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Boys and Books
Page history
last edited
by Dr. Ernest H. Johnson 4 years, 2 months ago
https://wlos.com/news/never-stop-learning/boys-and-books-in-haywood-county-schools-mixes-football-players-3rd-graders?fbclid=IwAR1U1FHpk22S3fQ_tsIH5YBt-5B_XoD51Duj3o09oj3PnHipocnckS8xVMg
http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/document/brochure/meread/meread.pdf
Part 1: Me Read? No Way? -- A Practical Guide to Improve Boys Literacy Skills
Reading Assignments for Book Review
Each participant is assigned to a Jigsaw Team (R= Red, G= Green, Y= Yellow, P= Purple, B= Blue, O= Orange) and there are 4 participants on each Team ((a member from each Learning Center)). Each Jigsaw Team member is responsible for: (A) Reading certain pages of the book and (B) Providing the members of their Team a review of the pages they are assigned. If there was a test based on the book, then your grade would be based on questions about the whole book (pages 8 to 55) and not just those pages you reviewed -- so please make sure that you do a great job covering the material you are responsible for because your Jigsaw Teammates are depending on you!
Use if 4 participants are on Jigsaw Team
Learning Center/Participants #1 Read pages 8-21
Learning Center/Participants #2 Read pages 22-32
Learning Center/Participants #3 Read pages 33-42
Learning Center/Participants #4 Read pages 43-51
Everyone Reads Pages 4-7 and 52-55
Use if 5 participants are on the Jigsaw Team
1- Read 8 to 16
2- Read 17 to 26
3- Read 27 to 36
4- Read 37 to 44
5- Read 45 to 51
Why Boys? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
What test scores tell us . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4
Towards a solution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
What about girls? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Taking gender differences into account in the classroom . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Strategies for Success
Have the right stuff: Choosing appropriate classroom resources for boys . . . . . . . . . . . 8
REVIEW Pages 8 and 10
Help make it a habit: Providing frequent opportunities to read and write . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Teach with purpose: Understanding boys’ learning styles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Embrace the arts: Using the arts to bring literacy to life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Let them talk: Appealing to boys’ need for social interaction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Find positive role models: Influencing boys’ attitudes through the use of role models. 30
Read between the lines: Bringing critical-literacy skills into the classroom . . . . . . . . . . . 33
REVIEW Pages 33 and 34
Keep it real: Making reading and writing relevant to boys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .37
Get the Net: Using technology to get boys interested in literacy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Assess for success: Using appropriate assessment tools for boys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Be in their corner: The role of the teacher in boys’ literacy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Drive the point home: Engaging parents in boys’ literacy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Build a school-wide focus: Building literacy beyond the classroom . . . .52
References and Resources for Further Reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .55
Part 2: Disengaged Students - 38 Strategies for Motivating Them
Disengaged Students - 38 Strategies for Motivating Them
Learning Center/Participants #1 Strategies 1-10
Learning Center/Participants #2 Strategies 11-20
Learning Center/Participants #3 Strategies 21-29
Learning Center/Participants #4 Strategies 30-38
https://www.theguardian.com/teacher-network/2015/jun/11/how-can-we-encourage-boys-to-read-for-pleasure-teachers-give-their-views
How can we encourage boys to read for pleasure? Teachers give their views
Inspire reluctant bookworms with these ideas from our community, which include reading around the campfire and introducing Perdy the dog
http://www.pbs.org/parents/best-books-for-boys/books-boys-want-to-read.html
Books Boys Want to Read
If you find getting your son to read a struggle, you're not alone. Boys consistently score lower than girls on national reading and writing tests. This may be because many boys develop language skills more slowly than their female counterparts. But there are other causes as well, like the fact that many boys are uninterested in the books teachers assign. Also, many boys lack male reading role models. As a result, they view reading as a feminine activity. But don't be discouraged...
So what do boys want to read? You may need to expand your definition of reading to encompass their wide-ranging interests. Boys who crave action and information often like browsing through the Guinness Book of World Records or a sports almanac. Many devoted doodlers prefer graphic novels. (Even The Hardy Boys series is available in graphic editions.) Sports fans may devour magazines like Sports Illustrated for Kids or websites like espn.com. Don’t worry if your son isn't hooked on Charles Dickens. Validate his reading choices and let him discover his own classics.
This article includes some places to start..
http://www.readingrockets.org/article/boys-and-books
Boys and Books
The statistics are consistent: Young male readers lag behind their female counterparts in literacy skills. This article looks at the social, psychological, and developmental reasons why, and suggests solutions — including the need for more men to become role models for reading.
http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/lesson/lesson035.shtml
25 Ideas to Motivate Young Readers
The folks at the BOOK-IT! Program have given permission for Education World to reprint 25 great ideas from teachers -- ideas that are sure to get kids across the grades excited about reading. - See more at: http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/lesson/lesson035.shtml#sthash.Gs6Ri2Pv.dpuf
http://www.readingrockets.org/article/top-10-resources-reading-motivation
Top 10 Resources on Reading Motivation
Keeping kids interested and motivated to read is sometimes a challenge. Learn how to effectively motivate young learners, including tips from kids for teachers and parents, classroom strategies that work, and guidance for motivating struggling readers, reluctant readers, and boys.
http://www.edutopia.org/blog/motivating-unmotivated-chelsea-dale?gclid=CjwKEAiAp_WyBRD37bGB_ZO9qAYSJAA72IkgzJlSWA0PX9pNAqWDnXSOl3sxFkPC_5AieyssHQjDmxoCuiTw_wcB
Motivating the Unmotivated
Here's an all-too-common scenario:
A group of elementary or middle school students are unruly, disrespectful and underperforming academically and socially in the classroom. They do not appreciate the value of education. The teacher, despite good intentions and passion, is viewed as an adversarial or irrelevant authority figure. The students are unwilling to participate in tutoring or traditional mentoring programs.
Classroom teaching can best be accomplished -- and sometimes can onlybe accomplished -- if a student is willing to be taught. Tutoring and traditional mentoring programs are only effective if a student wants to take advantage of them. An alarming number of unmotivated, underperforming elementary and middle school children are not willing to do so. So what can be done?
Parent Engagement
http://happyhooligans.ca/best-books-for-boys-ages-8-16/
BEST BOOKS FOR BOYS – 40+ FANTASTIC READS FOR BOYS AGES 8-16
40+ of the absolute BEST books for boys in their pre-tween, tween and teenage years.
Let me start by saying that my now-teenage boys are not avid bookworms. They’re decent readers, but my boys don’t just hunker down with a book whenever they’re bored. They’d just rather be doing something rather than reading – like throwing a baseball or watching hockey game. However, my boys always loved ME to read to THEM, and I did, every night, from the time they were babies until they were far too old for bedtime stories. I won’t tell you exactly how old my guys were when I stopped reading to them at night. They’d never forgive me.
Want to know a secret though?
http://www.pbs.org/parents/best-books-for-boys/
Best Books for Boys
 Whether you have a devoted bookworm or a son who needs coaxing, we’ve got suggestions that can help him find books he will enjoy. Well-chosen titles can help him discover that losing one's self in a good book is one of life's greatest pleasures. Learn what books boys want to read.
http://bookzone.boyslife.org/100-books-for-boys/
100 Books Every Boy Should Read
For more than 100 years, Boys’ Life has featured thousands of great books for boys. Here are the 100 titles that we think every boy should read.
Keep in mind that we will be constantly updating this list as new titles release. So, you may see some new books from time to time. Also, some books may require parental guidance. As always, before choosing a book to read, check with your parent(s) first. Click here to download the full list.
http://www.edutopia.org/blog/golden-rules-for-engaging-students-nicolas-pino-james?
Golden Rules for Engaging Students in Learning Activities
1. Make It Meaningful
2. Foster a Sense of Competence
3. Provide Autonomy Support
4. Embrace Collaborative Learning
5. Establish Positive Teacher-Student Relationships
6. Promote Mastery Orientations
Research
- Ames, C. (1992). Achievement goals and the classroom motivational climate. In D. Schunk & J. Meece (Eds.), Student perceptions in the classroom (pp. 327-348). Hillsdale, N.J: L. Erlbaum.
- Anderman, E. M., & Patrick, H. (2012). Achievement goal theory, conceptualization of ability/intelligence, and classroom climate. In S. Christenson, A. Reschly, & C. Wylie (Eds.), Handbook of Research on Student Engagement (pp. 173-191). New York, NY: Springer.
- Assor, A., Kaplan, H., & Roth, G. (2002). Choice is good, but relevance is excellent: Autonomy-enhancing and suppressing teacher behaviours predicting students' engagement in schoolwork. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 72(2), 261-278.
- Baker, J. A., Grant, S., & Morlock, L. (2008). The teacher-student relationship as a developmental context for children with internalizing or externalizing behavior problems. School Psychology Quarterly, 23(1), 3-15.
- Bandura, A., & Schunk, D. H. (1981). Cultivating competence, self-efficacy, and intrinsic interest through proximal self-motivation. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 41(3), 586-598.
- Belland, B. R., Kim, C., & Hannafin, M. J. (2013). A framework for designing scaffolds that improve motivation and cognition. Educational Psychologist, 48(4), 243-270.
- Black, P., Harrison, C., Lee, C., & Marshall, B. (2003). Assessment for learning: Putting it into practice. Maidenhead: Open University Press.
- Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (2000). The "what" and "why" of goal pursuits: Human needs and the self-determination of behavior. Psychological Inquiry, 11(4), 227–268.
- Driscoll, K. C., & Pianta, R. C. (2010). Banking time in head start: Early efficacy of an intervention designed to promote supportive teacher-child relationships. Early Education and Development, 21(1), 38-64.
- Fredricks, J. A. (2014). Eight Myths of Student Disengagement: Creating Classrooms of Deep Learning. Los Angeles: Corwin.
- Fredricks, J. A., Blumenfeld, P. C., & Paris, A. H. (2004). School engagement: Potential of the concept, state of the evidence. Review of Educational Research, 74(1), 59-109.
- Gillies, R. M., & Ashman, A. F. (1998). Behavior and interactions of children in cooperative groups in lower and middle elementary grades.Journal of Educational Psychology, 90(4), 746-757.
- Gregory, A., & Weinstein, R. S. (2004). Connection and regulation at home and in school: Predicting growth in achievement for adolescents.Journal of Adolescent Research, 19(4), 405-427.
- Johnson, D. W., Johnson, R. T., & Holubec, E. (1994). The new circles of learning: Cooperation in the classroom and school. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
- Kidd, C., Palmeri, H., & Aslin, R. N. (2013). Rational snacking: Young children's decision making on the marshmallow task is moderated by beliefs about environmental reliability. Cognition, 126(1), 109-114.
- Linnenbrink, E. A., & Pintrich, P. R. (2003). The role of self-efficacy beliefs in student engagement and learning in the classroom. Reading & Writing Quarterly, 19(2), 119-137.
- Middleton, M. J., & Midgley, C. (2002). Beyond motivation: Middle school students' perceptions of press for understanding in math. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 27(3), 373-391.
- Newmann, F., Wehlage, G., & Lamborn, D. (1992). The significance and sources of student engagement. In Student Engagement and Achievement in American Secondary Schools (pp. 11-39). ERIC.
- Noels, K. A., Clement, R., & Pelletier, L. G. (1999). Perceptions of teachers' communicative style and students' intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. The Modern Language Journal, 83(1), 23-34.
- Peter, F., & Dalbert, C. (2010). Do my teachers treat me justly? Implications of students' justice experience for class climate experience.Contemporary Educational Psychology, 35(4), 297-305.
- Reeve, J. (1998). Autonomy support as an interpersonal motivating style: Is it teachable? Contemporary Educational Psychology, 23(3), 312-330.
- Reeve, J., & Jang, H. (2006). What teachers say and do to support students' autonomy during a learning activity. Journal of Educational Psychology, 98(1), 209-218.
- Reeve, J., Jang, H., Carrell, D., Jeon, S., & Barch, J. (2004). Enhancing students' engagement by increasing teachers' autonomy support.Motivation and Emotion, 28(2), 147-169.
- Scales, P. C. (1991). Creating a developmental framework: The positive possibilities of young adolescents. In A portrait of young adolescents in the 1990s: Implications for promoting healthy growth and development.ERIC.
- Schunk, D., & Swartz, C. (1993). Goals and progress feedback: Effects on self-efficacy and writing achievement. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 18, 337-354.
- Schunk, D. H., & Mullen, C. A. (2012). Self-Efficacy as an engaged learner. In S. Christenson, A. Reschly, & C. Wylie (Eds.), Handbook of research on student engagement (pp. 219-235). Boston, MA: Springer US.
- Schunk, D. H. (2003). Self-efficacy for reading and writing: influence of modeling, goal setting, and self-evaluation. Reading & Writing Quarterly, 19(2), 159–172.
- Shernoff, D. J., Csikszentmihalyi, M., Shneider, B., & Shernoff, E. S. (2003). Student engagement in high school classrooms from the perspective of flow theory. School Psychology Quarterly, 18(2), 158-176.
- Slavin, R. E. (1996). Cooperative learning in middle and secondary schools. The Clearing House, 69(4), 200-204.
- Turner, J. C., Midgley, C., Meyer, D. K., Gheen, M., Anderman, E. M., Kang, Y., & Patrick, H. (2002). The classroom environment and students' reports of avoidance strategies in mathematics: A multimethod study.Journal of Educational Psychology, 94(1), 88-106.
- Tyler, J. M., Feldman, R. S., & Reichert, A. (2006). The price of deceptive behavior: Disliking and lying to people who lie to us. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 42(1), 69-77.
- Webb, N. M., Nemer, K. M., & Ing, M. (2009). Small-Group reflections: Parallels between teacher discourse and student behavior in peer-directed groups. The Journal of the Learning Sciences, 15(1), 63–119.
- Wentzel, K. R. (2009). Peers and academic functioning at school. In K. Rubin, W. Bukowski, & B. Laursen (Eds.), Handbook of peer interactions, relationships, and groups. Social, emotional, and personality development in context (pp. 531-547). New York, NY: Guilford Press.
- Willingham, D. T. (2009). Why don't students like school?: A cognitive scientist answers questions about how the mind works and what it means for the classroom. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Student Engagement
How can we encourage boys to read for pleasure? Teachers give their views
Inspire reluctant bookworms with these ideas from our community, which include reading around the campfire and introducing Perdy the dog
Boys in particular need encouragement to get them reading – teachers share their tips for engagement.
The truth about boys and books: they read less – and skip pages
Huge academic study into reading habits shows that young males choose easy books and fail to read thoroughly or correctly
Emma Watson and Daniel Radcliffe in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, based on the books by JK Rowling.
Boys might claim it’s a simple matter of preferring to read magazines or the latest musings of their friends on social media rather than the classics. But two of the largest studies ever conducted into the reading habits of children in the UK have put those excuses to bed.
Boys, of every age, no matter the nature of the literature before them, typically read less thoroughly than girls.
They take less time to process the words, lazily skipping parts with abandon. And they choose books that are too easy for them, meaning they fail to move on to tougher material, it is claimed.
Keith Topping, professor of educational and social research at the University of Dundee, is behind two academic research papers: one using data from 852,295 students in 3,243 schools (a tenth of the 8.4 million children in the UK), and another examining the quiz answers relating to the comprehension of books read by 150,220 children in 967 schools. Between them, they reach a damning conclusion on boys between five and 18 years old: “What they are doing is not particularly good – and they are lagging behind.”
The studies drew on data from a computer system used in schools across Britain to test the progress of pupils’ reading. First, a pupil reads a book either at school or at home. Next, the pupil takes a computerised quiz of five, 10 or 20 questions depending on the length of the book. Then the pupil and teacher receive immediate computerised feedback from the Accelerated Reader programme, with reports detailing the books read, the number of words read and the book’s reading level – along with the child’s level of comprehension, as indicated by the percentage of correct answers in the quiz. “The males were significantly worse on the outcome measures, didn’t gain as much in performance on reading tests and their average percentage correct in the tests was low,”
Topping said of the first study, which he said suggested boys of all ages tended to miss sections out of pages or skipped some completely when reading, a trait less pronounced in girls.
Of his second, smaller, study, drilling down into whether it made any difference if the material was fiction or non-fiction, Topping said: “A lot of people will argue that boys are much less likely to read story books – fiction – than girls and that’s one reason why girls are better than boys.
“But we looked at fiction and nonfiction reading and we found that, although it was true that boys tended to choose nonfiction more than girls, particularly at secondary level, they still didn’t read it better than girls. They were choosing nonfiction but they were not reading it as thoroughly and correctly as girls reading nonfiction.”
Topping admitted: “It’s a bit of a mystery. Interestingly, socioeconomic status was not related. This is somewhat different to a number of previous studies on reading where they tend to find that socioeconomic status is quite a big influence. Here it is not a big influence – not an influence in any shape or form.
“There is a need to feed back to boys what is going on here. Boys may be assuming, ‘Oh, I like to read nonfiction. Oh, I like to read magazines. Oh, I like websites or the instructions to video games’. But this study shows that they aren’t any better at that than they are at reading fiction.”
Topping said the key was to find out what interests boys, in order to keep them focused on the page. An analysis of the favoured nonfiction books showed that The Biggest Lies Ever!, by Alison Hawes, which records the antics of hoaxers through the ages, scored best for pupils at the end of their school career.
However, Topping’s research noted that Roald Dahl was “the most popular children’s author” across the age groups, and that his “books appeal to a wide age-range of children and to both boys and girls, although less to very young and very old pupils”.
It was also noted that, during the first years of secondary school, children were reading difficult books with a high degree of success, such as the Harry Potternovels.
Topping said: “What you need is teachers, classroom assistants, librarians spending time with a child to talk about choices in reading; possible suggestions for more challenging books in the context of what they are interested in.
“We are not saying read hundreds of classics and that everything will be all right. They need to read challenging books in a subject in which they are interested.”
Dirk Foch, managing director of Renaissance, which provided the software behind the Accelerated Reader programme, called for dedicated reading times at school.
“We must work to ensure student literacy development continues to be followed and challenged in secondary school,” he said. “This could mean ensuring that students are guided to a more challenging selection of books at school and that dedicated reading time is introduced into the curriculum to give them allocated time to concentrate on reading thoroughly.”
CHILDREN’S FAVOURITES
What high-achieving readers of both sexes are reading:
1. Jeff Kinney Titles include Diary of a Wimpy Kid
2. David Walliams Titles include World’s Worst Children
3. JK Rowling
The Harry Potter series
4. Roald Dahl Titles include The Witches
5. Suzanne Collins The Underland Chronicles
The authors children say they like best:
1. Rick Riordan Writer behind Percy Jackson & The Olympian series
2. JK Rowling Titles include the Harry Potter series
3. Cassandra Clare The Mortal Instruments.
4. Christopher Paolini Titles include the Inheritance Cycle series
5. Daisy Meadows Author who wrote the Rainbow Magic series
Source: What Kids Are Reading report 2016, a study of the reading of nearly 750,000 children who used the Accelerated Reader programme.
Books Boys Want to Read
If you find getting your son to read a struggle, you're not alone. Boys consistently score lower than girls on national reading and writing tests. This may be because many boys develop language skills more slowly than their female counterparts. But there are other causes as well, like the fact that many boys are uninterested in the books teachers assign. Also, many boys lack male reading role models. As a result, they view reading as a feminine activity.
But don't be discouraged; just because your son doesn't like Little Women or The Secret Garden doesn't mean he's not a reader. Jon Scieszka, a former New York City elementary school teacher and author of titles such as The True Story of the Three Little Pigs and The Stinky Cheese Man, founded Guys Read, a Web-based literary initiative that targets young male readers. It proposes a way to beat the odds: let boys read the books they want to read rather than the ones we think are good for them.
So what do boys want to read? You may need to expand your definition of reading to encompass their wide-ranging interests. Boys who crave action and information often like browsing through the Guinness Book of World Records or a sports almanac. Many devoted doodlers prefer graphic novels. (Even The Hardy Boys series is available in graphic editions.) Sports fans may devour magazines like Sports Illustrated for Kids or websites like espn.com. Don’t worry if your son isn't hooked on Charles Dickens. Validate his reading choices and let him discover his own classics.
Here are some places to start:
Humor
There's nothing like a really silly book to convince a boy that reading can be fun. Remember, however, that his idea of humor may differ from your own. Let him enjoy titles like Captain Underpants and The Day My Butt Went Psycho without passing judgment on the merits of potty humor. Even Shakespeare got laughs from bawdy jokes.
Nonfiction, Sports and Nature
For some literature-loving adults, a book doesn't count as reading if it's not fiction. And while many of the best children's books are novels, nonfiction can also open a boy's mind. Today's informational books are far from the dusty encyclopedias you may remember from your childhood. Even kids who don't like reading have subjects they want to know more about, from basketball to dinosaurs to snakes to magic.
Nonfiction fans in particular need access to a good library. While many novels and picture books are often reprinted in affordable paperbacks, most good nonfiction titles are not.
Mystery and Adventure
Many boys are drawn to stories that allow them to solve puzzles or live vicariously through the daring exploits of others. Well-crafted plots can keep even struggling readers turning pages to find out "who done it."
Fantasy and Science Fiction
Even though they are set in imaginary lands, fantasy books deal with problems that are relevant to many boys. Themes of bravery and fear that pervade these stories resonate with youths trying to understand their place in the world.
Poetry and Wordplay
You may consider poetry to be a genre reserved for highbrow intellectuals, but children's verse can often engage reluctant readers. Kids who hesitate to tackle an entire book may feel a sense of accomplishment upon finishing a poem. Poems also introduce children to wordplay, rhyme and catchy rhythms, helping them to appreciate the sheer joy of language.
Feelings and Relationships
As a society, we often teach boys to suppress emotions. Books can help correct that trend by letting boys explore the full range of human emotions and help them realize that they aren't alone with their problems. This can be true on many levels, from the young reader who recognizes that Frog and Toad need each other as friends to the older reader who experiences more complex feelings when he reads about a fictional middle school boy coming to terms with his parents' divorce.
Graphic Novels
Comic books have come a long way since Superman and the Archies. Now known as graphic novels, these brightly illustrated books are especially attractive to reluctant readers who have outgrown easy readers but are daunted by uninterrupted pages of text. There are now graphic versions of classics as well as hundreds of new titles sure to capture a boy's attention.
When making reading selections for boys, do not underestimate the value of books with utility, action, and interest. Utility is important because struggling readers - especially boys - enjoy reading about real things. Utility gives boys a sense of agency when they read; they are learning about the real world in a way that helps them understand it better. The Guiness Book of World Records is popular with boys of all ages. Action may sound obvious, but is a bit more complicated. Adult readers, don’t necessarily need an action-oriented payoff, they can take pleasure in the dialogue and character development while the story builds. Many boys are impatient with stories that take too long to get off the ground or stories that are designed to convey some big important lesson they may be too young to understand. And, unfortunately, interest can’t always be placed on the top rung of priorities when meeting curriculum requirements.
There is nothing more damaging to literacy education than the perception that reading is something kids do for someone else; if boys are not encouraged to read what they want, the perception and its damage will be evident. Interest is what teachers and parents must pay attention to if they want to get boys reading and keep them reading.
I have been in too many schools and bookstores where boys were told “don’t you wanna’ read something else?” by adults who did not value or understand the choice a boy made. Trash is the word most often used when describing the books boys want to read. Whether a boy chooses comic books, wrestling magazines, video game “cheat” books, or a slang dictionary, their choices should be taken seriously.
50+ Actions You Can do Tomorrow to Reach Reluctant Readers
1. Get Library Card - Have a signup day at your school
2. Booklists – High Interest Books (List on Poster)
3. Book Talks - Audio/Video (Online Journal)
4. Start Male Friendly Book Clubs (Vertical Teams)
5. Skyping (Male) Authors – for FREE
6. Competition– Scavengers Hunts, Puzzles, Games
7. Displays/Posters of Males Reading (Quotes)
8. Create a Males Reading Advisory Group
9. Flocabulary, Autorap- programs that involve music
10. Freedom and Choice - Make sure they have choices
11. Zowie! Get Graphic
12. Link Reading to Jobs and Money, Encourage Entrepreneurship (Create a Business Club)
13. Audio/Digital books – Create them (Audio Q-R Codes)
14. Increase Visibility of Males Reading (Men’s Night Out)
15. Book Review Journal for Males -- Highly Visible
16. Help Males find Compelling Reasons to Read
17. Reading in the Gym - Team Competitions (Stations)
18. Start a Survey Research Project – What do men read?
19. Push Self Development (Seven Habits; Success for Teens)
20. Movement/Energizing/Teamwork Type Projects
21. Reading for NOW - Create products, presentations, or skits from their
reading materials.
22. Plan a Read-a-thon Fundraiser
23. Try Movies with Captions ON
24. Journaling/Writing as a Hook to Read ($$ Authors)
25. How to Fix (Make) It Books … Robotics, Solar Panels, Kits (Home Depot)
26. Try Books that are Movies
27. Try Leveled Reading Resources (Newslea)
28. Readers for Tomorrow – Boys create picture books that are given as gifts to newborns at the local hospital. The books include stories written by the boys with very colorful illustrations to catch babies' attention. The books include a letter to the parents telling them the importance of reading to their young children in order to instill a love for books early.
29. Reading Buddies -Teddy Bear Reading Buddies
30. Find Writers Boys Can Relate To
31. Literature Circles and Idea Circles
32. Get Outside – Walk/Talk/Jog/Par-Course
33. Design Inquiry Units – Boys research answers to questions that concern them.
34. Make Reading Useful, Fun, and Funny: Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales: see GuysRead.com
35. Reading For a Purpose: To find out how to do things, like how to build a dirt bike or skateboard.
36. Start With What a Boy Loves (e.g., sports) and make connections to other areas (e.g., History/Mysteries, Writing, see – Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, author; Hip-Hop Cash Kings Forbes)https://www.amazon.com/Kareem-Abdul-Jabbar/e/B000APM058
37. Creating ways to avoid the “Nerd Stereotype”
38. Scavenger Hunt - ((QR Codes))
39. Locate Online Support: Getting Boys To Read.com
40. Building Something/Read – Bicycle, Wagon, etc. Books about How to make stuff - and have them make stuff (e,g., Kites, Robots, etc)
41. Field Trips with a Purpose/Read –Recycling Center, Fire Station, Farm,
Mayors Office, etc.
42. Tele-sessions with Cool People (Steve H., Ellen D, Doc)
43. Get Them a Journal – (Finding Forrester)
44. Virtual Mentors – Apple, IBM, Microsoft, SAS, Bank America, etc.
45. Increase Choice of Books Using OPM (Grants, etc) - Increase classroom sets
46. Blind Date With a Book – ((Checkout the format)) -
https://www.audible.com/mt/BlindDate?serial=&source_code=AUDOREM0125179JK3
47. Use Writing as a Hook - Challenge boys to write about their Laws of Life
https://www.templeton.org/grant/franklin-county-templeton-laws-of-life-program
48. Write and Create the "Best" Commercials about - Why Reading Is Important For Boys
Make arrangements to have them aired on the evening news or viewed at
the local Mall or have students at school vote on the best
49. Writing/Reading Buddies at: Other Schools, Other Countries
50. Letter Writing - Introduce Self to Their Favorite Pro Athlete, Movie Star, etc - after
reading their Biography
51. Lunch and Learn Field Trips - $$$ - Bus with video about the topic; books about the topic; destination that deals with the topic; males presenter on the bus that knows something about the topic; Friday night lodging; etc. (Example, NC Aquarium at Pine Knoll Shores; Cherokee)
52. Model a Passion for Reading - Kids pay attention! If you show them your love for reading, students are going to recognize that and it could possibly get them engaged in reading as well! If you don't love reading, fake it 'til you make it
53. Read, Read, Read – to discover books for your students. You have to keep it up and open up your horizons a bit.
54. Get Book Recommendations from Students - use a Student Survey at the start of the year to get students thinking about themselves as a reader right away at the beginning of the year.
55. Take it Easy on the Book Units - use the texts to teach important literary concepts such a plot, setting, character, etc, but use those lessons to be built in the discussion and experience of the text rather than some packet or book report that needs to be completed.
Scavenger Hunt. Have a "scavenger hunt" by dividing the class into teams and giving each team a copy of the same book. ((QR Codes))
Have students find the page numbers of particular objects, events, or people in the book. Give a reward to the winning team.
Readers for Tomorrow. We hope to make "Readers for Tomorrow" by creating picture books, laminating them, and giving them as gifts to newborns at the local hospital.
Include a letter to the parents telling them the importance of reading to their young children in order to instill a love for books early.
The books will be stories written by the students with very colorful illustrations to catch babies' attention.
Read-a-Thon (Fundraiser). The school could have a day-long (or week or two week) Read-a-Thon – with Hourly results posted on rungs of a ladder reaching to the sky.
Imagine if READING Replaced Product Fundraising in Schools.
Wouldn't you rather have your students focus on reading rather than trying to sell the same old over-priced fundraising products that nobody wants?
Boys and Books
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