contains 50 references, 5 tables and an appendix.) (Author/GCP)