Running Head: BOOKS AND LITERARY WEBSITES FOR BOYS IN GRADES K-5 1
Books and Literary Websites for Boys in Grades K-5: Finding Reading Material that Interests
our Boys
Cara LeClair
University of Georgia
Author Note
This paper was prepared for LLED7910, New Literacies, taught by Dr. Alvermann
Running Head: BOOKS AND LITERARY WEBSITES FOR BOYS IN GRADES K-5 2
Books and Literary Websites for Boys in Grades K-5: Finding Reading Material and Literary
Activities that Interest our Boys
Rationale
When I taught ninth and tenth grade high school English and reading classes, I found it
was often difficult to find reading material that interested the boys in the class. They were an
overall tougher crowd to please. Last semester, I learned through reading an article on the
Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), that globally, boys perform lower on
reading comprehension tests than girls. I found the information shocking that this was a global
phenomenon. This semester I am tutoring a seven-year-old boy in first grade who is a Math
Superstar, yet has lower than average scores in reading comprehension. Why is it that boys
underperform girls in reading comprehension and that it can be a challenge to get boys motivated
or interested in reading?
Project Description and Alignment with Course Purposes
I created a Google website https://sites.google.com/site/boysreadk5/home that
contains lists of books, magazines and literacy websites geared towards the interests of boys in
grades kindergarten through fifth grade. I organized the site by giving each chosen genre,
including nonfiction, humor, adventure and fantasy/science fiction, its own page. Within each
webpage, book titles are broken down into appropriate level lists for grades K-2 or grades 3-5.
Magazines and their corresponding websites have a dedicated page and online literacy activities
related to the five reading competencies have their own webpage. Finally, The Common Core
State Standards for foundational skills, reading literature and reading information are listed as a
separate webpage. The goal of this website is to provide teachers, librarians, parents and tutors
with a resource that helps them find reading material, whether print or online, of interest to the
elementary school-age boys in their lives.
The project aligns with course purposes in two ways. One of the course objectives for
LLED7910 is to “address the implications of new literacies for teaching students to write,
comprehend, reflect on, and use a wide range of texts” (Alvermann, p. 1). The project creates a
database of materials of interest to boys in grades K-5 that includes a wide range of print texts,
magazines, magazine websites and literacy websites. Secondly, “connections to other
disciplines, articles, websites, and the Common Core State Standards” are shown in this project
(Alvermann, p. 1). The database focuses on a collection of books and magazines that tie in
directly with the Common Core State Standards pertaining to reading literature and nonfiction.
The literacy based websites that feature interactive games and tutorials geared toward helping
achieve reading competencies build upon foundational reading skills as stated in the Common
Core State Standards.
Running Head: BOOKS AND LITERARY WEBSITES FOR BOYS IN GRADES K-5 3
Theoretical Connections
Smith and Wilhelm (2004) discuss their research findings that “at least some boys reject
literacy not because of the gendered way society constructs it but rather because of the way
students encounter literate activity in school” (p. 460-461). Boys want choice. Motivation stems
from choice. Boys are motivated when they have choice. In a study by Mahiri (1998) he noted
that African American males showed success “with a variety of written texts when they were
motivated by the content” despite the fact that these males were labeled as a risk for failure in
school (Smith and Wilhelm, 2004, p. 456). In my own personal experience as a teacher and
tutor, I have noticed first hand that if a male is motivated by the content, despite the difficulty
level of the content, they will persevere with the reading activity.
Furthermore, Smith and Wilhelm (2004) note Bandura’s work “in the ways that people’s
perceptions of their capabilities affect their courses of action” (p. 454). Without confidence in
the literacy tasks delivered in school settings, boys lack the ability to succeed in these literacy
tasks. In addition, Smith and Wilhelm (2004) mention that confidence of competency does not
translate between different subjects and activities. “A boy who feels competent in his literate life
outside of school may not extend that feeling to his literate activity inside of school” (p. 455).
One reason boys may not be able to translate the reading competency they experience
outside of school and bring that same competency into school is that texts taught in school
include genres unfamiliar and/or uninteresting to boys. Boltz (2007) notes “most classroom
reading instruction is aesthetic reading,” reading that focuses on “literary qualities” (p. 3). Boys
tend to gravitate toward what Rosenblatt (1995) terms “efferent reading,” reading for
informational purposes. In addition, Boltz mentions that books boys tend to like, facts-based
information books, science fiction, humor and horror “are chosen to inform and entertain; they
are not chosen for their story or literary quality” (p. 2). “Since informational texts are more
difficult to read out loud in class,” Boltz notes, “teachers often don’t bother.” Other genres boys
like, such as humor and horror, often include books that appear on banned book lists and,
consequently, also aren’t read in classrooms (p.3).
In addition to the link between motivation and choice in reading material, video games
have been found to motivate students since they “support intrinsic motivation” (Felicia, 2011, p.
4). “When students are engaged in activities that are intrinsically motivating, they are more prone
to demonstrate deep learning” (p. 4). Furthermore, students interacting with video games “often
experience a state of flow where they are immersed, engaged and willing to achieve the goals
and aims of the activity, regardless of the challenges ahead” (p. 5). Thus, using video games and
online interactive activities in learning environments provides a different medium for motivating
students to learn content.
Running Head: BOOKS AND LITERARY WEBSITES FOR BOYS IN GRADES K-5 4
Another benefit of using video games for learning purposes is that “students can
complete exercises repeatedly, with increasing difficulty and challenges” (Felicia, 2011, p. 8).
Students can work on a discipline’s content through a video game environment before or after
material is introduced in class by a teacher. Thus activities serve as an introduction to material
or as practice for concepts already introduced. Teachers can assign easier modules of concepts at
first and allow students to naturally progress to harder aspects of a concept or lesson as they
excel. In addition, activities can be completed in or out of class, allowing for students to pace
themselves, working at their own speed.
Project Details Step-By-Step
The goal in designing this project was to create an online site for teachers, tutors, parents
and educators to refer to when they are searching for books, magazines and online game-like
literacy activities that will interest and motivate boys in grades K-5 to read.
1. My first step in creating this project was to identify a problem and create a solution. In
this project, I have identified that it is, at times, difficult to motivate and interest boys in
reading. The solution is a website dedicated to reading materials and online literary
activities of interest to boys.
2. I created a free Google website https://sites.google.com/site/boysreadk5/home. You can
do this if you have a Google account. If not, you will need to sign up for a Google
account before you can create a site. It is free to create a Google website.
3. Next, through research, I determined the genres of books I would like to have included in
my website. Genres were decided upon through reading a PBS site, Books Boys Want to
Read, and an article by the American Association of School Librarians titled, “What We
Want: Boys and Girls Talk about Reading.” I created a separate webpage within the
website for each genre. Within each genre, I created two lists of books, one list for
grades K-2 and one list for grades 3-5. I linked each book title and author to the
corresponding www.amazon.com page, so readers could see the cover of the book and
ready a synopsis of what the book was about. On each genre page, one book is selected
as the feature book by including a book trailer, book review or movie trailer link, giving
the reader extra information about a select number of books. The intention here was to
appeal to different types of readers.
4. I also created separate webpages for magazines and their respective websites, Common
Core State Standards for Foundational Skills and Reading Literature and Informational
texts and websites that provide interactive activities pertaining to the five reading
competencies: phonemic awareness and phonics, fluency, vocabulary and
comprehension. Each site is free of charge to users.
Running Head: BOOKS AND LITERARY WEBSITES FOR BOYS IN GRADES K-5 5
5. Next, I created a rubric assessment tool that would allow users to determine the usability
of the site.
6. Finally, the site will be promoted via social media including Twitter, Facebook and
Instagram.
7. This project can be expanded to include additional genres and titles within existing
genres. Additional websites for online game-like literacy activities can also be added,
including sites that require a membership or cost. This project can also be adapted to
include other disciplines or areas of interest, including educational apps, books for boys
in middle and high school, math, science, history, geography or environmental science.
Rubric
Unsatisfactory (1)
Content of Delivery
Method
Appropriate
Number of Books
and Websites Listed
Needs Improvement
(3)
Did not use online
Used online medium
medium to share and to share information,
disseminate
but didn’t link books
information
or media to
appropriate sites
Few books listed for Listed some texts for
each genre; missing
each genre at both
books for select
the K-2 and 3-5
grade levels. Not
levels; provided
many sites for online some online literacy
literacy activities
activities
Dissemination of Site Didn’t share the site
with anyone and
didn’t post any links
to social media
networks
Shared the site with
a few people and
didn’t post the link
to site on social
media networks
Meets Expectations
(5)
Appropriately used
online medium to
share and
disseminate
information
Listed a wide range
of texts for each
genre for both K-2
and 3-5 grade levels;
provided a plethora
of sites for online
literacy activities
Shared the site with
teachers, family,
friends and
classmates and
posted link to site on
social media
networks, including
Facebook, Instagram
and Twitter
Running Head: BOOKS AND LITERARY WEBSITES FOR BOYS IN GRADES K-5 6
Resources
Alvermann, D. (2013). Syllabus 7910e: New literacies. University of Georgia.
Boltz, R.H. (2007). What we want: boys and girls talk about reading. School Library Media
Research. V10.
Felicia, P. (2012). Motivation in games: a literature review. International Journal of Computer
Science in Sport. 11(1), 4-14
PBS Parents. (2003-2013). Best books for boys. In Books boys want to read. Retrieved from
http://www.pbs.org/parents/best-books-for-boys/books-boys-want-to-read.html
Smith, M. & Wilhelm, J.D. (2004). “I just like being good at it”: the importance of competence
in the literate lives of young men. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy. 47(6), 454461.