Customer Reviews

Boy Writers: Reclaiming Their Voices

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Why 5 Stars for Boy Writers?

- Ralph Fletcher saw the urgency to address the unique needs of boys
- The book fulfills its mission to help parents and educators better understand the unique circumstances that apply to many boys.
- The chapters are SHORT and TARGET specific issues, supported by real-life writing samples, and conclude with a "What Can I Do In My Classroom?" quick-to-implement suggestions.
- Writing samples with comments from the author tap into a fountain of ideas.
- Fletchers qualifications (experience, expertise) are impressive, he is PERCEPTIVE and draws on a rich history working with young writers.
- This book leaves you with greater compassion for your son/student's writing struggles. The appearance of laziness/boredom does not equate to indifference with respect to being heard.
- Humorous anecdotes make the total package an enjoyable read!

While 'Boy Writers' does NOT provide all the answers to my questions in how to motivate my son to write (can anyone?), it certainly illuminates the path to guiding the budding writer - with wisdom and compassion - to make his voice heard.

I'm planning to order 5 more copies to give away to friends and teachers!

I would also suggest reading "Why Gender Matters" by Leonard Sax to review some of the research (most with a sound scientific basis) and solutions on how to develop a greater appreciation/understanding for the strengths as well as the developmental challenges of both genders.

Having trouble with boys who don't much want to write? Don't get their humor? Don't understand their interests? Wondering how you can get more work out of them, perhaps?

Teachers with questions like these would do well to read a book like BOY WRITERS. Ralph Fletcher examines genres that boys like (humor, non-fiction, parody, for instance) and genres they don't (personal narrative and other pieces requiring reflection, for instance). Fletcher also provides tips on what to do should the boys push the envelope a bit in their writing (and they will).

If you feel that there's not much difference between the boys' and the girls' work in your class, then you may not need to read this unless you're interested in gender research as it applies to education. If, on the other hand, you are often baffled by the XY chromosomed ones, by all means buy this book. It may not only be an eye opener, it may be a possibility opener for the boys in your classroom. They'll thank you for it (well, not to your face, but you get the idea...).

While taking a course on teaching writing, one of the recommended texts was this book. I ordered it, and it really changed several things I am doing in my classes.

Most of my students are boys, and I had worried at how little they bought in to writing. The change in their attitudes and in their final product was quite startling. The guys had a voice, but I was keeping them from speaking.

This book can help parents and teachers to allow boys to build their writing and reading skills.

Flecture's Boy Writers explains the discrepancy between girls and boys in classroom writing and provides educators with practical advise to help to decrease this discrepancy. Flecture urges educators to investigate why boys are not willing to write at the same level as girls. He makes personal connections with the reader through male children's writing and challenges us to allow boys freedom to write with out boundaries.
"Behavior is shaped by and maintained by its consequences" (Skinner, 1989). Boys writing behavior and disengage in writing has been shaped by the experiences with writing in their past. Educators that insulted their handwriting or discouraged them from using humor, fantasy, or violence in their works helped to form and maintain this behavior. Boy's low self-efficacy in writing will typically result in the work avoidance in classrooms today (McCabe, 2006). Bandura's theory the belief about one's competence on a prospective task will influence their behavior on this task hammers home the importance of the role of the educator in creating situations for boys to be successful in writing.
While presenting Boy Writers to a graduate class, teachers shared with me their experiences with boy writers. Teachers shared having boys struggle to put a few words on a page where girls would fill pages with descriptive quality writing. Many of the teachers in this class used writing workshop which Flecture supports and have found that boys are more willing to write when allowed freedom. Teachers also shared with me using the book Guys write for Guys Read edited Jon Scieszka and daily reading for text by Ronald Dahl to create a more guy friendly classroom and another teacher has a boys writing club and allows children to spend time writing in their club each day. Together we discussed the importance of balancing instruction so that it was gender neutral and creating a writing curriculum where nothing is off limits.
Boy Writers is an excellent resource for educators trying to engage all children in the joy of writing. I came away from reading this book with renewed confidence in my own ability to help engage my male students in writing. Flecture did not answer all my questions, but he was able to examine to roles teachers have in engaging male in writing with witty personal stories, youth writing, and classroom applications.


McCabe, P. (2006). Convincing students they can learn to read. Clearing House, 79(6),
252-257.

Skinner, B. F. (1989). The origins of cognitive thought. Recent Issues in the Analysis of Behavior. Merrill
Publishing Copy

In Boy Writers: Reclaiming Their Voices, Fletcher set out to investigate why many boys are disengaged when it comes to writing and most importantly, what we can do, as educators, to engage boy writers. Fletcher obtained information about boy writers by interviewing and surveying boys of all ages, observing boys in writers' workshop, and interviewing and surveying approximately 100 teachers around the country. After compiling the data, Fletcher devised a list of common characteristics that boy writers posses. Then, Fletcher investigated when boys are engaged in writing (e.g. instant messaging, blogging, etc.) and determined how we could apply some of the same principles to writing in school (e.g. self-directed topic selection, content valued over mechanics, comfortable environment, etc.). Throughout the book, Fletcher included numerous suggestions for engaging boy writers. He even addressed issues of handwriting, humor, and violence.

As a fourth grade teacher and graduate student, I highly recommend this book. Boy Writers: Reclaiming Their Voices is "an easy read," includes humor, and contains pertinent, practical information for teachers to help reach boy writers. Boy Writers: Reclaiming Their Voices has the power to transform writing instruction and allow boy writers to reclaim their voices!

All teachers should read this book. Repeat: All teachers should read this book. I am a mom of boys and a 4th grade teacher who tries really, really hard to run an equitable classroom. I love stinky, naughty, squirrely, squirmy boys. After reading Fletcher's book I will be changing some of my practices.

I knew there was an "issue" among boy writers, but didn't get it until my 1st grader brought home a terrible piece of writing about stuffed animals. I was crabbing at him when he said, "But I thought it was supposed to be about tea parties and dress up, and I don't do that mom!" That hit me like a ton of bricks. He has a fabulous, fabulous teacher and I know that she never expressed that sentiment. After discussing how he could have written about playing army or knights with his stuffed animals, I picked this little gem up.

Let me repeat it one more time: All teachers should read this book!!!

In this book, Fletcher addresses the much neglected needs of boys in the classroom (especially in the reading and writing classroom). He offers practical suggestions for how to get your boys engaged and interested in writing, including allowing humor and to some extent even violence in the classroom. Consider true masters such as Edgar Allen Poe or Ernest Hemingway, and the purposefully crafted violence their writings contained. This book is definitely a must-read for all teachers. The only thing I am wary of is trying to find a balanced classroom environment that is comfortable and fair for both genders.

GREAT BOOK!! Especially for teachers. It really helps us women get into the heads of the boys and truly get them interested in writing. This book will help me greatly in my future teaching experiences and helping boys become more successful in writing.

This book fearlessly states what every honest writing teacher knows and should be a must-read for every Language Arts supervisor, certainly for every writing teacher.

This is a great book for any teacher. It really makes you think about your boys and how your respond to them in class. I love the section at the end of each chapter that talks about what you can do in your classroom.