Activities to Encourage Silent Reading in

Secondary ClassroomsLeading by Example

Useful Strategies

Kara Harniman LivingstonEDU 740

What helps SSR’s success? Access: ensuring students have access

to a wide range of reading materials Appeal: tapping into students’ reading

interests and letting them choose their own materials

Environment: providing a comfortable atmosphere in which to read

Encouragement: implementing various strategies to support students in developing effective reading habits

What helps SSR’s success? Distributed time to read: creating

opportunities to read on a regular basis Follow-up activities: establishing

activities that occur after SSR to allow students to share what they are reading with others

Staff training: supporting staff in the rationale for SSR as well as best practices for effective implementation

Modeling… Teachers need to lead by example

and model silent reading process. The teacher taking a minute to share

what they are reading encourages the students to do the same.

We are our students best role models in developing a love of reading in them.

Teachers as positive role models…

Whatever the case, whether SSR is a private time activity or a discussion or writing motivator, most experts agree that one thing is essential to its success. It is crucial that teachers participate in the process as role models.

SSR time is not a time for teachers to correct papers or plan the next day's lessons. Teachers should be right there on the floor (or in another comfortable spot) -- modeling a lifelong love of reading. If students are expected to fill out a reading log after reading, teachers should do the same.

Book Wall I have incorporated a book wall in my room that

allows students to critique and recommend novels to their peers.

Using a simple, anonymous format, the students submit the title, author, theme and meaningful events about the book they want to share.

These recommendations are posted once a month and if possible, I track down a copy of the novel in the school media center. Some I have even purchased for my classroom library, including such titles as the Hunger Games series.

Share Time If a weekly "share time" is part of the SSR

routine, the teacher can serve as a model by talking about the book he or she is reading.

Teachers can model the thought processes that accompany reading by talking about how the main character changes through the course of the book, about the author's use of language, and about surprises and disappointments they encounter as they read.

Read Alouds Even though this presentation is

addressing silent reading activities, it is important to add that even middle and high school level students enjoy read alouds for enjoyment.

Many students never had an adult read to them at home on a regular basis and enjoy hearing popular novels read aloud to them for pure enjoyment.

Protected Reading Time My students have a ‘protected reading time’ of

twenty minutes daily to read whatever would like. It is a school wide initiative, and our MAP reading scores have improved steadily in the past few years since we implemented ‘Warriors Read’

We encourage them to challenge themselves, but some enjoy reading the “You Wouldn’t Want To Be…” series I have available in the classroom, which is below many of their reading abilities but so much fun and informative.

Blogging Another activity that works well when

encouraging middle and high school students to share what they read for enjoyment is blogging.

Edmodo is a great site for setting up a blog for students. It is user-friendly, like Facebook, and allows students to share their reading experiences in a neutral setting.

Shelfari would be another great way to encourage interaction among students about what they are reading.

Resources for Secondary Content Area Teachers

http://www.essentialschools.org/resources/450

www.edmodo.com www.readwritethink.org www.shelfari.com

References

www.educationworld.com Hopkins, Gary. "Sustained Silent Reading" Helps Develop Independent Readers (and Writers). Education World, 1997. Updated 10/15/2007.