Reading
Motivate Reading with Reading Logs
I began to realize the importance of keeping a reading log while working with the students whom I mentor. Often I would show them a book we had read months ago and ask them if they remembered it. Sometimes they would, other times they would tell me we had not read it.
Wouldn't it be great if they were keeping track of their reading on their own, instead of needing me to tell them which books, or how many books they had read?
Be a Reading Role Model for Boys
I love to read – always have since I was a child. Perhaps that's one of the reasons I decided to volunteer as a reading helper to work with children. I wanted to share my passion for reading with children who had not yet discovered theirs.
While reading together with my students is important, demonstrating a positive attitude about reading (and learning) is just as critical to their developing reading habits. As reading role models we are influential and can have a positive impact on boys' attitudes toward reading with just a few positive steps.
Make Reading a Social Activity
This might come as a surprise, since we often don't think of boys wanting to talk and socialize, but boys like social activities. Just think of the activities they enjoy the most. Baseball, football, basketball – team sports are the ultimate social activities. Even movies and video games can be perceived as social for boys. When all their friends are playing the latest game or going to see the newest release, boys want to be “in the know” and able to keep up with their friends socially.
On the flip side, books and reading are perceived as anything but social. As a solitary activity, boys sometimes equate reading with being anti-social, a nerd, weird or a loner. We can help change this perception by making reading a social activity for boys, one that they want to share with friends.
ESL Readers: Cultural Identity Makes a Difference
Part 3 of 3 Part Series – ESL Boy Readers
Culture is important for second language readers. While learning to read in a new language is unfamiliar and awkward for them, reading will feel even more foreign to boys if there is no trace of the world that they know. To help boys who are reading in a second language feel more comfortable reading, we have to reach out to them within their comfort zone.
ESL Readers: Choosing Books for Boys
Part 2 of 3 Part Series – ESL Boy Readers
Reading in a second language can be challenging for even the most eager readers. Boys who are reluctant to read to begin with, may find reading in an unfamiliar language intimidating. By choosing the right texts, we can help make the task more welcoming and enjoyable for them.
Below I have compiled, from my experience, five elements to look for in books to appeal to ESL boys.
ESL Readers: Challenges to Reading for Boys
Part 1 of 3 Part Series – ESL Boy Readers
The boys I work with are English as a Second Language learners (ESL). In most cases, they converse with friends and family in their native language, but can not read or write in it.
ESL students begin learning their second language at varying levels. Some may be literate in their native tongue, some may not. Bilingual students, who learn a second language at an early age, may have an advantage to learning. However, for already reluctant or struggling readers, learning another language can create added confusion on the path to literacy.
Reflections on Beginnings and Endings
As the school year begins back home in the US, it will be winding to an end at the school where I volunteer in South Africa. Summer vacation begins here in December, just in time for the holidays and New Year's Day on the beach – something this New Yorker will never get used to!
So with three months left of school – only two of which I will likely have their attention, since few things are more distracting to them than an approaching vacation – I am thinking about what worked with my students so far this year and what I could have done better. This is a good time to revisit the goals set at the beginning of the school year:
Boys and Competitive Reading
Ways to Get Boys Reading
Teen Boys and Young Adult Lit: An Important Relationship
In my recent post, Summer Reading Suggestions for Boys, several people responded with questions about finding adult literature for their teenage boys to read. I came up with some suggestions myself, as did others. And I stand by my position that teens can and should be introduced to adult literature! However, let’s not disregard adolescent lit altogether just yet.
