Boys need 'right stuff' to pique reading interest

Boys can be fairly typical across cultures.

While visiting Kalispell's Woodland Park recently, William "Bill" Brozo watched boys on skateboards engage in "daredevil behavior." They were strikingly similar to the group of boys he had happened upon recently in Portugal, whose daredevil behavior had taken place on skateboards on the steps of a 14th-century church.

Other male characteristics seem to transcend cultures as well.

When it comes to reading skills, boys tend to lag behind their female peers. Brozo, a professor of literacy at George Mason University in Fairfax, Va., wants to help these boys catch up.

It's not an issue of wanting boys to perform better than or even as well as girls, Brozo said. It's simply that boys need to read, and that improved literacy can help boys and girls alike be better people.

Brozo, who takes an "unapologetic advocacy position on literacy for boys," presented several ideas for improving boys' literacy during his keynote address at the Northwest Montana Reading Council's annual meeting recently at Flathead High School.

In addition to his work at George Mason, Brozo is a frequent speaker at conferences all over the world and is an author and authority on literacy issues.

It's important to match boys' reading material to their interests outside school, Brozo said. If a boy already is indifferent about literacy, forcing him to read books on topics that don't interest him probably won't change his attitude.

The logical first step is finding out what boys are into. Brozo suggested having boys put items in a bag that represent their interests, and then asking them to share the contents of their bags in small groups.

If, during that activity, a teacher learns a boy likes sports or music, the teacher can suggest books that reflect the boy's interests.

Brozo urged teachers to choose books with male protagonists for their required school reading lists. He also encouraged choosing action-packed books instead of psychological dramas.

One way to encourage boys to read is by forming boys-only book clubs, he said. Flathead High School's He Man Book Club, which is led by Principal Peter Fusaro, is a perfect example, Brozo said.

He also suggested creating a "guys rack" in the library. Books there wouldn't be off limits to girls, and boys could certainly read books that weren't on the guys' shelf, but having a place with books that might pique boys' interests would give teachers and librarians a starting point.

One of the most important things to do is find "entry points," Brozo said.

He asked teachers to reflect on the books that launched their careers as readers and future literacy advocates. Those books - entry points - are often the first bits of writing that capture children's imaginations, he said.

Brozo's entry points were issues of Boys' Life Magazine, published by the Boy Scouts of America. From there he started reading everything by Stephen W. Meader, who wrote adventure books for boys from the 1920s until 1969.

"Entry points are so critical, because who would have known as a young boy that literacy would become my life's project?" Brozo said.

He suggested finding segues between boys' nonliterary interests and literacy. He once taught students about allusion by asking them to find references to other works in popular culture. Several students found allusions in songs; others found allusions in cartoon episodes.

Meeting boys where they're at and allowing them to have choices instead of forcing them to read things they aren't interested in will help, Brozo said.

"When it comes to boys and reading, they need the right stuff at the right levels in the right ways," he said. "All of us … should respect boys' interests."

"Let's start looking at boys not as a problem but as a resource," he urged. "Boys are good human beings, like the rest of us. They have a lot to offer. We just have to find ways to capitalize on that."

Reporter Kristi Albertson may be reached at 758-4438 or by e-mail at kalbertson@dailyinterlake.com