- boys take longer to learn to read than girls
- boys read less than girls
- girls understand narrative texts and expository texts best and boys are better at information retrieval and work-related literacy tasks
- boys value reading as an activity less than girls
- boys have less interest in leisure reading than girls
- more boys label themselves to be non-readers than girls
- boys express less enthusiasm for reading than girls
How Can We Help our Boys?
not in any particular order
1. We need to select texts for boys that they actually want to read
- boys like to choose what they read
- fiction focused on action more than emotion
- books that make them laugh
- books in series (ex. Harry Potter)
- science fiction or fantasy
- newspapers, magazines, comic books, baseball cards, and instruction manuals
2. Make reading and writing in the classroom a habit
- mix up the reading and writing activities (differentiate instruction)
- boys, and girls, need many opportunities to achieve success
3. Make reading engaging and exciting
- ex. read alouds using technology (voice threads), read texts and genres the students like, use texts across the curriculum (drama activities, art, etc...)
4. Boys benefit from highly structured and well focused lessons
- provide a similar structure for most lessons - no big surprises
- clearly break lessons down into a variety of activities or steps
- make lessons and activities relevant to their lives, and their learning and success
- clearly define your expectations
- provide feedback and support
5. Explicitly teach strategies and skills
6. Literacy circles
- let students talk about what they've read
Me Read? No Way! http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/document/brochure/meread/meread.pdf
Me Read? And How! http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/curriculum/meRead_andHow.pdf
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