This link has a interview with Steve Gardiner who wrote a book about sustained silent reading. Scroll way down -it is the 2nd one from the end. http://www.ascd.org/Publications/Books/ASCD_Talks_With_an_Author.aspx Jan
On 7/1/09 7:54 AM, "Renee" <[email protected]> wrote: > Hi there Mark and/or Rachele' > > I think one of the reasons that some teachers struggle with the concept > of SSR is that it seems like "wasted time" or "time not well spent" or > "time that is better used for something more explicit and direct" and I > see that coming through in your comment that having SSR on one day a > week would add up to almost 7 weeks of silent reading in class. But > here's a thought.... that's a GREAT use of seven weeks! Time for > students to learn to enjoy reading on their own... something that will > stay with them forever, something that might turn some non-readers into > readers (and I'm not talking about competency, I'm talking about > choice). But if it were me, I would turn it around, and have the SSR > day be on Monday instead of Friday, because then the reading on Monday > could serve as personal information from each student to add to > whatever discussions happened during the week. > > What if, for example, Monday was also a "book sharing" kind of day, > where students read silently and independently for 3/4 of the period, > something of their own choosing, and then met in small groups to just > share with a few other students what they are reading? What if, after > this got started, you started throwing out targeted questions for > discussion in these small groups? For example, perhaps on one Monday > you could suggest that students talk to each other about any visuals > that popped up while they were reading, and on another Monday you might > suggest that students tell others about any connections they made while > reading. > > I think it's hard for many of us to see this as a good use of time, but > I'm with the person who said that SSR would be the last thing she would > give up. I worked in a school where everyone stopped to read for 20 > minutes every day.... and in our case, that included teachers, the > principal, the secretary, etc. I read all of Fountas & Pinnel's Guided > Reading and Lucy Calkins' The Art of Teaching Writing during that time. > I do not see it as wasted. Rather, I saw it as myself modeling reading > for students. I did not worry whether or not they were really reading, > unless I saw someone just turning pages, or obviously not engaged. Then > I would quietly prompt them to please read or, if they were making > noise, that they were interrupting my reading time. It only took a few > weeks into this system for nearly all students to be on task most of > the time, and I never, ever considered this to be a waste of time. But > then, we had administrators who supported it, and that's a key thing. > > Renee > > > On Jun 30, 2009, at 6:11 PM, Mark & Rachele' Thummel wrote: > >> I struggle with the Silent Sustained Reading as well . . . and I was >> wondering what you all thought about it at the upper levels. I teach >> a section of 7th grade and 9th grade English. In both classes I'm >> expected to teach reading and writing in 55 minutes--we don't get a >> period of "reading" and a period of "writing". I would love to have >> my students silent read, but I always feel as though I'm "giving up" >> valuable writing and group literature time. I do teach with a teacher >> who has her students read all period on Fridays . . . but when I add >> that up, that's almost 7 weeks of silent reading in class! The added >> frustration is that students aren't reading outside of school, even >> when there is a grade attached--so I feel as though for some of these >> students, the only time they are reading is when it's "carved out" of >> class time. As I recall, the research says that for "struggling >> readers," the best thing to have them do is read. But when you only >> have 1 period to do reading and writing, I feel as though using >> "reading time" to do reading strategies is more valuable. But I'm >> interested to know what other middle/upper level teachers are doing >> about outside reading and SSR? >> -------------------------------------------------- >> From: <[email protected]> >> Sent: Tuesday, June 30, 2009 12:01 PM >> To: <[email protected]> >> Subject: [MOSAIC] Silent Sustained Reading >> >>> As teachers, do?you think that Silent Sustained Reading >>> improves?individual reading scores on standardized tests?? >>> _______________________________________________ >>> Mosaic mailing list >>> [email protected] >>> To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to >>> http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/ >>> mosaic_literacyworkshop.org. >>> >>> Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive. >>> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Mosaic mailing list >> [email protected] >> To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to >> http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/ >> mosaic_literacyworkshop.org. >> >> Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive. >> >> > "The ultimate goal of education must be to get each one out of his > isolated class, and into the one humanity." > ~ Paul Goodman > > > _______________________________________________ > Mosaic mailing list > [email protected] > To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to > http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org. > > Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive. > Jan We must view young people not as empty bottles to be filled, but as candles to be lit. -Robert Shaffer _______________________________________________ Mosaic mailing list [email protected] To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org. Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive.
