Abstract
Current research establishes that there is a significant gap in writing achievement for boys at the fourth through eighth grade levels as compared to girls of the same grade levels. The State of California requires fourth and seventh grade students take a writing exam in the spring. While many students struggle to attain proficiency, boys have a more difficult time than their female peers in achieving competence in this area. This project focuses on strategies to develop the idea of boys seeing themselves as writers in the first place. Many girls use journals or diaries to express their thoughts and ideas, often writing to one another, whereas boys might consider it a waste of their time, and choose to play video games or even physical activities with their male peers. By using specific strategies (giving boys choices for writing, for example), educators could lessen the gap of performance with their female peers. Finally, included in this project is a teacher’s guide with lessons that are specifically created to support the varied needs of male and female students. These lessons are geared towards students in the intermediate grades, and can be modified to work with both older and younger students.