Leveling the Reading-Writing Playing Field for Boys 

In this article in The Reading Teacher, Illinois first-grade teacher Nicole Senn says that all too often, boys are “Turned off. Checked out. Disengaged. Disenfranchised” when it comes to reading and writing – and this is true around the world. What’s going on? Senn lists some research findings:

• Boys generally take longer than girls learning to read.
• Boys generally think less of their reading ability than girls.
• Most boys read less than girls.
• Boys are often less enthusiastic about reading than girls.
• By high school, half of boys consider themselves “nonreaders.”

Why? There are some key differences:

• Brain and biology – Brain research is showing differences in neurological development between boys and girls that manifest themselves in literacy. Beginning in preschool and kindergarten, boys often express their emotions through actions while girls use words, and as they get older, boys tend to focus on action and exploration while girls attend more to relationships and communication. Boys show less empathy and have shorter attention spans than girls. Girls begin reading sooner and read more.

• Confidence – “Much of boys’ lack of motivation to read and write can be attributed to the limited confidence they frequently have in their abilities,” says Senn. This leads them to read less, which creates a negative ability-confidence-motivation spiral. 

• Attitude – Boys often view reading as “for girls” (something that is not helped by the fact that elementary teachers are overwhelmingly female), a “compulsory activity controlled by adult-given instructions”, and feel “school just forces you to do things.” Boys may not be able to accept criticism of their reading and writing without harm to their confidence. 

• Lack of interest – Elementary readalouds are most often fiction, and the topics that most interest boys – sports, comics, action, horror, or humor – are generally not well represented. 

What can teachers do to improve boys’ motivation and achievement in reading and writing? Senn suggests the following:

• Show boys that men read too by inviting male role models (family members, friends, other staff members) into the classroom, getting male authors and illustrators to visit, and setting up writing mentors 
• Make sure readaloud selections are often appealing to boys, with a mix of fiction and nonfiction.
• Make sure the classroom library has plenty of nonfiction on a wide variety of topics, has fiction titles with male characters, contains series that will hook reluctant readers, and is visually appealing (covers, easy-to-read text, frequent illustrations, and magazines, newspapers, comics, and graphic novels).
• Allow all students to choose what they read.
• Encourage students to read with their peers.
• Provide time to share, collaborate on, and celebrate writing.
• Incorporate technology wherever possible.
• Remember that boys need to move.
• Accept and incorporate boys’ humor. “Let them be funny, and enjoy it yourself,” urges Senn.

“Effective Approaches to Motivate and Engage Reluctant Boys in Literacy” by Nicole Senn in The Reading Teacher, November 2012 (Vol. 66, #3, p. 211-220), http://1.usa.gov/11sCIU4; Senn can be reached at nicolesenn@u-46.org.

From the Mashall Memo #463