Writing the Playbook

A Practitioner’s Guide to Creating a Boy-Friendly School
Writing the Playbook
February 2013 | 216 pages | Corwin
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ISBN: 9781483302904
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Description

Your game plan for getting boys on the path to higher achievement

You've seen it in your school: boys struggling to master basic literacy skills, sitting outside the principal's office, collecting labels like "hyperactive," getting failing grades. Checked out, kicked out, or dropped out, they're benched when they should be scoring goals on the academic playing field.

As a school leader, Kelley King has walked the talk: she successfully led her own staff to close the gender gap in reading and writing in just one year. In her step-by-step, research-based leadership plan for jump-starting boys' achievement, she shares:

  • Critical insight into the brain-based differences between boys and girls
  • First-hand leadership and classroom experiences
  • Ready-to-use activities and resources for leading a successful gap-closing initiative

With tips, anecdotes, and more, Writing the Playbook provides educators in all roles with a blueprint for creating schools where boys (and girls!) thrive.


"Finally, some practical advice from an experienced educator on how to make boys into successful students. King's credentials—mother of both a son and daughter as well as a principal who successfully addressed gender gaps at her school—are unbeatable."
—Richard Whitmire, Author of Why Boys Fail: Saving Our Sons from an Educational System That's Leaving Them Behind

"Kelley King is both impassioned and level-headed, and she starts a conversation that we desperately need to have in our country."
—Michael Kimmel, Author of Guyland: The Perilous World Where Boys Become Men
SUNY Distinguished Professor of Sociology

"This is a highly practical and highly relevant book. Two thumbs up!"
—Eric Jensen, Author of Teaching with the Brain in Mind


Contents

Foreword by Michael Gurian

Foreword by Michael Gurian

Preface

Preface

Acknowledgments

Acknowledgments

About the Author

  • 1. Making the Call: Is There Really a Boy Crisis?
  • Final Buzzer
  • 2. Getting Your Head in the Game: "Need-to-Knows" about the Male Brain
  • Laying the Groundwork
  • Why Do These Sex Differences Exist?
  • Our Beginnings
  • Does That Mean That Our Abilities Aare Fixed?
  • The Male Brain 101
  • Is There Such a Thing as an "Extreme Male Brain"?
  • The Male Adolescent Brain
  • It's Nature AND Nuture
  • The Final Buzzer
  • 3. Chalk Talk: A Game Plan for Moving Your Team down the Field
  • School Climate and Culture - What's the Difference?
  • Activities for Your Professional Learning Communities
  • Got Data?
  • Getting Teacher Buy-In
  • SMART Goals
  • Developing an Action Plan
  • School Improvement and Teacher Growth
  • Developing a Yearlong Professional Development Plan
  • The Final Buzzer
  • 4. Leveling the Playing Field: School Policies and Procedures That Don't Squeeze Boys out
  • Expectations and the Stereotype Threat
  • Discipline
  • Time, Place, and Manner
  • Grades and Homework
  • Banning Aggression Themes
  • The Final Buzzer
  • 5. Touching Base: Relationship-Building to Guide Boys on Their Journey
  • The Social-Emotional Lives of Boys
  • Forging Positive Relationships With Boys
  • Male Mentoring and Role Models
  • The Final Buzzer
  • 6. The Ground Game: Setting up Classrooms That Help Boys Succeed
  • Physical Arrangement of the Classroom
  • Classroom Procedures
  • The Final Buzzer
  • 7. Hitting It out of the Park: Game-Winning Instructional Strategies for Boys (and Girls!)
  • Lecture Strategies
  • Movement Strategies
  • Student Interests Strategies
  • Real-World Learning Strategies
  • Student Choice Strategies
  • Visual-Spatial Strategies
  • Technology Strategies
  • Competition Strategies
  • Single-Gender Grouping Strategies
  • Music Strategies
  • Test Preparation Strategies
  • Test Administration Strategies
  • The Final Buzzer

Afterword

Afterword

Sticky Teaching Graphic

Sticky Teaching Graphic

References

References

Index

Index

Resources

Additional materials

Description

Your game plan for getting boys on the path to higher achievement

You've seen it in your school: boys struggling to master basic literacy skills, sitting outside the principal's office, collecting labels like "hyperactive," getting failing grades. Checked out, kicked out, or dropped out, they're benched when they should be scoring goals on the academic playing field.

As a school leader, Kelley King has walked the talk: she successfully led her own staff to close the gender gap in reading and writing in just one year. In her step-by-step, research-based leadership plan for jump-starting boys' achievement, she shares:

  • Critical insight into the brain-based differences between boys and girls
  • First-hand leadership and classroom experiences
  • Ready-to-use activities and resources for leading a successful gap-closing initiative

With tips, anecdotes, and more, Writing the Playbook provides educators in all roles with a blueprint for creating schools where boys (and girls!) thrive.


"Finally, some practical advice from an experienced educator on how to make boys into successful students. King's credentials—mother of both a son and daughter as well as a principal who successfully addressed gender gaps at her school—are unbeatable."
—Richard Whitmire, Author of Why Boys Fail: Saving Our Sons from an Educational System That's Leaving Them Behind

"Kelley King is both impassioned and level-headed, and she starts a conversation that we desperately need to have in our country."
—Michael Kimmel, Author of Guyland: The Perilous World Where Boys Become Men
SUNY Distinguished Professor of Sociology

"This is a highly practical and highly relevant book. Two thumbs up!"
—Eric Jensen, Author of Teaching with the Brain in Mind


Contents

Foreword by Michael Gurian

Foreword by Michael Gurian

Preface

Preface

Acknowledgments

Acknowledgments

About the Author

  • 1. Making the Call: Is There Really a Boy Crisis?
  • Final Buzzer
  • 2. Getting Your Head in the Game: "Need-to-Knows" about the Male Brain
  • Laying the Groundwork
  • Why Do These Sex Differences Exist?
  • Our Beginnings
  • Does That Mean That Our Abilities Aare Fixed?
  • The Male Brain 101
  • Is There Such a Thing as an "Extreme Male Brain"?
  • The Male Adolescent Brain
  • It's Nature AND Nuture
  • The Final Buzzer
  • 3. Chalk Talk: A Game Plan for Moving Your Team down the Field
  • School Climate and Culture - What's the Difference?
  • Activities for Your Professional Learning Communities
  • Got Data?
  • Getting Teacher Buy-In
  • SMART Goals
  • Developing an Action Plan
  • School Improvement and Teacher Growth
  • Developing a Yearlong Professional Development Plan
  • The Final Buzzer
  • 4. Leveling the Playing Field: School Policies and Procedures That Don't Squeeze Boys out
  • Expectations and the Stereotype Threat
  • Discipline
  • Time, Place, and Manner
  • Grades and Homework
  • Banning Aggression Themes
  • The Final Buzzer
  • 5. Touching Base: Relationship-Building to Guide Boys on Their Journey
  • The Social-Emotional Lives of Boys
  • Forging Positive Relationships With Boys
  • Male Mentoring and Role Models
  • The Final Buzzer
  • 6. The Ground Game: Setting up Classrooms That Help Boys Succeed
  • Physical Arrangement of the Classroom
  • Classroom Procedures
  • The Final Buzzer
  • 7. Hitting It out of the Park: Game-Winning Instructional Strategies for Boys (and Girls!)
  • Lecture Strategies
  • Movement Strategies
  • Student Interests Strategies
  • Real-World Learning Strategies
  • Student Choice Strategies
  • Visual-Spatial Strategies
  • Technology Strategies
  • Competition Strategies
  • Single-Gender Grouping Strategies
  • Music Strategies
  • Test Preparation Strategies
  • Test Administration Strategies
  • The Final Buzzer

Afterword

Afterword

Sticky Teaching Graphic

Sticky Teaching Graphic

References

References

Index

Index

Resources

Additional materials

SAGE Publishing Logo

Writing the Playbook

A Practitioner’s Guide to Creating a Boy-Friendly School


February 2013 | 216 pages | Corwin

Format Published Date ISBN Price
Paperback 01/02/2026 9781452242989 $37.95
Lifetime 01/02/2026 9781483302904 $35.00

Your game plan for getting boys on the path to higher achievement

You've seen it in your school: boys struggling to master basic literacy skills, sitting outside the principal's office, collecting labels like "hyperactive," getting failing grades. Checked out, kicked out, or dropped out, they're benched when they should be scoring goals on the academic playing field.

As a school leader, Kelley King has walked the talk: she successfully led her own staff to close the gender gap in reading and writing in just one year. In her step-by-step, research-based leadership plan for jump-starting boys' achievement, she shares:

  • Critical insight into the brain-based differences between boys and girls
  • First-hand leadership and classroom experiences
  • Ready-to-use activities and resources for leading a successful gap-closing initiative

With tips, anecdotes, and more, Writing the Playbook provides educators in all roles with a blueprint for creating schools where boys (and girls!) thrive.


"Finally, some practical advice from an experienced educator on how to make boys into successful students. King's credentials—mother of both a son and daughter as well as a principal who successfully addressed gender gaps at her school—are unbeatable."
—Richard Whitmire, Author of Why Boys Fail: Saving Our Sons from an Educational System That's Leaving Them Behind

"Kelley King is both impassioned and level-headed, and she starts a conversation that we desperately need to have in our country."
—Michael Kimmel, Author of Guyland: The Perilous World Where Boys Become Men
SUNY Distinguished Professor of Sociology

"This is a highly practical and highly relevant book. Two thumbs up!"
—Eric Jensen, Author of Teaching with the Brain in Mind



Table Of Contents:

  • Foreword by Michael Gurian
  • Preface
  • Acknowledgments
  • About the Author
  • 1. Making the Call: Is There Really a Boy Crisis?
  • Final Buzzer
  • 2. Getting Your Head in the Game: "Need-to-Knows" about the Male Brain
  • Laying the Groundwork
  • Why Do These Sex Differences Exist?
  • Our Beginnings
  • Does That Mean That Our Abilities Aare Fixed?
  • The Male Brain 101
  • Is There Such a Thing as an "Extreme Male Brain"?
  • The Male Adolescent Brain
  • It's Nature AND Nuture
  • The Final Buzzer
  • 3. Chalk Talk: A Game Plan for Moving Your Team down the Field
  • School Climate and Culture - What's the Difference?
  • Activities for Your Professional Learning Communities
  • Got Data?
  • Getting Teacher Buy-In
  • SMART Goals
  • Developing an Action Plan
  • School Improvement and Teacher Growth
  • Developing a Yearlong Professional Development Plan
  • The Final Buzzer
  • 4. Leveling the Playing Field: School Policies and Procedures That Don't Squeeze Boys out
  • Expectations and the Stereotype Threat
  • Discipline
  • Time, Place, and Manner
  • Grades and Homework
  • Banning Aggression Themes
  • The Final Buzzer
  • 5. Touching Base: Relationship-Building to Guide Boys on Their Journey
  • The Social-Emotional Lives of Boys
  • Forging Positive Relationships With Boys
  • Male Mentoring and Role Models
  • The Final Buzzer
  • 6. The Ground Game: Setting up Classrooms That Help Boys Succeed
  • Physical Arrangement of the Classroom
  • Classroom Procedures
  • The Final Buzzer
  • 7. Hitting It out of the Park: Game-Winning Instructional Strategies for Boys (and Girls!)
  • Lecture Strategies
  • Movement Strategies
  • Student Interests Strategies
  • Real-World Learning Strategies
  • Student Choice Strategies
  • Visual-Spatial Strategies
  • Technology Strategies
  • Competition Strategies
  • Single-Gender Grouping Strategies
  • Music Strategies
  • Test Preparation Strategies
  • Test Administration Strategies
  • The Final Buzzer
  • Afterword
  • Sticky Teaching Graphic
  • References
  • Index

Recent Product Reviews:

"This is a highly practical and highly relevant book. Two thumbs up!"
Eric Jensen, Author of Teaching with the Brain in Mind
"Finally, some practical advice from an experienced educator on how to make boys into successful students. King's credentials—mother of both a son and daughter as well as a principal who successfully addressed gender gaps at her school—are unbeatable."
Richard Whitmire, Author of Why Boys Fail: Saving Our Sons from an Educational System That’s Leaving Them Behind
"Kelley King is both impassioned and level-headed, and she starts a conversation that we desperately need to have in our country."
Michael Kimmel, Author of Guyland: The Perilous World Where Boys Become Men, SUNY Distinguished Professor of Sociology
"This is a must-read for school leaders and teachers. Based on both research and the 'wisdom of practice,' it offers a wealth of teaching strategies to boost the achievement and happiness of boys in school. A new contribution is how to use the Web to find 'boy-friendly' activities. If you can only read one book about how to reach boys, this is it."
Judith Kleinfeld, Director of the Boys Project, Professor of Psychology Emeritus, University of Alaska
"Writing the Playbook is an incredible resource that students love, teachers appreciate, and administrators are learning from. It provides the solutions that school systems globally are desperately searching for regarding the behavior and academic performance of boys. It is written in a way that is engaging, empowering, and inspiring to those in all levels of education. If you've ever desired a positive educational atmosphere, this book provides the blueprint!"
Chris Cannon, Author of Winning Back Our Boys

Recommendations