Girls as “Struggling Readers”: Delineating the Sociopolitical and Sociocultural Terrains of Books and Reading

Graff, Jennifer M.

doi:10.1598/rrq.44.4.3

Cited by 4 publications

(1 citation statement)

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“…Book clubs typically adopt small-group, student-directed structures, organized around gender, age, or genre and are hosted either within or outside classrooms (Polleck, 2010(Polleck, , 2011Smith, 2000;Vyas, 2004). Participation in such discussions such as those promoted in book clubs is especially important for female students who experience reading difficulties, as they may be unversed in school Discourses related to expectations, culture, and literacy (Gavelek & Bresnahan, 2009), and overlooked for intervention (Liederman, Kantrowitz & Flannary, 2005;Graff, 2009;Sprague & Keeling, 2009), with their voices often overshadowed by their male counterparts (Clarke, 2007;Osler, 2006). Equally important, these discussions can assist students in identifying how female characters are often represented in stereotypical and/or peripheral manners in text.…”

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confidence: 99%

Advancing from a Diary Cartoon Novel to Young Adult Fiction: Exploring Issues of Gender and Power with Girls with Reading Difficulties

Woloshyn¹,

Taber²,

Lane³

2012

teachlearn

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Learning disabilities are often referred to as invisible exceptionalities, with reading difficulties representing the most common form of learning disability. Girls with reading difficulties are often overshadowed by their male counterparts and as such overlooked for intervention programs. In this article, we detail our research conducting a book club intended to assist four preadolescent girls who struggle with reading to engage and critique text in context of societal issues related to gender and self-empowerment. We outline how we used recursive, higher-level question prompts and corresponding discussion-based activities to advance from reading a diary cartoon novel (Dork Diaries) to a more difficult young adult novel (The Hunger Games). Our findings present the girls’ responses to the texts and highlight the importance of holding ongoing structured conversations and engaging youth in a societal gendered critique. Learning disabilities are often referred to as invisible exceptionalities, with reading difficulties representing the most common form of learning disability. Girls with reading difficulties are often overshadowed by their male counterparts and as such overlooked for intervention programs. In this article, we detail our research conducting a book club intended to assist four preadolescent girls who struggle with reading to engage and critique text in context of societal issues related to gender and self-empowerment. We outline how we used recursive, higher-level question prompts and corresponding discussion-based activities to advance from reading a diary cartoon novel (Dork Diaries) to a more difficult young adult novel (The Hunger Games). Our findings present the girls’ responses to the texts and highlight the importance of holding ongoing structured conversations and engaging youth in a societal gendered critique.

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