Cindy Sargeant

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Cindy Sargeant Curtis Bryan help_at_boysread.com
Introduction

• This workshop will share information on methods,
  ideas, strategies and best practices to get
  teenage boys to read.
• Created by
• Roger Nevin, Teacher-Librarian Adam Scott C.V.I
• Curtis Bryan, Teacher - Head of English Adam
  Scott C.V.I.
• Cindy Sargeant Student Success Teacher, English
  Teacher Adam Scott C.V.I.
• Contact Us
• help_at_boysread.com
• web page boysread.comboysread.com

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What is the most powerful novel that you have
read recently? Why did it have such an impact on
your life?

• Novels have the power to
• EDUCATE
• ILLUMINATE
• PROVOKE THOUGHT
• INSPIRE
• CHANGE LIVES

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But in order for that to happen, there has to be
a connection between the reader and the novel.
Or does it have to be THE NOVEL?
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CRISIS IN THE SYSTEM

• As the latest Newsweek Magazine has implied, boys
  are slipping through the cracks.
• The statistics seem ominous..

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The Achievement Gap

• 30 years ago 58 of university students were men
• today it is 44
• As Michael Thompson states in Raising Cain,
• Girl behaviour becomes the gold standard. Boys
  are treated like defective girls.

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Cindy Sargeant Curtis Bryan help_at_boysread.com
Boys Reading, Research and quotes 1

• Programme for International Student Assessment
  (PISA) The results of the PISA assessment
  conducted in 2000 show that girls performed
  better than boys on reading in all countries and
  in all Canadian provinces
• Me Read No Way pg4

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Boys Reading, Research and quotes 2

• Only 55 of boys passed both the reading and
  writing parts of the grade 10 literacy test.
•  (Pirie 3)

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Boys Reading, Research and quotes 3

• It's not that boys can't read, they just don't.
  Study after study reveals that boys read less
  than girls. And according to the U.S. Department
  of Education, school-age boys tend to read a
  grade and a half lower than girls.
•  (Sullivan )

So how do we encourage them?
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Cindy Sargeant Curtis Bryan help_at_boysread.com
Boys Reading, Research and quotes 3

• Irish girls reported greater interest in reading
  than boys, with 25 per cent of females reporting
  that they did not read in their spare time on a
  daily basis compared to 42 per cent of males
•  OECD Report quoted from Irish Times. Dublin
  Jul 2, 2003

IS THE GLASS HALF EMPTY OR HALF FULL?
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Cindy Sargeant Curtis Bryan help_at_boysread.com
Boys Reading, Research and quotes 3

• According to the Progress in International
  Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) in 2001,
  fourth-grade girls in all of the 30 plus
  participating countries scored higher in reading
  literacy than fourth-grade boys... Similar
  findings show up in the U.S. National Assessment
  of Educational Progress(NAEP) scores, as well as
  in studies in New Zealand, England, Wales,
  Scotland, and and Northern Ireland.
•  Reading Today Aug/Sep2004

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Boys Reading, Research and quotes 6

• On average across OECD countries, 46 of boys
  said they read only if they had to, compared with
  just 26 of girls.
•  Organization for Economic Cooperation and
  Development The OECD Observer. Paris Jan 2002.

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The Reluctant Teenage Male Reader 1

•  boys who were considered to be problem or
  highly reluctant readers in the classroom had
  very literate lives outside of school. Teachers
  should try to bridge the gap.
• Reading Dont Fix No Chevys Smith, Michael
  W,  Wilhelm, Jeffrey D

So have we been using the wrong criteria to test
them?
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The Reluctant Teenage Male Reader 12

•  70 of males see reading as Something I do
  just for school
• Survey of Identified Reluctant Male Readers Adam
  Scott CVI September 2005

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Reading Attitude Survey
Survey of  Identified Reluctant Male Readers on
Statements about Reading Done September 2005 at
A.S.C.V.I.
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The Reluctant Teenage Male Reader 3

•   reading seems passive and lonely (to boys
  in the classroom setting)
• Pirie 76

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Cindy Sargeant Curtis Bryan help_at_boysread.com
The Reluctant Teenage Male Reader 3

•  Dave Pilkey, author of the Captain Underpants
  Series, comments about his comics when he was at
  school ... Some were torn up by angry teachers
• Guys Read (132)

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The Reluctant Teenage Male Reader 3

•  I summon(ed) up all my twelve-year-old courage
  and ask(ed) the librarian if the library has any
  wrestling magazines .. She looked like she was
  about to stroke out at the mere mention of a
  wrestling magazines in her library.
• Patrick Jones Author of "Connecting Adults and
  Libraries" quoted in Guys Read (127)

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The Reluctant Teenage Male Reader 3
 Michael Gurian, an educator and the author of
Boys and Girls Learn Differently! A Guide for
Teachers and Parents (Jossey-Bass,2002),writes
that boys' brains engage in less cross
hemisphere activity than girls'. In other words,
boys use only half of their brain at any
giventime. That means that when boys read, they
need an extra jolt of sound, color, motion, or
some physical stimulation to get their brains up
to speed. "
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The Reluctant Teenage Male Reader 3

•  as many boys claim when they are writing these
  adventures (fantasies of power, adventure and
  friendship) they feel themselves physically
  inside the stories. Rather than denying the
  physical needs of boys, writing can employ that
  energy
• Misreading MasculinityBoys, Literacy and Popular
  Culture by Thomas Newkirk (178)

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The Reluctant Teenage Male Reader 3

•  Humour was their favourite genre. Reading off
  computer games was the most popular thing to read
  followed by riddles, jokes and comics.
• Survey of Identified Reluctant Male Readers Adam
  Scott CVI September 2005

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Reading Interests Survey
Fiction Non- Fiction humour 95 games 90
riddles jokes 95 magazines 67 comic books
81 art 67 adventure 67 sports 67 picture
books 62 music 62 fables 19 diaries or
journals 14 folktales 19 romance 0
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The Reluctant Teenage Male Reader 3

• It's tough to be a guy. Half the time, we're
  not allowed to be ourselves. And even if we are,
  we're sort of expected to apologize for it.
• Gordon Korman Young Adult Author (talking about
  being a boy) Guys Read (140)

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Reading life cycle of a boy 1

• Studies show both boys girls age 0-5 are read
  to the same amount by parents

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Reading life cycle of a boy 2

• Research shows by the age of 8 Girls have a
  higher interest in reading

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Reading life cycle of a boy 3

• Boys ages 12-14 are trying to find their male
  identity. Research shows.
• Many see reading as feminine.
• Peer pressure to be cool and not to read.
• Educators and parents may discourage boys from
  reading things they like to read.

The Perfect Storm
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Reading life cycle of a boy 4

• Boys ages 14-19 Secondary English classes
  stress fiction reading and usually emphasize
  novels that deal more with relationships as
  opposed to action and adventure . This according
  to research is not what reluctant readers like to
  read.

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Cindy Sargeant Curtis Bryan help_at_boysread.com
Reading life cycle of a boy 5

• When boys graduate from high school their marks
  are lower than girls on average. More girls are
  accepted into Canadian universities than boys .

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Reading life cycle of a boy 6
 Generally, women are better readers as adults.
Boys see their father reading less than their
mother. Boys need male role models who read.
A 1996 study by Donald Pottorff, Deborah
Phelps-Zientarski, and Michelle Skovera("Gender
Perceptions of Elementary and Middle School
Students About Literacy at Home and School" in
the Journal of Research and Developmental
Education) shows that mothers are 10 times more
likely to read books than fathers
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So theres the problem

• The issue now revolves around possible solutions.

Reaching
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What Teachers Say
Allow students to choose their own novels.
Choice is a powerful tool. They will take more
ownership in their reading if they get to choose
what they read. Be Prepared! They may not
choose what we want them to choose. We need to
be open minded and respect the choices they make.
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Cindy Sargeant Curtis Bryan help_at_boysread.com
What Teachers Say
Currently, my grade ten students are reading
independently at the beginning of class for 15
minutes/day. I told them that they could read
anything they were interested in. They were
shocked that I wasnt telling them what they had
to read and they had the power to decide. They
enthusiastically searched through the library and
came up with reading material that they were
really interested in reading Guiness Book of
World Records, Dirt Bike magazine, Autobiography
of Tiger Woods, a novel about Gas Attacks
duringWorld War I. The results of giving them
choice was wonderful silent reading, animated
discussions afterwards and interesting reflective
writing based on what they read. Another bonus is
I learned a lot during this reading time because
my students chose books that I normally
overlooked. Cindy Sargeant , Secondary English
Teacher Student Success Teacher
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Cindy Sargeant Curtis Bryan help_at_boysread.com
What Teachers Say
Read what they are reading. Students
(especially those in applied and locally
developed classes ) feel more connected to the
teacher when they are reading the same books they
are. Obviously, better conversations about books
can occur when both student and teacher are
reading the same text.
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Cindy Sargeant Curtis Bryan help_at_boysread.com
What Teachers Say
It takes time, but I find it really helpful if
Ive read a majority of the books in book boxes.
I can then give a little talk about each book and
comment on what I liked about it. I did this in
September with my grade 10 class when I was
introducing books from the Orca series. I think
my boys were surprised that I had chosen to read
books about skateboarding, rock bands, steroid
use among football players and street racing! I
think they respected the fact that I read their
books so that I could be of more assistance to
them. Boys tend to read novels that are
recommended to them. I think they take
recommendations more seriously if we have read
the novel ourselves. . Cindy Sargeant ,
Secondary English Teacher Student Success
Teacher
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Orca Soundings Possibilities
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Extended Activities
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Other successes
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Cindy Sargeant Curtis Bryan help_at_boysread.com
What Teachers Say
If a student begins reading a novel that they
dont like, be flexible and allow them to choose
something else. Too often, teachers insist that
students stick with it and finish the novel
regardless of the students attitude. As adult
readers we often will not finish a novel that we
are not enjoying. Our students need to be able
to change their mind and choose a new book in
order to be successful.
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Cindy Sargeant Curtis Bryan help_at_boysread.com
What Teachers Say
Every day in my English class, students have
the opportunity to read. The goal for me is that
they read, they enjoy it, they build confidence
in their reading skills and they communicate
ideas about what they have read orally and in
writing. Sometimes students dont pick the
right novel the first time. Making them
commit to a novel they dont enjoy is not going
to help a reluctant reader enjoy reading.
choosing reading material that fits a reader is
a skill and it comes with practice. Cindy
Sargeant , Secondary English Teacher Student
Success Teacher
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Offer New Materials

• Try comics! Most boys know Batman and wont be
  frightened about reading a new story on the caped
  crusader.
• As one grade 12 college boy reinforced, these
  comics were fun because I have watched it more,
  I grew up watching it on TV.

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As another boy added in the class, the story
captures you and makes you wanna keep reading.
The results were very positive!! Further
comments included
Comics are more like a movie on paper and tend
to be more exciting.
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And comics with an edge

• These sorts of comics relate better to my life
  and what really happens in the world.
• Ironically, this comic was Ghost World and would
  normally be associated as a female genre of comic.

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And what about Manga?
Japanese Graphic Novels proved equally
interesting in this class.
In a class of 24 students which included 16 boys
and 8 girls 8 boys preferred the traditional
comic. 8 boys, however, loved the introduction of
the Japanese graphic novel.

• A couple of comments in favour of the Manga
  approach
• they are more out there
• more into the story and not just a comic
• a whole new experience

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Other observations about Manga

• The girls also liked it, but preferred 5 to 3 the
  traditional format. Only one girl hated the
  unit. No boys disliked the unit.
• The one challenge to manga is how the novel is
  read--from right to left.
• With that in mind, the western formatted graphic
  novels were popular with all of the students who
  read the traditional comics.

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Summing up the experience

• If you look at the Planet Series from Japan
  compared to a Batman or other superhero type
  comic, you find that the depth and level of
  enjoyability are much higher because the Manga
  provides the easy read just as well as the comic.
  But the main difference is the content is much
  more detailed and much more like that of an
  actual novel. Manga provides more thought
  provoking and educational experience and
  definitely should be more prominent in our
  school.
• grade 12 male student January 2006

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Results
Differentiated learning!
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Cindy Sargeant Curtis Bryan help_at_boysread.com
What Teachers Say
The reluctant, slow reader needs to have
adequate resources in order to succeed. Giving a
teenage, slow reader a childrens novel is not
the answer. Choose novels that are of high
interest but a lower reading level in order to
ensure maximum enjoyment. These students already
feel embarrassed about their low reading level.
Giving them novels that are meant for children
only adds to the humiliation
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Cindy Sargeant Curtis Bryan help_at_boysread.com
What Teachers Say
Last year I taught the grade 10 Locally
Developed English course for the first time. I
decided to start with a Group Novel Unit and I
was excited about the novels I chose Tuck
Everlasting, Old Yeller, Bud not Buddy. The
students were not as excited. They kept
complaining that the book were for kids and
they had real problems sustaining interest during
reading time. I found silent reading to be a
real struggle and at the end of the unit hardly
any students had actually completed the novel. I
learned a good lesson. Easy novels dont
necessarily interest a slow reader but
interesting novels make reading easy Cindy
Sargeant , Secondary English Teacher Student
Success Teacher
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Cindy Sargeant Curtis Bryan help_at_boysread.com
What Teachers Say
Allow a reader to re-read novels if they want
to. Sometimes confidence is built through
familiarity. Students often are nervous about
new material. Reading a novel again is like
visiting an old friend. The relationship between
student and text becomes deeper and the student
understands the novel on a different level.
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Cindy Sargeant Curtis Bryan help_at_boysread.com
What Teachers Say
My Grade 10 Locally Developed class is
studying the novel Holes. At first I was dismayed
to learn that they had already studied this novel
in grade six and many students had seen the movie
more than once. I chose to continue with my
choice and I was delighted to discover that the
students were keen and interested. Many students
felt so comfortable with a familiar novel that
they eagerly agreed to read aloud in class.
Students participate well in class discussions,
they perform well on quizzes and tests and they
have more confidence in their written work that
is based on the novel. Normally I would have
thought that teaching a repeat novel a waste of
time. Im glad I was wrong! Cindy Sargeant ,
Secondary English Teacher Student Success
Teacher
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CONCLUSION Strategies for Success
 CONTENT, it takes extra time and effort to
bring in new resources into the classroom but the
payoff is worth it.
 CHOICE, students enjoy getting ownership and
being actively involved in decisions about what
they are reading.
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Cindy Sargeant Curtis Bryan help_at_boysread.com
CONCLUSION Strategies for Success
 VARIETY break the novel paradigm. The Ministry
doesnt want us thrashing the novel to death,
variety can reinforce all of the above
(newspapers, magazines, comics, graphic novels,
web sites, et cetera) .
 RELEVANCE TO LIFE - a lot of students like to
read manuals for mp3 players, games and
activities that they are interested in.
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CONCLUSION Strategies for Success
 MODEL IT- students appreciate it when they see
us reading with them, and learning from the
material too, reading is not hierarchical
experience, reading what they are reading
legitimizes the process.
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CONCLUSION Strategies for Success
 Differentiated learning requires .
Differentiated reading
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CONCLUSION Strategies for Success
Perhaps weve been trying to use the front door
too long, maybe if no one is answering it, we
need to go through the back door, or catch the
kids totally off guard and through the window.