Reading chapter 5 and 6 helped remind me of the characteristics many boys in our classrooms possess. Jake seemed very well educated at home because he could do many neat things his father taught him (such as working in his father’s workshop and going out on repair visits). His father did teach him to do things, he just didn’t spend his time teaching him to do “school” activities. Jake was very much like many of the boys in my classroom. He loved to do hands-on activities, often staying in the centers that allowed for movement and more physical activity. He liked to feel as if his school activities had a purpose (such as writing about Nascar, which he loved). Jake also liked being able to decide what he was going to do in school. He adapted nicely to getting to pick his own centers, but often whined when he was asked by his teachers to do certain activities. Many of the boys in our classrooms today have these same qualities. Many boys will pick hands-on center activities because it gives them the chance to move about and not be confined. My boys often pick non-fiction books or magazines to read during self-selected reading time because the topics in them are “real.”
One good thing I noticed about Jake’s family was that his dad, mom, and grandma did let Jake see them reading. Jake’s mom and grandma often read fiction, and his dad liked to read history books. Jake wanted to be just like his dad, so it wasn’t surprising that he liked to read books about historical topics as well. Boys like reality and books that give true facts.
I found it interesting that Jake enjoyed writing workshop so well. He loved to write stories about Nascar and racecar driving. Jake probably found great joy in the opportunity to choose what to write about as opposed to being given a prompt to write about.
I made a connection with one of my students when Hicks told Jake to tell her a make-believe story. Jake told a story about driving a racecar into the wall. He could not be still and sit down to tell his story. He was out of his seat acting out what was happening. I had a student who would do the exact same thing. Whenever he told me any kind of story (real or make-believe), he would be out of his seat acting it out. For example, if he was telling about his baseball game, he would have his arms up in a batting position. I think boys may do these activities because of their need to move around. This particular student was later diagnosed as ADHD in my classroom and started receiving medicine. After getting on medicine, this child continued to act out all the stories he told. I wonder if acting stories out helps boys to get their point across more easily?
I think that Jake was perfectly capable of learning. I believe that boys just learn in different ways than girls. Boys need to have plenty of time to be off their seat and on their feet. They need time to move around the classroom, get their hands on manipulatives, and explore learning first hand. As teachers, we need to find activities that interest our boys. Since Jake (and many other boys) prefer non-fiction books, we need to make sure we have a large collection of these books in our classroom. We need to give our boys some choice in deciding what literacy activities to do in class. Obviously, our boys cannot choose everything they do, but we need to give them choices as often as possible in writing topics, books, and center activities. Teachers need to remember that boys and girls do not learn the same and offer activities to meet the needs of both genders.
~Jamie Brackett
Comments (5)
Jamie,
I liked you post a lot, but I wanted to focus in on "I found it interesting that Jake enjoyed writing workshop so well. He loved to write stories about Nascar and racecar driving. Jake probably found great joy in the opportunity to choose what to write about as opposed to being given a prompt to write about." I think all boys love this form of teaching because it gives our egos and interests a chance for a boost and further enlightenment. My friends and I, all male writers, meet once a month to work on our personal writings in a workshop setting. To be honest, it has had the greatest impact on my writing, even more so than a traditional education has been. Interesting post.
William Byland
Posted by William Byland | June 27, 2010 11:22 AM
Posted on June 27, 2010 11:22
I thought your post was interesting as well. But be careful in stereotyping boys as the ones that talk with their hands, read nonfiction, etc. Not all boys are like that. I have several female students that are just like Jake. They need to move and learn "real" things too. We do need to have a large selection of books and materials in our classrooms for our students to choose from - male and female, active and inactive.
Posted by jennifer wagoner | June 27, 2010 8:33 PM
Posted on June 27, 2010 20:33
You are not the only one with a group of boys who can’t sit still. I had a classroom of 14 boys and 7 girls and I had about 3 of my boys who could sit still during any instruction, work time, or even in centers. I found that my group of students this year was very hands on, not only in centers and learning, but between each other too. I tried many different groupings with my class so that I could work with small groups and a lot of those groupings failed. After many failed attempts I found centers and groupings that worked for my motorized boys. Since I had only a handful of girls, I based my centers around “male” interest levels, and did more “female” interest activities when my girls were in small groups. My boys loved to build, so there was a building station where they would build something with blocks, draw what they built, then write about their creations. Another station they loved was ZOO Books. They would have a group of magazines to read, and they would have the chance to draw pictures and write down information they found about an animal in their book, but they were not required to do so. One of my stations my boys loved was the car station. In this station they would have a partner read directions to the other person in the center driving the car. This helped them learn directions and common driving terminology. I had many other boy interest centers, and they were ALL hands on, because those centers are the ones that kept their attention, and taught them what they needed to know at the same time. I hope these are some centers you can use in your classroom, and if you have any new center ideas for me, I would love to “steal” them!
Meredith
Posted by Meredith Bromley | June 28, 2010 6:03 PM
Posted on June 28, 2010 18:03
Jamie,
I am so glad that you brought out the point about Jake's family modeling the importance of literacy. I thought that this was such an important component of Jake's success and leads me to beleive that he too will be a lifelong reader.
It is one thing to tell a child that reading is important and quite another to show them the importance of reading.
He was exposed to so many different types of reading; pleasure, instructional, how to, and informational and this will only make him appreciate reading more fully.
Posted by Candy Mooney | June 29, 2010 11:02 AM
Posted on June 29, 2010 11:02
Jamie,
As I was scanning the blog entries, your blog title really caught my eye. What I great way to describe the type of teaching we need to be providing for our students, especially our boys. Boys love to do hands on things and move around. I also noticed this year how the boys in my classroom loved to read non-fiction books or magazines. They like to read about real events and people. I have tried really hard this year to increase the amount of boy books in my classroom. It has really helped inspire my boys to pick up a book and read it. Next year I hope to implement Reader’s Theatre in my classroom. I think this will be a great tool to use to help all students get up and moving while working with a story. Have you ever used Reader’s Theatre before in your classroom? From what I have read about it, it sounds like it’s a wonderful tool to use to help students enjoy stories more and help them with their fluency and comprehension skills. You are correct in saying that as teachers we have to be flexible with our teaching and be willing to provide our students with a variety of activities to meet all of their learning styles.
Posted by Emily Rhoney | June 29, 2010 5:11 PM
Posted on June 29, 2010 17:11