reading for their life getting it right: building a bridge to literacy for adolescent african-...
TRANSCRIPT
Reading for their Life
Getting it Right: Building a Bridge to Literacy for Adolescent African-
American Males
Why Worry about African American Males?
Creative Commons License 3.0 from David Parker
Only 14% of African American 8th graders reached proficiency on national reading tests
(NAEP Data 2009)Image under Creative Commons 3.0 by Ian Britton
Fewer than half of African American males receive their high school diplomas.
(National Summary: Diplomas Count 2008)Image from BV Black Spin
African Americans between the ages of 15 and 24 are roughly eight times more likely to be
the victim of homicide than whites in the same age group.
Source: Health, United States 2009. Image licensed under Creative Commons 2.0 by Mika Jarvinen
The unemployment rate for African American males is nearly twice that of white males.
Source: The Employment Situation, 2010. Image from Grand Rapids Press
African American men comprise
over 40% of the prison population
in the United States, despite making up only
14% of the national
population.
Source: Prison Inmates at Midyear 2009. Image from 37 Days
Literacy can define a person's path through life.
"underexposure to texts… contributes to a life in
which [they] experience greater economic,
judicial, and social strife and disappointment"
(Tatum 2009, xii).
An Enabling Text Should:
Teach students to be, do, think, and act.
My Grandfather’s Son: A Memoir by Clarence Thomas
Image from www.mygrandfathersson.com
An Enabling Text Should:
Show students who they are, where they come
from, and who they want to be (a sense of identity)
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass by Frederick Douglass
An Enabling Text Should
Contain elements or characters that
students can identify with and
relate to
Handbook for Boys by Walter Dean Myers
Menace
Destiny
You Don't Even Know MeVocabulary
I’ve been wondering lately,Trying to figure out just how it could beThat you can see me so oftenAnd still don’t know a thing about me.
- Sharon Flake, "You Don't Even Know Me"
I am an invisible man.... I am a man of substance, of flesh and bone, fiber and liquids - and I might even be said to possess a mind. I am invisible, understand, simply because people refuse to see me.
- Ralph Ellison, The Invisible Man, 1952
Text to Introduce the Text
Framing Question Criteria
* Larger than the Text itself
* Not be able to be answered with a "Yes" or "No"
* Students can connect it to their lives
Further Resources for "Getting it Right"
Boone, J., Rawson, C., & Vance, K. (2010). Getting it right: Building a bridge to literacy for African-American adolescent males. School Library Monthly, 27(2), 34-37.
Reading for their Life: An Appendix Created for School Librarians
Reading For Their Lives in Durham, North Carolina
