Teaching Boys to Write What’s FACT and What’s OPINION?

1. Teaching Boys to Write What’s FACT and What’s OPINION? Sue Anderson Educational Service Unit #3, sanderson@esu3.org

2. Topics • What do we think about boys and writing? • What do we know about boys and writing? • How can we be more responsive in our teaching?

3. What do we think about boys and writing?

4. Think about … One of your boy students…

5. How you would describe him?

6. Why does this boy come to mind first?

7. What kind of a learner is he?

8. What does he like? • What does he do well?

9. What does he struggle with or not do so well?

10. Now, let’s do some writing about him… for 4-5 minutes

11. Who… did you write about?

12. What do we think about boys and writing?

13. What do we think about boys and writing? • Teacher perception survey by Ralph Fletcher • 100 teachers in the United States and abroad • Handpicked by researcher – considered to be strong teachers of writing Fletcher, R. (2006). Boy Writers: Reclaiming Their Voices. Portland, ME: Stenhouse Publishers

14. What do we think about boys and writing? In general, my girls/boys tend to enjoy writing more. Results: Girls: 49Boys: 1Both/Equal: 21 Fletcher, R. (2006). Boy Writers: Reclaiming Their Voices. Portland, ME: Stenhouse Publishers

15. What do we know?

16. Did You Know? • Boys earn 70 percent of Ds and Fs; fewer than half the As • Boys account for 70 percent of learning disability diagnoses Gurian and Stevens, The Minds of Boys: Saving Our Sons from Falling Behind in School and Life (2005)

17. Did You Know? • Boys represent 90 percent of discipline referrals • Boys dominate ADD/ADHD diagnoses Gurian and Stevens, The Minds of Boys: Saving Our Sons from Falling Behind in School and Life (2005)

18. Did You Know? • 80 percent of high school dropouts are male • Males make up fewer than 44 percent of college students • Boys are an average of a year to a year and half behind girls in reading and writing. Gurian and Stevens, The Minds of Boys: Saving Our Sons from Falling Behind in School and Life (2005)

19. Did You Know? The current generation of college age men will… • Be increasingly unemployed or underemployed • Pay less Social Security, state and federal income taxes over their lifetime • Depend more on in-kind benefits (food stamps, Medicaid, rental housing subsidies) than better educated counterparts Gurian and Stevens, The Minds of Boys: Saving Our Sons from Falling Behind in School and Life (2005)

20. Did You Know? The current generation of college age men will… • Be more likely to father children out of wedlock and not live with or support their offspring • Be less likely to accomplish personal and social goals for success in a competitive society Gurian and Stevens, The Minds of Boys: Saving Our Sons from Falling Behind in School and Life (2005)

21. What do we know about boys …and writing?

23. 2007-2008 NeSA Writing Assessment Results Males All Students • Overall Performance Percentages for All Students Meeting or Exceeding Standards Years Grade 04 Grade 08 Grade 11 2003-2004 79.57% 82.56% 87.39% 2004-2005 82.99% 84.94% 89.52% 2005-2006

24. NeSA Writing Assessment Results: Boys/ All Students

25. NeSA Writing Assessment Results: Boys/Girls

26. 2007 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) Writing Results Grade 8

27. 2007 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) Writing Results Grade 8

28. Why might this be?

29. A Matter of Brain Function • Boys’ brain function • tends toward more spatial-mechanical activity (Blum, 1997; Moir & Jessel, 1989) • better suited for symbols, diagrams, pictures moving through space than for the monotony of words (Gurian, 2001) • Boys • Tend to compartmentalize learning; have more difficulty multitasking (Havers, 1995) -Gurian and Stevens, Educational Leadership, November 2004

30. A Matter of Brain Function • Girls’ brain function enables • more “cross talk” between brain hemispheres • more detailed memory storage • better discrimination among various tones of voice • Girls • Tend to make fewer impulsive decisions • Use more of the cortical brain areas for verbal and emotive functioning • Moir & Jessel, 1989; Rich, 2000 Gurian and Stevens, The Minds of Boys: Saving Our Sons from Falling Behind in School and Life (2005)

31. Mismatch Between Boys and Conventional Education • Boys were once schooled in various and instructional methods –apprenticeships, tutoring, action, and practice through works of the hand • Daily learning on farms, ranches, in marketplaces, on journeys has disappeared • Fidgeting and physical movement, once viewed as a sign of energy, vitality, and willingness to move toward places of learning have become a liability Gurian and Stevens, The Minds of Boys: Saving Our Sons from Falling Behind in School and Life (2005)

32. How should we respond?

33. Points to Consider for Boy-Friendly Learning Environments

34. The Learning Space • Large, roomier • Tables with more work space • Places to display their creations • Books with lots of pictures • Manipulative toys – blocks, things to build • “Karate Kicks” • Lighting – bright lights best • Choice-making to develop responsibility

35. “We must create classrooms where a boy who enters says to himself, ‘This is a place where I can write, a place where I can bring all of myself to my writing’.” – Ralph Fletcher

36. How shall we respond to some specific issues related to boys’ writing?

37. (Dis)engagement “Teachers often find that boys’ resistance to writing is hidden but determined, a grassroots insurgency, a sit-down strike.” –Ralph Fletcher

38. Humor “Boys are willing to break the rules to get a laugh…they need more slack to discover meaningful topics and the freedom to explore silly ones.” -Barry Lane

39. Handwriting “Boys often have to attend so much to the physical process of writing that they have much less time to attend to ideas and meaning-making. They often become frustrated and completely lose motivation to write.” -Doug Kaufman, Conferences and Conversations: Listening to the Literate Classroom

40. Violent Writing “Violent writing allows boys to understand and express the basic male narrative: they are young men growing toward the age when many men around the world must go to war.” – Ralph Fletcher

41. Conferencing Give more wait time in the writing conference…boys may not be as willing to talk about their writing. – Ralph Fletcher

42. Choice “Boys who like to write often say they are working on stories at home, where they can write about what they want …often what they want to write about is deemed inappropriate in school.” – Carolyn McKinney, sixth grade teacher

43. Talking Points Activity • (Dis)engagement • Humor • Handwriting • Violent Writing • Conferencing • Choice

44. Talking Points Jigsaw Activity • At each table find one talking point related to issues of boy’s writing. • Read the information about your point from the Talking Points handout. • Share a brief discussion in response to your point. • Be ready to share 1-2 highlights with the whole group.

45. More Thoughts on Boy Writers

46. Tom Newkirk Ralph Fletcher

47. What did you hear? Widening the Circle Digital Stories Media Integration What are boys good at? Issues of Power/Wanting To Be in Control Literacy at Home vs. Literacy at School

48. Where we’ve been • What do we think about boys and writing?

49. Where we’ve been • What do we know about boys and writing?

50. Where we’ve been • How can we be more responsive in our teaching?