This article is the first in a series that summarizes and reflects upon the Ontario Ministry of Education 2009 document Me Read? And How!
14 Reading Strategies
Boys’ literacy has been a growing concern over the course of my 15 year career, and as a mother of three boys, I share the concern regarding boys’ literacy test results (EQAO Grade 10 Literacy Test in Ontario), English grades, and general disengagement with traditional print literacy. In addition to having three boys who I want to perform well academically, I also teach a great number of boys who have decided they will dislike English class before they even cross the threshold of my classroom.
I read the Ontario Ministry of Education document Me Read? No Way when it was published in 2004, and it shed light on why girls were out-performing boys in traditional literacies and gave 13 strategies to improve boys’ literacy.
As a result, the Ontario Ministry of Education initiated pilot projects all over the province to try and implement these strategies, and then produced a follow up document in 2009 which I’m currently reading titled Me Read? And How.
This new publication first summarizes the results of current literacy and gender research in Canada, Britain, and Australia. Regardless of geographical location, girls are out-performing boys in traditional literacies and testing, are more interested in conventional print-based literacy, and are not questioning the relevance of their school work; however, boys are showing greater interest in electronic and graphic forms of literacy, are willing to engage in verbal literacy, and are more interested in “real-life” literacy contexts and practices. Next, this publication outlines the 13 strategies with best practices for literacy regardless of whether the student is male or female. The main purpose of this initiative is to provide equitable literacy education for both boys and girls.
When students were asked what they wanted in terms of their literacy education, there were four criteria that were commonly cited; they want to be challenged to think, allowed to create, permitted to pursue their interests and goals, and made to feel respected and important.
The 14 Literacy Strategies
- Have the right stuff–Choosing and promoting appropriate classroom resources for boys
- Help make it a habit—Providing frequent opportunities to read and write
- Teach with purpose—Understanding boys’ learning styles
- Embrace the arts—Using the arts to bring literacy to life
- Let them talk—Appealing to boys’ need for social interaction and talk
- Find positive role models—Influencing boys’ attitudes through the use of role models
- Read between the lines—Bringing critical-literacy skills in the classroom
- Keep it real—Making reading and writing relevant to boys
- Get the Net—Using technology to engage boys and facilitate their learning
- Assess for success—Using appropriate assessment tools for boys
- Be in their corner—The role of the teacher in boys’ literacy
- Drive the point home—Engaging parents in boys’ literacy
- Build a school-wide focus—Building literacy beyond the classroom
An additional, 14th strategy was initiated: Split them up—Using single-sex groupings
This article is the first in a series that will summarize and reflect upon the Ontario Ministry of Education 2009 document Me Read? And How!
Next Boys’ Literacy Strategy: #1 – Have the Right Stuff
This article by Kelly Pauling in Pennsylvania, USA about the National Assessment of Educational Progress, highlights reading scores by gender and outlines differences in achievement, attitude, choice and response: “Boys and Reading.”
This anti-poster titled “13 Ways to Create a Non-Reader” created by Dean Schneider and Robin Smith (as published in The Horn Book Inc.) outlines the 13 ways a parent can ensure their child(ren) will not be good readers who enjoy reading!
This article by Ian Synder on his blog A Teacher’s Thoughts is a guide for getting elementary kids reading.
This web diagram recommended by the New York Times outlines the demands on the new digital reader.
[...] Boys’ Literacy Solutions – 13 Best Practices [...]
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by JackieGerstein Ed.D., SuzanneWhisler, SuzanneWhisler, Nancy Blair, Cheeky LitTeacher and others. Cheeky LitTeacher said: Boys' READING best practices strategies~http://bit.ly/apqnpp [...]
Thank you for the insightful article discussing the literacy level of male students in Ontario. No doubt there are other instances of diminishing male literacy outside the province, but I think your suggestions will help curb that rising trend. I have not read the documents published by the Ministry of Education but they are clearly a step in the right direction for Ontario students. I was wondering, though, how successful they have been promoting literacy among male students. The optimistic title of the second document suggests that students have taken an initiative to read more since the publication of the first, though I am wondering if that is true. My concern is how the 13 strategies promote curriculum in the classroom. Strategies like “have the right stuff” suggest that teachers are deliberately choosing texts that are male-oriented. While this is beneficial to the male students, might it also be detrimental to the female students? Also, I am wondering if the schools of Ontario have books that they require students to read (works by famous writers that are ingrained in the curriculum, for example) and, if they do, how can teachers choose outside materials to promote literacy to male students when they are required to teach other books that may not accommodate that purpose?
Diminishing boys’ literacy seems to be the case in many first world countries presently. I was pleased with the release of the first Ontario Ministry of Education document Me Read? No Way! in 2004 because it contained specific strategies to address the issue; at the same time the ministry funding a provincial conference called the Boys Literacy Symposium which was attended by representatives across the province, and I was fortunate enough to attend. I wasn’t aware until recently that pilot projects had occurred across the province when I discovered the Me Read? And How! document. Putting the strategies into action is what produced the best practices.
In Ontario, our language arts and English curriculum documents allow for a great deal of latitude in the selection of material. It’s expected that the materials be appropriate for the grade and the level (Academic/University, Applied/College, or Essential/School to Work in high school); thus, our curriculum does not prescribe any exact, particular books that must be read as part of the curriculum. I have to say that I really like our English curriculum documents because the teacher is given a great deal of latitude to choose materials that students will want to read! (Tangent–Some school boards in Ontario have some ‘banned’ books, but in my school board no book has ever been banned! I hope to never see the day when that happens.)
When the first document was produced, there were many who questioned the fact that we were focusing on only boys and what would this mean for girls in the classroom. The current document addresses this issue briefly, stating that the best practices should be considered for ALL students in your class, male or female, because there will never be a one-size-fits-all solution because there will always be individuals that do not fit into the most common scenarios.
I am wondering where you teach and what barriers/challenges you face in improving literacy. Do you teach within a model that requires particular reading materials?
I am actually a pre-service teacher in the process of working towards his certification, so I have not been in control of my own classroom. My experiences to date are based on clinical work, and I am still two semesters away from student teaching. But as part of my teacher education program I am enrolled in a class that specifically addresses literacy and the challenges that are becoming more prevalent in the modern classroom. I found your article interesting because, as you said, the decline in literacy among boys in first world countries is a rising trend. In the United States, statistics are revealing similar reports, suggesting that male students are falling behind in their reading comprehension. I am happy to know that the efforts of the Ontario Ministry of Education are yielding favorable results in the province, as we have been implementing similar strategies to encourage literacy in our country. The idea of using graphic novels, for example, is a revolutionary (and controversial) suggestion that is currently being studied to see if it can benefit students.
Traditionally, there are certain reading materials that are always (or almost always) taught in our classrooms. Freshmen in high school, for example, typically read Homer’s Odyssey and Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet at some point during the year; but the reading material selected for any curriculum is influenced somewhat by the board of education for each state. Unfortunately, banning books is not an uncommon practice in the United States; you are lucky that your school board has been so tolerant (I hope you never have to experience such a hindrance to learning). Some challenges we face in improving literacy are student disinterest and inability to connect with the material, but we also create problems for ourselves. Fortunately, we have been experimenting with different ideas to promote literacy and improve student comprehension of material. In many ways we have been successful but there is still more work to do. I am glad that the methods implemented by the Ministry of Education are producing favorable results in regards to improving literacy, as we have been working with similar solutions.
I have noted on the English Companion Ning that teachers in other locales mention ‘having’ to teach particular classics; the comment trend is the presence of struggling readers who are disengaged in these books that are mandated to be taught which is problematic in my view because if their current ability is more than two grades below actual grade level, they will not improve their reading skills. Not giving them books within their range of ability actually inhibits their progress. Students need books of appropriate challenge which is very individual.
I watched an interesting video that was compiled based on some current reading research. I added it at the bottom of a previous reading article; here’s the link to where it’s located at the bottom of the page:
http://cheekylit.com/6-habits-of-effective-readers/
The main premise of the video: background knowledge is paramount to reading comprehension. The main point: we should be intent on teaching as much factual knowledge as possible! I believe we have gotten away from content with the idea, “Let’s teach them critical thinking and not be concerned with memorizing facts since a plethora of information is always readily available.” READING IN IN CONTENT AREAS MAY BE MORE IMPORTANT THAT WE THOUGHT!
I agree that background knowledge is essential to reading comprehension but I noticed that the video frequently used early levels of education as examples. Yes, we should promote content-based literacy in our classrooms during those early stages of education. But what about the students who did not receive that kind of instruction and currently struggle with reading in high school? You mentioned the individual ability of the student. I am wondering if, by choosing different books to accommodate every student’s level of understanding, we are also hindering literacy. After all, the students with poor reading abilities but strong knowledge of baseball still only scored 27.5 out of 40. While they may have performed better than the students with little knowledge of baseball, they still failed the reading test. And if every student is reading a different book appropriate to their comprehension then they are not reading the same thing, which means their understanding of that content will be different based on the difficulty of the text they are given. So, by using individual ability to separate books, we are promoting literacy and comprehension for those students, but we are also teaching the content differently to each student, which limits their knowledge of said subject. That, in turn, limits their content-based knowledge which brings us back to the problem of students not knowing enough subject material to be effective readers. It was a very interesting video, but I think it shows us just how complicated this issue is. Thank you for directing me to it; it was very insightful and I know a lot of people who would be interested in seeing it.
I do believe that you raise a significant point regarding their overall performance on the task, but I did find it interesting that the background information assisted the students in performing better. I currently have a grade nine class with actual reading ability of grade 4-6. If they are given reading materials that they don’t understand, they won’t actually improve.
Regarding learning different content. I have changed my perspective on content in recent years. The explosion of information and the ability to access information at any time has changed things. Each person can read about topics of interest, which will be different than another individual, etc., so we have a situation where people are learning about quite a variety of topics. In English, I spend time giving background information and the prior knowledge that they don’t have so that their understanding of the reading will be increased. I believe that many of my poor readers are greatly lacking in prior knowledge.
Thanks for the food for thought regarding the video.
[...] Best Boys’ Literacy Practices: There’s a remarkable series of articles over at The Cheeky Lit Teacher. (If you are an [...]
two thumbs up for this great article! beautiful insights.
april´s last [type] ..How to Save Money on Young Persons Car Insurance