Capitalizing on kids’ obsession with stories and narratives
By Tyler on May 24th, 2011
Last week, I visited a class for 9th-graders who struggle with reading at Boys & Girls High School in Brooklyn. It was a class that was using Scholastic’s READ 180 program, designed to help kids who are reading below grade level.
Many of these students were placed there because they were several years behind where they should be in reading, and, as a result, were getting poor grades in all their classes. These are the kinds of kids who often start to lose interest in school and are more likely to become dropouts.
As I sat in the corner, I listend to a small group of them huddled in a circle with their teacher debating a passage from their workbooks. It was the story of a young man from NYC who got involved in a gang and sent to prison as a teenager, and who was later able to turn his life around and begin to help other NYC kids learn from his mistakes. It was a narrative that hit close to home for many of these students. They debated why he might have decided to give up on gang life and why he might have gotten involved in the first place — and then they discussed how they might be able to find him and get in touch with him themselves so they could learn more (it was agreed upon that Facebook would be a good starting point…).
It was immediately clear to me that these struggling students had found a story that was compelling to them — something that motivated them to think deeply about an issue and even take action in real life.
We hear a lot about how kids aren’t reading as much as they used to, especially boys. But is that really true? Charles London made an interesting argument in Huffington Post last week in which he argued that perhaps boys are “reading” stories as much as ever. The popularity of TV and video games, he argues, is proof.
“Just like girls, boys are hungry for stories that speak to them, that excite their imaginations and reflect their experiences. They are hungry for information to help them make sense of the world, or achieve a goal or just to geek-out on whatever is holding their attention at that moment.”
The lesson I think we should take away is this:
Boys love stories and narratives just as much as girls do. Let’s do a better job of immersing them in the stories that capture their attention — however different those might be for one child vs. another.
For me, it was a series of books about sports that convinced me that I loved reading. For others it’s magazines that let them “geek-out” (as London said) on whichever topic they fancy the most. For some kids today, it could be the stories woven into video games that are capturing their attention.
Let’s not give up hope that those vide0 game-obsessed kids won’t give books a try later in life. It’s probably just a matter of them discovering the right story at the right time.
Posted: May 24th, 2011 under Books, Education. Tags: boys and reading, READ 180, struggling readers.
6 comments
Comments
My eldest daughter is a voracious reader. My son finally got hooked on funny stories like Junie B. Jones, Captain Underpants, and graphic novels.
Comment on May 24, 2011 at 3:02 pm
While I agree that choosing the right book for a boy is key, I’m not sure about the Laissez Faire approach to “them discovering the right story at the right time.” I minored in education and taught preschool for years. With my own children I have read with them everyday of their lives. My 21 yo dd reads EVERYthing. My 18 yo dd is more selective in her reading material. My 8 yo ds – well, he is the most successful reader of them all. Together we have read all of Naria, Harry Potter, and many others. He, himself, is on book 5 of “How to Train your Dragon.” He also enjoys reading Shakespeare with me. We find him in bed reading hours past lights out. I know that boys like action, they devour verbs. So, I offer books like Swiss Family Robinson. I would never discourage him from reading Little House on the Prairie. Yet, I would be surprised if he picked it up to read it. I encourage graphic novels too. We discuss the graphic novel’s plot, characters, and story lines just like any other book. I embrace his “boy-ness.” So, appreciating literature myself and knowing my child are the keys to his success in reading. I don’t believe he could imagine a day without sitting down with a good book.
Comment on May 24, 2011 at 4:24 pm
I think we underestimate boys’ reading. Even if they’re playing some video games, they read. I teach English literature, and many of my current students claim narrative-driven role playing video games expanded their vocabulary, made them better readers, and even–gasp–turned them in to English literature majors. If that’s happening in video games, we shouldn’t ban them out of hand; we should be considering them alternate texts, like graphic novels, maybe, and capitalizing on their usefulness in literacy.
Comment on May 24, 2011 at 4:56 pm
My son who is just finishing 6th grade loves video games but also likes reading. Admittedly at times we have seemed to have stalled at a particular level – moving on from Magic Treehouse took a while (he still quotes things learnt in those books though!) but he still loves to read. He gets into series of books, very often adventures, and during the times when he has struggled to find something for him to get into we try a new book in audio format – it has worked time and time again! Harry Potter, Percy Jackson, Alex Rider….
The computer and video games will always be a draw for him but books provide something else he still seems to want (as well as need for school!)
Comment on May 24, 2011 at 5:04 pm
That article inspired me to write one about how to start boys off to love reading on my blog since I focus on ECE and my son is 4. That said I loved this post Tyler and looking at how to get kids who seem lost already back on track is such an awesome challenge.
Comment on May 24, 2011 at 6:24 pm
