The Schools Blog

A new campaign to encourage boys to embrace the joy of reading has been launched by the Deputy Minister for Skills, John Griffiths.

The campaign, Read A Million Words Together, has been developed by the Welsh Assembly Government’s Basic Skills Cymru team with the aim of ensuring that more boys in Wales achieve the levels of literacy necessary to succeed.

Building on the success of Read a Million Words in 2007, the campaign focuses on making reading more accessible to boys, extending the range of reading materials in the curriculum to include more non-fiction titles, short stories and books which appeal to boys’ tastes.

The campaign draws on research into boys’ literacy by Dr David Booth from Ontario Canada, and targets boys aged 9 to 14 who are reluctant readers. The campaign encourages boys to read with other boys and with male family members such as fathers, brothers, uncles, grand fathers and others in a caring capacity.

A copy of ‘Me Read No Way!’, based on Dr Booth’s and other expert’s research has been sent to all schools in Wales.  The guide focuses on thirteen key strategies to encourage boys to become readers and to motivate them to read inside and outside of the classroom.

A £500,000 literacy resource grant distributed amongst primary and secondary schools in Wales will allow them to purchase more resources to support the development of boys’ literacy. A comic called Time Troopers will also be developed to encourage boys to relish reading.

Dr David Booth is Professor Emeritus and Scholar in Residence at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto where he teaches doctoral students studying the arts in education and literacy education.

Tony Attwood