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

Alfred Tatum on RFTL

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

"You Don't Even Know Me"

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

Presenter Contact Information

Casey Rawsoncrawson@email.unc.edu

Katy Vancekjvance@email.unc.edu