Boys and Books or I’d rather be burned at the stake than read a book

Evidence indicates that gender is a significant factor in reading materials and reading achievement for boys and girls. Boys perceive books as isolating, unnatural, and antisocial. Boys find it difficult to imagine fictional worlds. Boys are more likely than girls to be placed in special education programs Dropout rates are higher for boys than girls Quick Facts Ontario Ministry of Education Reading Zone by Nancie Atwell

--boys take longer to learn to read than girls do. --boys read less than girls. --girls tend to comprehend narrative texts and most expository texts better than boys do. --Boys tend to be better at information retrieval and work-related literacy tasks than girls are. Ontario Ministry of Education

--boys generally provided lower estimations of their reading abilities than girls do. --boys value reading as an activity less than girls do. --boys have much less interest in leisure reading than girls do, and are far more likely to read for utilitarian purposes than girls are. --significantly more boys than girls declare themselves to be non-readers. --boys express less enthusiasm for reading than girls do. Ontario Ministry of Education

Are boys becoming more illiterate? No. What they are doing is forcing us to redefine literacy as we know it. We need to look at a new model for defining literacy:

Literacy in Action ….any reading material that a boy wants to read ….newspapers 50 % ….comics 35 % ….manuals or instructions 25 % …. s and chat-room conversation 82 % ….magazines 64 %

If you don’t read much or don’t like reading, why? --boring 39.3 % --no time/too busy 29.8 % --like other activities better 11.1 % --can’t get into the stories 7.7 % --video games/TV more interesting 2.3 % YALSA 2001 Teen Read Week Survey

Why? -- mirror neurons? -- early childhood behavior? -- society?

Where do we go from here?

What do they want to read? --personal interest --fun/funny

--action --purpose

Change our perceptions of what literacy and reading are all about. Reach boys where they are, not where we want them to be. Put all the effort and money we can into boys and books.

How can we connect boys to the materials they want to read? --create collections that are rich in materials they like to read --involve boys in the selection process --make positive comments on male picks

--Plan programs around what boys want instead of what we think they want.

--encourage boys to read anything. Try to “step in” if a parent starts to speak for the child.

--put books on subjects boys look at on the computer, near the computer. sports computers cars music

--Booktalk Non-Fiction; esp. “exportable knowledge ” Fiction that is: Graphic Novels --plot driven --part of a series --edgy or controversial --are funny

Boys do read!

Celebrate that and lose the old model that only considers reading novels as valid reading.

That’s one for me! I’ll read that! Blood and guts …give me more! Gross! Do you have any books on cutting throats? I need a recipe on making meat pies Yumm!