Crouching Tigers, Reading Dragons: Creating a Reading Challenge Program
Originally presented July 7, 2009.
Join guest presenters from Seattle and British Columbia as they share their experiences and expertise with the Global Reading Challenge/Reading Link Challenge, a program that encourages team building, reading for retention, and cooperation between school and public libraries. Using a “quiz bowl” format, the program has successfully challenged teams of young readers across the country for over a decade. The presenters will demonstrate how the program can fit into your library’s programming, regardless of size or budget; and how it can be done in one building, between public libraries and public schools, or across state or international borders. The program emphasizes books that reflect a diversity of backgrounds, and encourages 4th and 5th grade students of all reading abilities to engage in the "sport" of reading.
Presenters:
Ada Con, Diversity Services & Programming Coordinator, Fraser Valley Regional Library (BC)
Mary Palmer, Global Reading Challenge Coordinator, The Seattle Public Library (WA)
Archive options:
- View the slides (pdf)
- View Chat log (xls)
Learn more about this topic on WebJunction:
- Explore other WebJunction resources on this topic:
Services to Children including Early Literacy and Programming and Outreach
Services to Spanish Speakers, an area on Families, Teens, & Kids
And a new group: Reading Challenge Programs
Reading Challenge resources:
- Global Reading Challenge http://www.spl.org/default.asp?pageID=audience_children_global
- Reading Link Challenge http://readinglink.bclibrary.ca/
- Global Reading Challenge Wiki http://globalreadingchallenge.wikispaces.com/ including Seattle resources.
- King County Library System program www.kcls.org/kids/whattoread/grc.cfm
- Kalamazoo Public Library program kpl.gov/kids/global-reading-challenge.aspx
- University of Chicago Laboratory Schools library.ucls.uchicago.edu/GRC09/Home_of_GRC09.html
- Video coverage of Reading Challenge events in Seattle and Kalamazoo and a longer DVD is available from presenter Ada Con.
- Library Grants Blog for ideas on funding for your program.
Why the Global Reading Challenge Matters
Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA.):
“If you want to know how many prison cells to build, look at the number of third graders who can’t read.”
Orator, Lecturer and Preacher Henry Ward Beecher:
"A library is not a luxury but one of the necessities of life."
Research shows that boys lag behind girls in their reading abilities. The GRC is a way to encourage children to engage in the “sport” of reading. Boys, on the average, are one and a half grades behind girls in reading. In his book, “Connecting Boys with Books: What Libraries Can Do,” author Michael Sullivan states that “Boys will respond to programs that feed their competitive spirit. All the benefits of healthy competition can be had in a setting that emphasizes the development of the mind. Challenge the minds of boys and they will be more inclined to exercise them. Effective programming that recognizes boys’ interests, learning styles and needs will help bring boys and books together and turn interested participants into avid readers.” While competition is not the main goal of the GRC, it draws many boys to join teams and the end result is that they read more books than they would have without this program.
Research in relation to the 4th grade slump has gone on since the 1960’s and articles on this topic and reading research are listed below.
Reading Research Articles
Poor Children’s 4th Grade Slump
http://www.aft.org/pubs-reports/american_educator/spring2003/chall.html
Tales of a Fourth Grade Slump
http://www.colorincolorado.org/article/13284
Understanding the Fourth Grade Slump: Comprehension Difficulties as a Function of Reader Aptitudes and Text Genre
http://csep.psyc.memphis.edu/McNamara/pdf/bestetal.pdf
Understanding Fourth Grade Slump: Our Point of View
http://www.kdp.org/publications/theeducationalforum/pdf/sanacore.pdf
From School Library Journal article on the book, “The Trouble with Boys” by Peg Tyre
http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/article/CA6615526.html
Tyre’s findings, which are sure to generate discussion and debate, are well worth exploring. They include:
- boys were 60 percent more likely than girls to get held back in kindergarten
- 39 percent of all first-graders in the country get 20 minutes a day of recess or less
- 14 percent of boys across the nation were identified as having ADHD by the time they reached their sixteenth birthday
- 72 percent of girls and only 65 percent of boys graduate from high school
- 57.2 percent of undergraduates in college are female, and that disparity is expected to grow
“Boys and Books” promoting a book by William Brozo and Debby Zambo
http://www.reading.org/General/Publications/ReadingToday/RTY-0812-boys.aspx
One such educator and researcher is William G. Brozo, a professor of literacy at George Mason University and the author of the popular IRA book To Be a Boy, To Be a Reader: Engaging Teen and Preteen Boys in Active Literacy. He also serves as coauthor with Debby Zambo, who teaches educational psychology and reading at Arizona State University, of the brand-new IRA title Bright Beginnings for Boys: Engaging Young Boys in Active Literacy. This extends the concepts from To Be a Boy, To Be a Reader to younger readers who are just beginning their literacy journey. Still, boys present a special challenge. Brozo noted the following facts about boys’ reading and writing, gathered from a variety of sources:
- By fourth grade, the average boy is two years behind the average girl in reading and writing.
- Boys score significantly lower than girls on the National Assessment of Educational Progress reading and writing assessments.
- Boys make up 70% of special education classes and are four times more likely to have ADHD than girls.
- Boys are 50% more likely to be retained a grade than girls and are three times more likely to be placed in reading/learning disabilities settings.
- Boys around the world score less well than girls in reading and writing and have lower motivation to read and write than their female counterparts.
How can we make boys love reading? Some answers from literate men
http://www.leeandlow.com/p/boys.mhtml
Research on Boys comments by Marc Aronson on April, 2009:
Disney Expert uses Science to draw boy viewers: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/14/arts/television/14boys.html
"Disney has hired researchers to learn about ages 6-14. I was struck by one observation -- boys liking small improvements in skills, rather than identifying with the absolute ace champion. Contrast the open-minded thinking, the effort, the money spent on understanding boys with, for example, summer reading lists that never include "how to" books, and where sports, if present at all, will be in some biography of Roberto Clemente, or a Matt Christopher novel.
"I say it again and again, the problem with boys and reading is how little effort adults spend in understanding boys. Sure Disney has a lot of money and a big financial incentive to learn about boys. But, as the article says, they are making some of their information public. Couldn't ALA enter into some partnership with them -- offering all sorts of kudus and praise to Disney -- and learn how to develop better boy-reading-gaming-using the library programs?"
Breaking Down Boys and Books
http://www.expressnews.ualberta.ca/article.cfm?id=2249
Leveraging Gender Differences to Boost Test Scores
http://www.naesp.org/resources/2/Principal/2008/J-Fp48.pdf
Boys and Reading: Action Research in Boys' Schools, 2005-06
http://www.theibsc.org/page.cfm?p=1290
Smart Boys/Bad Grades
http://www.smartboysbadgrades.com/smartboys_badgrades.pdf
Why Boys Don’t Like to Read
http://www.ccl-cca.ca/CCL/Reports/LessonsInLearning/LinL20090218Whyboysdontliketoread.htm
