Bridging the literacy gender gap in Appoquinimink

The writing is on the wall - and boys are not reading it at all.

Many boys hate to read, especially by the time they get to middle school. It is the flipside to the more-often-heard educational complaint about girls shunning subjects such as math and science.

But educators are working to counter that.

To get more boys interested in reading, a librarian and teacher atWaters Middle School in Middletown teamed up recently to organize a "Boys and Books Conference," and they were overjoyed to see about 500 people attended. The event featured costumed characters such as Darth Vader, University of Delaware football players, a sprint-car driver, book giveaways and other attractions designed to reel the boys in.

School librarian Christy Payne and sixth-grade teacher Kristine Colazzo invited dads, grandfathers, uncles and other male role models to accompany male students at Waters Middle and several other schools in the Appoquinimink School District, including two of its elementary schools, so the conference was almost an entirely all-male event.

Research shows a lack of male role models for the boys when it comes to reading, Payne said. Typically, the moms read to their children while the dads participate in sports.

The librarian runs two after-school book clubs, one for boys and one for girls. The disparity in membership between the clubs sort of illustrates the reading gap between the sexes, she said. The girls' book club has 32 members. But she was only able to get nine students to join the boys club, before finally getting a half-dozen more by enticing them with offers of baked goods.

"Boys see it as a girls' thing," Colazzo said. "I think it's easy to find a book with a female character or about relationships. But those aren't the topics boys want to read about."Finding the right subject matter to interest boys is a big key to getting them to read more, educators say, and sometimes that means finding them material that is a little off-color.Boys tend to love books with titles such as "Captain Underpants" and "Diary of a Wimpy Kid," Payne said. "Anything humor, potty humor. Bart Simpson books are huge. They love that sort of thing."

And if a nontraditional subject is what they like to read, than why not give it to them?

"I have moms come to me and say, 'He's not reading. I can't get his head out of Sports Illustrated,' "Payne said. "But that is reading."

In Appoquinimink and other school districts, educators are discovering that stocking up on nonfiction books is another way to bring boys into the fold.

"Boys tend to like nonfiction books about different sports, about sports stars, rather than the traditional books that girls like to read," said Susan Gleich, a supervisor in curriculum and instruction in the Brandywine School District.

"Our librarians are always on the lookout to find selections that are more interesting for boys," she said. "And I think when the teachers are making their assignments, they try to offer a choice of what they can read."

"One of the things we know about boys is they like to do a lot more action things," added Ed Harris, director of curriculum and instruction at Brandywine. "They like to do things that are physical. And when they read, they like to read about things that are more physical."

Some educators say that boys are simply more active than girls, and therefore it is more difficult for them to sit still to read a book.

Julian Hercules, of Bear, who brought his three sons to the book conference at Waters Middle, said he has more trouble getting his middle son, Sekayi, to read than the other two boys."I don't like reading," Sekayi, 10, said. "It's borBut graphic novels, a sort of elevated form of comic books, are a different matter. "I love them," he said. And, he added, "I really like the 'Diary of a Wimpy Kid' books."

"We make sure we set time aside to read at night," the dad said. "And we try to get him to read out loud for at least a half hour. Anything that would interest him is fine with me. I do as much as I can to push him a lot."

Conference attendee Manny Rodriguez, who also lives in Bear, brought Ryan, who is in kindergarten. But another son, Alex, who is in the eighth grade at Waters Middle, declined the invitation because he wanted to stay home and play video games .

"It's hard to pull him off the Xbox," the dad said. "He thinks that reading is not important."

To counter the influence of the video games, Rodriguez has developed a strategy that allows his son to use the X-Box for one hour if he reads for an hour.

"There were a lot of books we bought for him when he was young, but then video games took over his life," he said.

Alex was not the only middle-school aged boy who stayed away from the boys' book conference, Payne said. Of the about 300 children at the event, only 16 boys were in grades seven and up.

"I saw more dads who had the same situation -- a younger kid who was very excited to come and an older child who wouldn't," she said. "We are really trying to prevent that resistance from setting in."

"The idea of reading not being cool in middle school has been there, and we're trying to break it down," added Jim Comegys, the school's principal.

"The boys want to play outside; they want to be involved in sports," he said. "But sports aren't going to lead to a career. They have to start discovering that reading is very important. It's the key to all learning."

Finding the right subject matter to interest boys is a big key to getting them to read more, educators say, and sometimes that means finding them material that is a little off-color.

Boys tend to love books with titles such as "Captain Underpants" and "Diary of a Wimpy Kid," Payne said. "Anything humor, potty humor. Bart Simpson books are huge. They love that sort of thing."

And if a nontraditional subject is what they like to read, than why not give it to them?

"I have moms come to me and say, 'He's not reading. I can't get his head out of Sports Illustrated,' "Payne said. "But that is reading."

In Appoquinimink and other school districts, educators are discovering that stocking up on nonfiction books is another way to bring boys into the fold.

"Boys tend to like nonfiction books about different sports, about sports stars, rather than the traditional books that girls like to read," said Susan Gleich, a supervisor in curriculum and instruction in the Brandywine School District.

"Our librarians are always on the lookout to find selections that are more interesting for boys," she said. "And I think when the teachers are making their assignments, they try to offer a choice of what they can read."

"One of the things we know about boys is they like to do a lot more action things," added Ed Harris, director of curriculum and instruction at Brandywine. "They like to do things that are physical. And when they read, they like to read about things that are more physical."

Some educators say that boys are simply more active than girls, and therefore it is more difficult for them to sit still to read a book.

Julian Hercules, of Bear, who brought his three sons to the book conference at Waters Middle, said he has more trouble getting his middle son, Sekayi, to read than the other two boys.

"I don't like reading," Sekayi, 10, said. "It's boring."

But graphic novels, a sort of elevated form of comic books, are a different matter. "I love them," he said. And, he added, "I really like the 'Diary of a Wimpy Kid' books."

"We make sure we set time aside to read at night," the dad said. "And we try to get him to read out loud for at least a half hour. Anything that would interest him is fine with me. I do as much as I can to push him a lot."

Conference attendee Manny Rodriguez, who also lives in Bear, brought Ryan, who is in kindergarten. But another son, Alex, who is in the eighth grade at Waters Middle, declined the invitation because he wanted to stay home and play video games

"It's hard to pull him off the Xbox," the dad said. "He thinks that reading is not important."

To counter the influence of the video games, Rodriguez has developed a strategy that allows his son to use the X-Box for one hour if he reads for an hour.

"There were a lot of books we bought for him when he was young, but then video games took over his life," he said.

Alex was not the only middle-school aged boy who stayed away from the boys' book conference, Payne said. Of the about 300 children at the event, only 16 boys were in grades seven and up.

"I saw more dads who had the same situation -- a younger kid who was very excited to come and an older child who wouldn't," she said. "We are really trying to prevent that resistance from setting in."

"The idea of reading not being cool in middle school has been there, and we're trying to break it down," added Jim Comegys, the school's principal.

"The boys want to play outside; they want to be involved in sports," he said. "But sports aren't going to lead to a career. They have to start discovering that reading is very important. It's the key to all learning."