* Do you want boys to write? Start a blog! A primary school in Greater Manchester, England, claims that getting students to blog has helped make writing “cool.”
Pupils at Heathfield County Primary in Bolton regularly write blogs which are published on the school’s website.
Formerly, boys especially were not interested in writing, said the school.
But the number of students blogging has flourished while their results have risen almost seven-fold.
“The enthusiasm levels of the children are really, really high,” said deputy head David Mitchell who has pioneered online teaching at the school which includes blog writing.”
* Eight fights not worth having with your children (Check out #2). Judith Ancer writes:
2. It’s not worth fighting with your kids about what they’re reading, unless they’re not reading at all.
* Local football players visit classrooms to inspire boy (and girl) readers. Reports Linda Stein:
Photo: Geoff Patton.
TOWAMENCIN — Not even shoulder surgery could keep T.J. Smink from reading to students at General Nash Elementary School.
Smink, a center for the North Penn High School Knights who’s also a baseball player, was one of 70 football team members who fanned out to elementary schools in the district to read to younger children for the annual Reading Super Bowl on Thursday.
Cheryl Neubert, a parent who spearheaded the event in 2005, said the event has grown over the years to include all 13 elementary schools in the district.
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“A lot of kids look at football stars as their ideals,” [reading specialist Stacie] Moseley said. “A lot of boys, reading isn’t their priority.”
* The Brown Bookshelf, an absolutely great blog, recently ran a terrific interview with author Torrey Maldonado, a public school teacher who has some things to say about boys and reading:
“If we want better men, we must get more boys reading, period. Boys from A to Z connect to Secret Saturdays. I joke and say I use a few magic tricks to grab the interest of guys. Here’s one secret: I wrote Secret Saturdays so alpha male teens wouldn’t feel soft carrying it. And they do. On one hand, a maximum security jail for high school boys asked me to visit because their inmates LOVE my book and, on the other hand, honor roll student-fans phone i
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