Sustained Silent Reading Essay -- Education

Sustained Silent Reading Most administrators and educators, if asked what is the area that needs the most improvement in schools today, would answer reading. Children seem to battle with reading at almost every grade level. As reported by Trelease (2006) students do not read very much. In one reported study, 90% of the students studied devoted only 1 percent of their free time to reading and 30% to watching television. Fifty percent of the students read for an average of four minutes or less per day, 30% read two minutes per day, and 10% read nothing at all (p. 1). These statistics only serve to worsen the fear of students low reading abilities. Educators have developed a myriad of programs to improve students’ comprehension, retention, and higher level thinking skills. These skills are especially important in the improvement of scores on the state mandated assessments. Among these programs is Sustained Silent Reading (SSR), which promises that students can improve comprehension, enjoy reading for pleasure, and become life-long readers in fifteen to twenty minutes a day. Sustained Silent Reading is a program where students read any type of printed material for an uninterrupted, specific amount of time. Gardiner (2001) states there are many different names for SSR, such as Drop Everything and Read (DEAR), Uninterrupted Sustained Silent Reading (USSR), and Providing Opportunities with Everyday Reading (POWER) to name a few (p. 32). Each program varies a little from the others, but they share the same guidelines. Students read silently every day, choose their own materials, read for an uninterrupted amount of time, do not have to finish a book or other material, notice the teacher reading as well, and do not have to tak... ...his article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/19388070309558400 DEAR me: What does it take to get children reading? By: Lee-Daniels, Sonya L., Murray, Bruce A., Reading Teacher, 00340561, Oct2000, Vol. 54, Issue 2 Teaching of English Language and Literature (TELL) Journal Volume 15, Number 2, November 1999 Anthony Seow The Read aloud Handbook Jim Trelease's 2006 Penguin Books http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/curr038.shtml "Sustained Silent Reading" Helps Develop Independent Readers (and Writers) Article by Gary Hopkins Education World ® Copyright  © 1997 Education World Originally published 11/19/1997 Updated 10/15/2007 Why Sustained Silent Reading (SSR) Doesn’t Work June 25th, 2011 | Mark Pennington, MA Reading Specialist Pennington Publishing Blog http://penningtonpublishing.com/blog/reading/why-sustained-silent-reading-ssr-doesn%E2%80%99t-work