Encouraging your son to read

Study Skills Orientation
for
Year 10 and 11 Parents
Why focus on parents?
‘A child’s education is the shared responsibility of the school and
the home. Outside the school, the home is the most salient source
of learning, encouragement and support for a child.’
Allison Rich, Beyond the Classroom: How Parents Influence Their Children’s Education, Centre for Independent Studies,
Accessed online 4/2/11
Pincer Movement
Approach
Records suggest the great leader and army strategist, Hannibal, executed
this manoeuvre in 216 BC. This is viewed by military historians as one of
the greatest battlefield manoeuvres in history, and is cited as the first
successful use of the pincer movement to be recorded in detail.
The complete book of military science, abridged.
Retrieved on-line March 25, 2006
Let’s avoid this ...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=25wZB6xQoik
The 4 Week Programme
Monday 4 Feb:
Healthy Body … Healthy Mind
Monday 11 Feb: The English Course, assignment writing and reading
Monday 18 Feb: Using the Internet and Online Resources
Monday 25 Feb: How best to help you son succeed at school
The Value of Scholarship:
Jo Inglis - Head of Learning and Teaching
Encouraging your son to read
What is it about boys and reading?
Once a boy finds the right book, he can
become an avid reader! It is finding the right
book that is the trick.
‘Ignore her. It’s just another
attention-getting device.’
Research suggests it is easier to instil
the habit of reading in girls than in
boys. Girls, generally, are not
kinaesthetic learners and as a result
do not usually require the learning
process to be a ‘physical’ experience.
‘We’re very proud of our little
Charlie. His reading age is far in
advance of his chronological age ...’
What happens at home is crucial in developing a boy’s relationship with reading.
Advice to parents ..
• To help your son get into reading ...
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Lead by example ... particularly fathers and older brothers
Read newspapers and discuss some recent issues
Start a family book club
Find the time to turn electronic devices off
Invest in an e-reader
Start a collection of audio books; especially comedy for all
Become familiar with your son’s set school novels
Have a good range of books available at home
Make your son join the local library
Take an interest in your son’s reading habits
Give incentives!
Styles to Consider..
Picture Books
Graphic Novels
Wordless Texts
Short Story collections
Non-Fiction
Fiction – general
Diary format
Genres to Consider ...
Comedy
Fantasy
Drama
Crime/thriller
Historical fiction
Biography
Realism
Action
Some books boys can’t put down ...
ACAH 2010
The Asian Conference on Arts and Humanities
June 18 to 21, Osaka, Japan
Picture Books of Note ...
A Picture Book Study
Four Literary Considerations:
* Context
* Character
* Audience
* Purpose
Read with Dick and Jane
Fun with Dick and Jane - 1946
The Happy Venture Readers
Dick and Dora, Nip and Fluff - 1958
http://www.belfastforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=38710.0
The juxtaposition of
picture and word creates
a narrative in itself.
While words may be left out and
the images become the story,
similarly, the images are supported
and embellished by the word.
Tan, S. (2001). The red tree. South Melbourne: Lothian Books
The counterpoint
between picture
and word creates
yet another story.
And sometimes, no
text is required at all
when establishing the
mood, context, or
purpose of the story
Tan, S. (2001). The red tree. South Melbourne: Lothian Books
There are three levels of connection for
readers of picture books:
the picture
the word and
the combination of both
Tan, S. (2000). The lost thing. South Melbourne: Lothian Books
Quality illustrators and
authors do not illustrate
exactly what the words
suggest – there should be a
‘space’ in the text where
picture and word are juggled
to create the perfect
combination for storytelling.
Crew, G. (1994). The watertower (S. Woolman, Illus.). Flinders
Park, South Australia: Era Publications.
End papers and front covers are worth looking
at, too. Nothing can be overlooked as the work is
an entire unit of literature not just a series of
images with some words.
Marsden, J. (1998). The rabbits (S. Tan, Illus.). Port Melbourne: Lothian Books.
The Island
by Armin Greder
Requiem for a Beast
by Matt Ottley
ACAH 2010
The Asian Conference on Arts and Humanities
The
Armin
Greder
JuneIsland
18 toby
21,
Osaka,
Japan
The story of a naked stranger
washed up on an island
inhabited by grotesque
caricatures of human example.
The very survival of this island
seems founded on the outdated
premise of isolationism and
protectionism.
ACAH 2010
The Asian Conference on Arts and Humanities
June 18 to 21, Osaka, Japan
Greder’s work evokes an
unsettling tone when
considering the journey
undertaken and the man’s
reception upon arrival.
Consider:
• Page layout and design
• Text placement
• Blankness and space
ACAH 2010
The Asian Conference on Arts and Humanities
June 18 to 21, Osaka, Japan
Consider:
• Nakedness
• Shadowing
• Enforced isolation
ACAH 2010
The Asian Conference on Arts and Humanities
June 18 to 21, Osaka, Japan
The glaringly obvious
prejudices and resulting
fears of the locals encourage
student reaction.
Consider:
• Shading and colours
• Actual image
• Non-verbal communication
ACAH 2010
The Asian Conference on Arts and Humanities
June 18 to 21, Osaka, Japan
The more terrified the
villagers become, the
more devilishly the man is
depicted.
Consider:
• Positioning and body
posture of the character
• Hidden agendas
ACAH 2010
The Asian Conference on Arts and Humanities
June 18 to 21, Osaka, Japan
Concerns about immigration
become serious discussion points
but students also begin to
understand the sophisticated social
and moral fears of those who have
journeyed to another land.
Consider:
• Juxtaposition of man and nature
• Created context
• Isolationism and protectionism
A genre crossover
work, consisting of
a conventional
prose text , a
visual text and
accompanying CD
of music
“'Foul' kids' book Requiem for a Beast one of the century's best”
Rosemary Sorensen in The Australian August 23, 2008
There are two
narratives involved
in Requiem for a
Beast. One is the
story of a young
stockman as he
pursues a wild
bull.
The other is the
recounting of the
childhood
experiences of an
Aboriginal Elder
who was taken
from her family.
There are four voices in this work …
the Aboriginal Elder
(italicised)
the boy
(handwritten)
the music which explores
moods and themes
the narration (in third-person
present-tense weaving together
the Elder’s and boy’s stories)
The church-like architecture of the schoolhouse echoes the missionary influence in
outback Australia and the treatment of
indigenous people in White Australian history.
Raised tendons and veins in the
boy’s hand suggest tension in
his body and his situation.
The fragmented frames
highlight the charged
environment. As the boy’s
fingers slowly connect with
the door handle, tension
builds as what’s behind the
door is a mystery. , unsure of
what lies behind the door.
There is a narrative device used in the first frame
of this graphic sequence which is important in
what it implies about a reading of the visual
narrative. The last sentence of the previous prose
text section (And sitting among the gnarled trees
and anthills, is a small steepled…) is completed
within the image (school house). Here the viewer
must learn to read the visual text with the same
deliberation as the word text.
The last four frames imitate
the rise of the steps leading
to the door.
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More Good
Books for
Boys is not
‘the definitive
list’ of
reading for
boys.
It is a starting
point for boys
(and parents) to
begin the
secondary
school reading
(and literacy)
continuum.