Boys' Literate Lives: A Nonfiction Collaboration

by Karen Whitney, with lesson by Sarah Ressler and Valerie Plessinger, Rutherford B. Hayes High School, Delaware, Ohio

Boys will tell you they aren't reading. They hang out with friends, play sports, and work to pay for cars or college. Where do reading, homework, and academic scholarship fit? And why are our boys opting out? The more I read, the more curious I became.

Teachers can describe these boys in their classrooms. They are often sleepy, bored, disengaged, clownish, social, fidgety, and unprepared for the day's lesson. But they aren't stupid. They aren't unaware of their futures. I was surprised to learn, from Michael Smith and Jeff Wilhelm in Reading Don't Fix No Chevys (2002), that boys know school and reading are important, but just not right now. They believe school and reading will pay off sometime in the future. In the meantime, sports, cars, games, and friends matter most. How do we use what we know about boys to teach them now?

Getting Started

Working as a team in a SIRI class,* four of us collaborated to develop a nonfiction unit. We know boys like nonfiction, and so we planned to teach students how to read informational texts, which also happens to be the area with our weakest scores on the OGT. And we included a research component with topics of interest to our most reluctant readers―the boys.

First, we surveyed boys who were participating in a reading workshop on American literature, and we also surveyed random boys in the library. We wanted to help them find books and authors that could speak to them, catching their attention in ways books had not in the past. We used the interest survey from Smith and Wilhelm (p. 29). Our results mirrored those of the authors. The boys indicated they valued friends and sports above all else, although reading a good book did get some responses. We suspect that those books were chosen by the boys rather than assigned by teachers.

To summarize Smith and Wilhelm's results, supported by our research, here is what we know to be true of boys and their literacy:

1. Boys are social. They learn better in groups.
2. Boys like competition.
3. Boys need to see a connection between their work and their lives.
4. Boys want to have real choices in their educations.
5. Boys appreciate nonfiction, and they often don't count reading nonfiction as "reading."
6. Boys don't mind doing research when it is authentic.
7. Boys extend their literacy into projects outside of school―reading manuals, playing games, reading comics, reading news and magazines, emailing, surfing the web, and IMing friends.
8. Boys prefer doing projects with a variety of media rather than writing reports that just state what the teacher already knows.
    

Designing Instruction with Boys in Mind

Using the work of Smith and Wilhelm helped us understand the reasons that students, and, in particular, our boys, were falling farther behind. We also relied on Jon Scieszka's website "Guys Read" to make decisions about how to begin. We decided to focus on nonfiction, choice, authentic research, and a project-based approach.

Combining the resources of the library, the expertise of the English teachers, and the research tools of the library media director, we designed a unit that could be used across grades and reading levels and would impact student achievement for a wide audience. The unit has been taught in English enrichment, English 9 classes, inclusion classes, and reading classes designed for struggling readers.

In my introduction of the project to the students, I use the following questions. Then the teachers use them as they work in the classroom to focus the students on key concepts.

Why read nonfiction?
How does nonfiction apply to you?
How are nonfiction books "good"?
How do nonfiction writers apply literary techniques to engage readers?

The goals are standards-based. Students will:

• Have a better understanding of nonfiction
• Examine writing styles within nonfiction
• Find vocabulary in context and create definitions using context clues
• Work on sentence style
• Learn a variety of ways to present factual information
• Create multi-genre, nonfiction projects using PowerPoint or other media

Using Literary Nonfiction to Hook Readers

Boys want what they read to be authentic. As a librarian, I made it my goal to seek out and purchase quality nonfiction, finding books that were as well written, as well crafted, and as compelling as novels. I wanted books that boys might stick with and read more deeply.

I gathered lists of the best nonfiction recommendations from high school librarians. Through journalism courses, I came across many writers whose work I respected. I began to comb bookstores, magazines, and catalogs for well-reviewed nonfiction. I asked the teachers in our building what nonfiction they liked. Finally, I purchased a number of books of creative nonfiction. (See the nonfiction book list at the end of this article.)

The project always begins in the library with a discussion about nonfiction. I talk about plenty of books and let the kids get their hands on them. That day, all students select a nonfiction book to read. Escaping the canon and reading self-selected books is rare in the high school curriculum. Students are generally eager to choose a book that appeals to them. As a librarian, in conjunction with the teachers, I help match boys with particular books.

Throughout the process, students used the library to find books, to do research, to work on their projects, and to consult with me as they raised questions about the topics that interested them. Teachers used class time to stress benchmarks and instructional objectives from our state standards through the nonfiction study. The projects lasted from three to five weeks. The schedule was made in collaboration, but it was flexible enough to allow changes when necessary. (To see the schedule, see Box 1.)

The following sample lessons, developed by teachers during our collaboration, address three characteristics of boys as learners: They like to escape the humdrum, do problem-based work, and exercise choice.
 

Art and Reading: A Lesson That Reaches Boys

I had been hesitant to incorporate too many art lessons in English. When my student teacher encouraged me to use art to foster student analysis of texts, I asked students to consider the angles and colors they used when completing artwork, and as a result, they thought more critically about their texts.

I begin by examining film angles. We discuss how high angles make subjects look insignificant, how low angles look imposing, and how unusual angles convey problems. Next we discuss how close-ups signify emotion, medium shots convey neutrality, and long shots show isolation for the subject. Finally, we focus on color theory; students identify how we associate colors with ideas, like red for anger and blue for sadness.

After our discussion, students illustrate a passage from their text, incorporating angle and color. They must justify the angles and colors they used to represent the passage.

Many activities can incorporate these art and analysis techniques. Two students can artistically represent the same text and compare their artistic decisions. Individual students can each draw a poem stanza, tape the stanza pictures to the board in order, and analyze shifts and tone in poetry based on the artwork. Also comparing prediction pictures among classes involves students in higher-level thinking.

Students read all types of media, from movies to magazines. Combining ways of reading nonprint and print media allows teachers to meet content standards while encouraging students to look more deeply at a text.

Research, Evaluation, and the Multi-Genre Project

With boys in mind, our lessons had to offer choice, authentic response, and time for deep reading. We also wanted an authentic inquiry or research component. So after conducting research on topics suggested by the books they read in class, the students were asked to complete a project based on both their reading and their research using several genres to convey what they had learned. They were given the following instructions:

Multi-Genre Project Assignment    Multi―Your project will include eight pieces of writing: Four are required; four are free choices.    Genre―A type of writing (short story, poetry, news article, public service announcement, resume, scene for a play, etc.). Have your genre approved before beginning your work.

Project Requirements:

Fictional journal entry based on facts found in your book

Recipe for your book

Two- to three-page research paper with works cited

Speech to persuade someone to read your book

Four additional genre of your choice

Each piece of writing is worth 25 points. Genre of greater length or creativity will receive bonus credit as determined by the teacher.

The project is to include artwork on every page. It must be consistent with the theme of the project. If using clip art, sources must be documented. (25 points)

The project must be bound in a creative manner, yet it must be easy to read. The cover should be the cover you would want to see on your project if it were published in book form and sitting on the shelf in our library. What would catch your reader's eye and make him or her want to read it? (25 points)

 

Implications for Teachers

What is the quality of the experience we want our boys to have today in our classroom? Smith and Wilhelm emphasize that boys recognize the importance of school, but not for meeting their immediate needs. Do we mark time waiting for the future to bring it all together for them? Or can we do something now to help our boys learn?

Good teachers must know more than content and standards. We must know the kids we teach. If there is a disconnect for boys, it may be that we have not realized the full implication of twenty-first century literacy. We may have not listened to our boys' music, seen their movies, played their games, and let them teach us what they already know about reading and writing.

In 1916 Dewey said, "Education is continuous growth, not a preparation." Boys tend to see education as preparation for a future that is not connected to them yet. Do we, as their teachers, contribute to that feeling? If we do, we need to change our approach. We need to teach them strategies that can help them read and learn now. If our boys see the immediate value, the immediate connection between learning, reading, and their lives, they can get started.

According to Smith and Wilhelm and corroborated in our own work, these are things we should keep in mind as we teach the boys sitting in front of us:

• Teaching precedes development―so teach skills and strategies.
• Have boys keep literacy diaries―and help them understand the range of literate activities they engage in already.
• Let boys articulate what they are reading now―they may not know it counts as reading.
• Select books with boys in mind, including nonfiction―especially nonfiction.
• Present books so boys will notice them―it pays to advertise.
• Build on their interests―so find out what their interests are.
• Keep vocabulary, length, and language within or below their reading level―at first.
• Use a thematic approach―they like depth and powerful ideas.
• Put information to immediate use―they like to figure things out.
• Set a clear purpose―we all appreciate that.
• Read aloud―high school kids still need to hear literature daily.
• Include silent reading time in class―otherwise, when do they get hooked on the book?
• Help boys connect:
  1. Text to self
  2. Text to text
  3. Text to world
• Include some friendly competition―boys enjoy a challenge.
• Build in social interaction―boys need time for purposeful talk.

Try Collaboration

Just as collaboration works for boys, it also works for teachers and librarians as we plan together to help reluctant readers. Talk to the boys in your classes. Then talk to the librarian and to the teacher across the hall. Begin to read nonfiction for fun. Use research for authentic purposes, and follow an evaluation plan that gives boys more choice, offers a social approach, and includes technology. Keep them active. Let them draw. Curiosity will grow, and it can be insatiable. Curiosity brings us to books, and we never want to stop learning. Collaboration can bring us all together in the quest for literacy and excellence.

Nonfiction for Boys

Bahn, Paul. (Ed.). (2003). Written in bones: How human remains unlock the secrets of the dead. Buffalo, NY: Firefly Books.

Borneman, Walter R. (2004). Alaska: Saga of a bold land. New York: Perennial.

Boyers, Sara Jane. (2000). Teen power politics: Make yourself heard. Brookfield, CT: Twenty-First Century Books.

Brown, Dee Alexander. (2001). Bury my heart at Wounded Knee: An Indian history of the American West, 30th anniv. ed. New York: Henry Holt.

Butler, William F., & Keeney, L. Douglas. (2001). Secret messages: Concealment, codes, & other ingenious communications. New York: Simon & Schuster.

Capuzzo, Mike. (2003). Close to shore: The terrifying shark attacks of 1916. New York: Crown Publishers.

Carr, J. Revell. (2004). All brave sailors: The sinking of the Anglo-Saxon, August 21, 1940. New York: Simon & Schuster.

City Fishing. (2002). Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books.

Coffey, Michael. (2004). 27 men out: Baseball's perfect games. New York: Atria Books.

Coffey, Wayne R. (2005). The boys of winter: The untold story of a coach, a dream, and the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team. New York: Crown Publishers.

Colman, Penny. (1997). Corpses, coffins, and crypts: A history of burial. New York: Henry Holt.

Cook, Fred J. (1973). American political bosses and machines. New York: Franklin Watts.

Crowe, Chris. (2003). Getting away with murder: The true story of the Emmett Till case. New York: Phyllis Fogelman Books.

Dahl, Roald. (1984). Boy. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

Fleischman, John. (2002). Phineas Gage: A gruesome but true story about brain science. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.

Freedman, Russell. (1985). Cowboys of the Wild West. New York: Clarion Books.

Gantos, Jack. (2002). Hole in my life. Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

Geary, Rick. (1997). The Borden tragedy: A memoir of the infamous double murder at Fall River, Mass., 1892. New York: NBM ComicsLit.

Geary, Rick. (1999). The fatal bullet: A true account of the assassination, lingering pain, death, and burial of James A. Garfield. New York: NBM ComicsLit.

Greenberg, Jan. (2004). Andy Warhol: Prince of pop. New York: Delacorte Press, 2004.

Halberstam, David. (2002). Firehouse. New York: Hyperion.

Hillenbrand, Laura. (2001). Seabiscuit: An American legend. New York: Random House.

Hughes, Dave. (2002). Taking trout: Good, solid, practical advice for fly fishing streams and still waters. Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books, 2002.

Jackson, Donna. (1996). The bone detectives: How forensic anthropologists solve crimes and uncover mysteries of the dead. Boston: Little, Brown.

Janeczko, Paul B. (2004). Top secret: A handbook of codes, ciphers, and secret writing. Cambridge, MA: Candlewick Press.

Junger, Sebastian. (1997). The perfect storm: A true story of men against the sea. New York: Norton.

Katz, Jon. (2002). A dog year: Twelve months, four dogs, and me. New York: Villard.

Krakauer, Jon. (1997). Into the wild. New York: Anchor Books, 1997.

Krakauer, Jon. (1998). Into thin air: A personal account of the Mount Everest disaster. New York: Anchor Books.

Kuklin, Susan. (2001). Trial. New York: Henry Holt.

Levy, Joel. (2002). Really useful: The origins of everyday things. Buffalo, NY: Firefly Books.

Marrin, Albert. (2002). Dr. Jenner and the speckled monster: The search for the smallpox vaccine. New York: Dutton Children's Books.

McClafferty, Carla Killough. (2001). The head bone's connected to the neck bone: The weird, wacky, and wonderful x-ray. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

McPhee, John A. (1990). Looking for a ship. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

Meltzer, Milton. (2001). Piracy & plunder: A murderous business. Dutton Children's Books.

Murphy, Jim. (1995). The great fire. New York: Scholastic.

Murphy, Jim. (1998). Gone a-whaling: The lure of the sea and the hunt for the great whale. New York: Clarion Books.

Murphy, Jim. (2000). Blizzard! The storm that changed America. New York: Scholastic.

Murphy, Jim. (2000). Inside the Alamo. New York: Crown Publishers.

Murphy, Jim. (2003). An American plague: The true and terrifying story of the yellow fever epidemic of 1793. New York: Clarion Books.

Myers, Walter Dean. (2001). Bad boy: A memoir. New York: HarperCollins.

Nelson, Paul David. (2002). Fredrick L. McGhee: A life on the color line, 1861-1912. St. Paul, MN: Minnesota Historical Society Press.

Nuwere, Ejovi. (2002). Hacker cracker: A journey from the mean streets of Brooklyn to the frontiers of cyberspace. New York: Morrow.

Olson, Steven P. (2005). Neil Gaiman. New York: The Rosen Publishing Group.

Ottaviani, Jim. (2001). Fallout: J. Robert Oppenheimer, Leo Szilard, and the political science of the atomic bomb. Ann Arbor, MI: G. T. Labs.

Partridge, Elizabeth. (2002). This land was made for you and me: The life & songs of Woody Guthrie. New York: Viking Press.

Patten, Marguerite. (2001). Spam: The cookbook. London: Octopus Publishing Group.

Paulsen, Gary. (1994). Father water, Mother woods: Essays on fishing and hunting in the North Woods. New York: Delacorte Press.

Paulsen, Gary. (2001). Guts: The true stories behind Hatchet and the Brian books. New York: Delacorte Press.

Putney, William W. (2001). Always faithful: A memoir of the Marine dogs of WWII. New York: Free Press.

Rea, Tom. (2001). Bone wars: The excavation and celebrity of Andrew Carnegie's dinosaur. Pittsburgh, PA: University of Pittsburgh Press.

Read, Piers Paul. (1974). Alive. New York: Avon.

Runyon, Brent. (2004). The burn journals. New York: Knopf.

Schaap, Jeremy. (2005). Cinderella man: James J. Braddock, Max Baer, and the greatest upset in boxing history. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.

Schlosser, Eric. (2001). Fast food nation: The dark side of the all-American meal. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.

Schooler, Lynn. (2002). The blue bear: A true story of friendship, tragedy, and survival in the Alaskan wilderness. New York: Ecco.

Scorsese, Martin. (2003). Martin Scorsese presents the blues: A musical journey. New York: Amistad.

Sheffield, Derek. (1996). UFO a deadly concealment: The official cover-up? London: Blandford.

Stark, Peter. (2001). Last breath: Cautionary tales from the limits of human endurance. New York: Ballantine Books.

Sterling, Bruce. (2002). Tomorrow now: Envisioning the next fifty years. New York: Random House.

Thom, Annie (Ed.). (2002). With their eyes: September 11th: The view from a high school at ground zero. New York: HarperTempest.

Professional Reading: Boys and Books

Books

Booth, David. (2002). Even hockey players read. Markham, Ontario, Canada: Pembroke Publishers.

Knowles, Elizabeth, & Smith, Martha. (2005). Boys and literacy. Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited.

Scieszka, Jon. (2005). Guys write for Guys Read. New York: Viking.

Smith, Michael W., & Wilhelm, Jeffrey D. (2002). "Reading don't fix no Chevys": Literacy in the lives of young men. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Sullivan, Michael. (2003). Connecting boys with books. Chicago: American Library Association.

Tatum, Alfred. (2005). Teaching reading to black adolescent males. Portland, ME: Stenhouse.

Articles

McCauley, Mary Beth. (2005, May 24). Matching boys with books. Christian Science Monitor. http://www.csmonitor.com.

Sullivan, Michael. (2004, August). Why Johnny won't read. School Library Journal, 36-39.

Wilhelm, Jeff. (2001, December). It's a guy thing. Voices from the Middle, 9(2), 60-63.

Website

Scieszka, Jon. Guys read. http://www.GuysRead.com.

References

Smith, Michael W., & Wilhelm, Jeffrey D. (2002). "Reading don't fix no Chevys": Literacy in the lives of young men. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Scieszka, Jon. Guys read. http://www.GuysRead.com.

*SIRI stands for State Institute for Reading Instruction. For information on SIRI workshops, see http://www.ode.state.oh.us/curriculum-assessment/prof_development_2005/siri_description.asp.

Karen Whitney has taught grades K-12, most recently high school English and journalism at Rutherford B. Hayes. She has also served as an adviser for the school newspaper and the broadcast journalism class. Her current assignment is in the library, where she spends her time encouraging students to read and helping them conduct valid research.

Sarah Ressler has been teaching for five years. She graduated from Ohio Wesleyan University, where she became Karen Whitney's student teacher. After working for a year in New Albany High School, Sarah came back to Rutherfod B. Hayes High School and has taken on many leadership roles, not the least of which is the junior class adviser, in charge of the junior prom.

Valerie Plessinger teaches English 9 and acting at Rutherford B. Hayes. She has directed school plays and musicals. She has been instrumental in helping craft the English 9 curriculum.

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