Homeboyz book trailer

Comments by Alan Sitomer, the author of Homeboyz.

First off, consider the audience. I teach at an inner city Title I school that boasts a near 50% drop-out rate -- and we are not alone by any stretch. Philly, Oakland, Atlanta, Detroit -- there are scores of schools facing the same issues we are in our classrooms. So how does this relate? Let me see...

1) Kids are disengaged from schoolwork.
2) Kids have exceptionally low literacy levels.
3) Kids overtly boast that they hate to read.
4) Kids are dying to be asked to tap their creative talents and use technology in the classroom -- which we are rarely, if ever, doing.
5) Violence, gangs, guns and drugs deeply impact their community.
6) They read the book, put their own words and images to the text in a "new" manner, brought literary elements such as tone, mood, symbolism and characterization to the table and did so on their own time outside of class -- demonstrating great work ethic and lots of fantastic attention to detail. (i.e. the person who authored this cared about their work.)
7) Lots of homework gets assigned -- especially over the summer. Lots also gets blown off.
8) About 10 zillion extended conversations can now be opened in the "text-to-world" arena. (Really, how many venn diagrams could be assigned? Or how about extending it into an expository composition on poverty or gangs or self-esteem or violence in American society?
9) Digital literacy is an element we are all wrestling with yet their fluency in being able to construct this type of composition certainly represents a "literacy skill of the 21rst century," no?
10) Engagement is a HUGE problem in American education today. Students WANT to compose projects like this. It validates their interests, their creativity and their individuality. A one size fits all approaches to reaching today's students doesn't work. Let kids choose their own book and explore the connection -- of which so many are so evident.

But that's just off the top of my head.

Created using a site called Animoto, which has a free teachers site