Making SSR Work

We have sustained silent reading in my high school, but it is not an ideal situation. We have SSR during our breakfast in the classroom. Right after the announcements. Once we get started, the breakfast comes in. It takes a few minutes to get started again. Just when we are good and settled, it's time to stop. I only have 60 minutes and we can't really give more than ten or fifteen up for reading.

It isn't an ideal situation, but I'm making it work as best I can.

There are two musts to making SSR work with high school students. The first is setting an example as a reader. Most students haven't seen a reader in their home. They don't know what a reader looks like, talks like, or thinks like. It is important for them to see someone who does read.

The other must for SSR is good books. Students will read if they have the right book. They will beg for more time to read. They'll even ask you if you will let them read the whole period. They think they're getting a free day. You'll have to fuss at them for reading during class. It is heaven on earth.

I don't have an ideal situation but it's a situation that I have to make work. I know that only by reading more will students improve their standardized test scores by building comprehension and text stamina. So I'll have to shhh them a lot and be a good example, but it is something that we'll keep doing.

The SSR Breakdown

So I'm crunching surveys from our tenth graders on reading. I really want to honestly know if they are reading and if their attitudes are changing. I don't want to bust anyone. I just want to know...and boy am I starting to know...

The most interesting insight from these surveys so far is the students who believe that SSR is a good thing. They believe that SSR will improve their vocabulary. They don't read outside of school. SSR is their big chance to spend time with a good book, yet they aren't doing it. They are missing their golden opportunity because their teacher doesn't particpate/believe in SSR. I thought the teenagers were supposed to be the hard ones to win over.

I find it heartbreaking that students see the good in a practice, yet the teachers aren't willing to take the time to invest in it. Students that obviously would not be readers outside of school aren't being given the chance to be readers inside of school. Now that's malpractice.