5-7yo boys: what are they into? what interests them?

[Hulababy]

Further to my other thread re. story sacks:

So far all of the children I am being asked to work with, for additional support and encouragement with their reading/literacy are boys.

I need to put together some story sacks suitable for use with these children, but I really need to get them on board and really engaged as much as possible.

So, what do the 5-7yo boys you know/have really like/ What gets them fired up, geys their imagination and interests flowing?

Do they have any favourite stories they like to read/have read to them?

(These are chldren struggling with literacy and we are looking for books to be read out loud to them in a limited period of time, so not chapter books, etc.) Can be fiction and non fiction, and don't have to be just books - other media is fine.

Any help? Thank you.

we got loads of books v cheap through the schoollink website. Also definitely comics - my brother learnt to read(30 years ago!) from the star wars comics.

scooby doo
transformers
ben 10
ninja turtles

playstation
trampoline

trains
planes

mecchano(sp?) type stuff
lego/duplo
crafty stuff

making a mess

sorry books
anything really
if he can get his hands on it and I let him read it
had to actively discourage him from read the lion the witch and the wardrobe today as I know it would upset him too much

That is the final goal/aim bronze - to get these boys wanting to go off and read

DS1 is just coming up to 7.

He is fascinated by anything scientific and particularly likes reference books as he can read short snippets of info and learn quotable things quickly.

Other current obsessions interests include:

How the human body works
Volcanoes/wild weather etc
Space exploration
Robots
Scientific experiments he can do at home
Info on how things work or are made
Car racing and racing cars in general
Computers and computer games
Bottom and bogey jokes

Basically anything he can learn about quickly (hence the reference books) and then sound really clever by telling everyone what he has learned! (and anything that is both funny and disgusting at the same time!)

Interestingly, when he was at the end of Reception he completely lost interest in reading (thank you ORT) and his teacher tried him with reference/info books to peak his interest. He is now and avid reader of any sort of reference book he can get his hands on and enjoys reading fiction as well.

Just remembered he used to really prefer to read rhyming books more than the typical boring Biff and Chip stuff as well. We bought him several kids funny poetry books which he loves.

Have you looked at The Book People website? There are some good non fiction sets and they work out quite cheap. www.thebookpeople.co.uk/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10051&storeId=10001&produ ctId=150694&langId=100&categoryId=48113&parentcategoryrn=&catEntrySection=about&reviewTypeRef=revi ew.type_user&reviewStatusRef=review.status_live&fromPage=category#extraFeaturesMenu

Have bought from Book People before, but tend to do regular library runs these days as it would be too expensive to keep up with him otherwise!

Would Rumble in the Jungle be okay for the Y2 age range?

I assume Aliens love Underpants is too young too? Anyone know of another read aloud, silly fiction book which is space related?

anything sciencey

my 5 yo is not into batman/dr who etc btw. Am just saying, not all are.

there is an astrosaurs series about dinosaurs in space - ds1 (6) said it was fantastic and wants me to get some more. Could combine that with a dinosaur fact book, some toy dinosaurs, a jigsaw, maybe some sort of dinosaur game

Hmm...science. Just had a thought. DD's est friend had a science party and I have the experiement leaflet still (and an take to her mum about it). Going to ask the head tomorrow how she'd feel abut having additional resources kept outside the sacks - such as some simple non messy experients - hmm.

Just need a fiction book linked to science now...

the story sacks in our school are just based around a fiction book, then relevant linked things.

georg marv medicine? nah

I do think really a lot of them just like really really good stories, maybe that is just mine?

So shortish stuff-Dr Seuss, Julia Donaldson-the usuals!

How about short roald dahl-revelting rhymes etc?

maybe a horrid henry one with science experiments in

thinking about it, if they are non-readers you want picture books don't you.

Football.

The Wonderwise collection on Ellse's link is fantastic. My 5 year old twin boys adore it. They are well into facts/general knowledge and the books really seem to hook them in they love them. There is 20 in the pack so bedtime reading now takes a while

am trying to think if horrible science stuff would be too old.

or does it have to be fiction?

I think scifi for 5 yos is a little thin on the ground.

Not Horrid Henry please, it just encourages them to bash their younger brothers. And the whole premise behind the stories is so ridiculously skewed.

ohh, one of the funny bones books, a skeleton fact book, skeleton dressing up outfit, skeleton bone game to fit the bones in the right places (or something), some gogo crazy bones

There are the Astrosaurs books (dinosaurs and space) but they are depressingly dull.

They can read but are reluctant.

The sessions are only 30 minutes long so the stories do have to be short. A story sack wll be used over a number of sessions, but still need short stories so we can move onto activities too.

I hope the story sacks will have a theme and then have books of differentt ypes: fiction, non fiction, plays, comics, poetry, jokes, etc. And then also have other resources such as games and puzzles and toys adnd activities too. I will also have some ICT links in as well as we are in the ICT suite and have computer access.

If you go to Watersone's or the like and ask for the Banana range of books - blue bananas are for 5/6yo learning to read type age with fantastic stories by great authors =- Julia Donaldson, Michael Morpurgo and the like. Proper stories with good illustrations including little bits of text (speech bubbles) that they can read if they can. Stories like Mr Crookodile, Spindarella, Mairi's Mermaid etc come to mind. Progress to red and green bananas with reading confidence.