Group+Presentation+Outline+-+To+Be+a+Boy,+to+Be+a+Reader

Group Presentation Outline: To Be a Boy, To Be a Reader, by William G. Brozo Lauren Houck, Christine Lively, and Lynn Golden

I. Background and cultural considerations: Brozo argues that “adolescent males are in an educational tailspin. As compared to girls, boys score lower on virtually all measures of verbal ability, abound in remedial classes, are delinquent and drop out of school at far greater rates and attend, and graduate from college in smaller numbers.” He proposes that “capturing boys’ imaginations through literature is a critical element of improving boys’ psychological, sociological, and academic health.” While Brozo doesn’t believe that helping boys to become literate and engaged readers is the only solution to their academic and life problems, he certainly believes that it will help them to achieve and to access information and skills that will help them to achieve success in school and in life.Brozo also makes the case for helping boys find access to different models of masculinity through literature.Boys are often in need of positive male role models.Many come from female headed households and are only exposed to selfish, violent and undependable men in their lives and in popular culture.Positive and reliable men are not easily found in their lives or in popular culture, but they can be found in books.

II. Six principles for engaging boys in reading: 1.**Boys need to become engaged readers in order to succeed academically and in life**.The two main considerations to successfully motivate boys to read are giving them choice of texts and control over learning.Students who are able to choose themselves what they read are more motivated than those who are told what to read by others. Control of their assignments in response to texts also keeps students engaged and keeps them from becoming bored and discouraged.One example of allowing boys to choose different response activities is in journaling.Boys often are reluctant to discuss feelings, but can discuss and describe actions more readily.Allowing this difference in journal activities can get boys writing more and responding to their reading more effectively. 2.**A boy’s identity is often shaped by cultural forces.Reading can serve to counter balance negative cultural messages**.Many boys live without positive male role models.Men are represented in popular culture as violent and selfish.With this in mind, boys can learn about positive male role models or what Brozo calls "Real Men" by examining what it means to be a man through reading young adult literature.He describes a unit called the "Real Man" unit where he and his colleagues helped students, male and female alike learn about and think about what it means to be a man in the books they read.Basically creating a culture of“real men”outside of their personal experiences by reading about and thinking about positive attributes of men in literature. 3.**Books with positive male archetypes offer positive images of masculinity**.We need to create opportunities for adolescent boys to read books with positive male archetypes, which is a promising way to capture boys’ imaginations and help them practice active literacy.These archetypes appeal to and affirm teen and preteen boys’ unique masculine identities. What are the 10 positive male archetypes? They are Pilgrim, Patriarch, King, Warrior, Magician, Wildman, Healer, Prophet, Trickster, and Lover.Boys often show a strong preference for certain archetypes, such as Warrior or Pilgrim, but having all types of book accessible may help boys appreciate all expressions of masculine identity. 4.**Boys need to have access to appropriate reading materials**.Boys need help finding books that are both pleasing and identity affirming.So, we need to nurture interest reading that would not hinder personal book selection.According to Brozo, “Appealing to boys’ creative imaginations by using literature that speaks to their unique male interest could help them become engaged and regular readers.Helping adolescent boys find entry points into active literacy must be a high priority for teachers, because it is from young men’s early interests in books that a lifestyle of habitual reading can be nurtured.”Keeping this in mind, it is the teacher’s job to make sure the boys in his/her class have access to reading material that plays to their interests.An example of this is to create a Guy’s Rack.A Guy’s Rack makes it possible for male students to quickly find reading material of high interest and to enjoy books without fear of ridicule.A male student can go directly to the Guy Rack and know that they will find something of interest, and will diminish the “embarrassment” of starting to read a “girly” book.As teachers we need to make it “safe” for boys to choose to be readers. 5.**The material matters. When boys are exposed to books they are interested in, they read**.Brozo offers several strategies for discovering boys’ interests: 1) “My Bag” - we can model what is in our own bag of interests and give students the opportunity to share the interests in their bag, 2) “Companion Introductions” - in groups of two, students interview each other and introduce their companion’s interests to the class, 3) “Interest Journals” - students write about things that interest them, and 4) We can give boys an “Interest Inventory” survey.Knowing a boy’s interests equips us to provide engaging reading materials and form reading groups based on interests. 6.**Adults can model the pleasure and benefits of active reading**.Bozo recommends inviting men into the classroom to share their interests in reading and to read to students.Adult mentors can be men in the school, like the principal and coaches, or men in the community.When men share the books they enjoy reading, they model good reading habits.We should also encourage our students to become mentors by encouraging them to read to younger boys.
 * 1) Pilgrim:he is a searcher, wanderer, filled with hope, faith, and the need to improve life.
 * 2) Patriarch: the archetype of responsibility; represents the masculine form of care, nobility, and self-sacrifice; responsible for creating orderly and lawful societies and institutions for the personal and aesthetic welfare of the community.
 * 3) King: embodies male greatness; trustworthy and wise; filled with spiritual generosity, dignity, and composure, the King is a leader.Modern Kings are the school principal, military officer, the boss.
 * 4) Warrior:He is brave, edifying, and honorable; the warrior’s true masculinity is based on self-control and moral courage; a warrior never acts violently out of blind anger or revenge.
 * 5) Magician:evokes amazement through his intuition and cleverness.The magician is being “in tune” going with your gut instinct; a modern day magician is one who follows business hunches that pay off, and perceive subtle changes in the emotional moods and needs of loved ones.
 * 6) Wildman:characterized by lustiness, unpredictability, and independence; yearns for freedom; the Wildman archetype emboldens young men to challenge the status quo, and question their own and others’ complacency, conformity, and popular ideologies.
 * 7) Healer:the Healer is mystical, spiritual, and capable of bringing wholeness to people and societies that are incomplete and suffering.
 * 8) Prophet:Prophet has the power to see and tell the truth, which makes him admirable; he stands up to lies, is blunt and possesses and intuitive lie detector.Prophet challenges opinions, sparks debates all in the name of truth.
 * 9) Trickster:Trickster is irreverent, funny, and satirical; pokes fun at pomposity, ostentation, and self-righteousness; lightens the mood and instill humility.
 * 10) Lover:giving, caring, and intimate. The lover is the symbol of man’s connectedness to all other people.

III. Book review:

If Diary of a Wimpy Kid tickled your funny bone, be prepared for side splitting laughter when you read Space Station Seventh Grade.Like Jeff Kinney, Jerry Spinelli is adept at humorously capturing the angst and missteps associated with life in the seventh grade.Thirteen year-old Jason Herkimer learns that seventh graders are at the bottom of the food chain, not all boys get pubic hair at the same age, there is no quick remedy for a pimple, and boys don’t always beat girls in races.The funniest moments in the story result from the disequilibrium that occurs when a boy is catapulted by hormones into puberty.Farting, burping, and laughing uncontrollably are symptoms of this malady, as well as peer influenced spontaneity, evidenced when Jason makes a moose call during a school talent show that results in a suspension from school.One of the funniest moments occurs when Jason and his friend toast ants in a popcorn popper and add them to the fudge they make in home ec class.The story will keep you laughing, but be prepared to have a tissue box close by, too.

In this first person narrative, Spinelli crafts a deeper textual layer that moves readers beyond mere humor to explore more complex issues.Through life experience, Jason learns that race is only skin deep, boys are not better than girls, younger siblings have great value, injuring a person or an animal is wrong, and death is a reality.These are weighty issues that are barely discernable because Spinelli masterfully and subtly weaves these threads into the story through the experiences of Jason’s everyday life, allowing his protagonist to grow beyond the bounds of the culture that has shaped him.In a span of one year and 232 pages, Jason Herkimer matures from a boy to an independent thinker and achieves profound recognition.

When we consider Space Station Seventh Grade in the context of Brozo’s To Be a Boy, to Be a Reader, it is evident that this book has the capacity to engage boys on multiple levels.Since boys are more likely to read books that relate to their interests, this novel has the potential to appeal to boys who are interested in baseball, space, and dinosaurs.The book would also be helpful for boys who live with a step-parent and boys who have experienced the death of a friend.Culturally, the book would likely appeal to many middle school boys who are challenged by the seventh grade experience.The book presents a real man image and models good character through the choices Jason makes—expressing empathy for an awkward girl who is being left out at the dance, feeling remorse for possibly killing a raccoon, and making friends with a girl that his friends don’t like.If we employ Brozo’s principle of archetypes, like many books, the protagonist could be examined through multiple lenses—trickster, lover, and pilgrim.Regardless of the lens we choose to employ, Jason is a role model who guides growth related to acceptance of and compassion for others.That is the kind of role model boys need.

IV. Brief description of recommended project: For the students’ individual project, they will create a Reader Response Ball, using 12 paper plates, each consisting of a different reader response and/or visual.This activity will incorporate ideas from principles #1, #3, and #5 from above.Principle #1:boys need to be engaged readers, and journaling is a way to do this. They will use journal entries to respond on 3 of the paper plates.Principle #3:Jason would be considered a “trickster” archetype - do the students agree with his antics? Would they do the same or different?Principle #5:The students have previously participated in their own “My Bag” session - now it is time for the boys to find items in Jason’s Bag.Boys are known to need to be active during learning, so we will create the Reader Response Ball in class.I will hand out a Reader Response Ball Instruction Guide for the class to see how it will be assigned.