Three days a week for 20 minutes, the entire Anzar High School
campus is quiet as everyone, students and staff, silently reads a
novel, book, magazine or newspaper. They are participating in a
schoolwide Sustained Silent Reading period.
Three days a week for 20 minutes, the entire Anzar High School campus is quiet as everyone, students and staff, silently reads a novel, book, magazine or newspaper. They are participating in a schoolwide Sustained Silent Reading period.
“The party line is that reading success is really at the root of success in all academics,” said Anzar Director Charlene McKowen.
The San Juan Bautista school is one of many across the nation that has made SSR part of its routine. The idea is to have a specific time set aside to read – anything. Students can read for pleasure or material assigned in a class. They can read magazines and newspapers. All must be in the realm of appropriateness, McKowen said, which does not include material such as “Playboy.”
“There is research out there that shows reading scores are directly correlated to GPAs,” McKowen said. “The only way to raise reading scores is to read.”
The program is also designed to show students that reading is not only an important skill, but an enjoyable recreational activity. Adults serve as role models or “reading models.”
SSR takes place at Anzar Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays for 20 minutes before lunch. Students get together with their advisors and everyone reads, including the advisors, McKowen said. By having the whole school participate, the importance of reading is honored.
While the program is popular with teachers and a few students, most attending Anzar think it’s a waste of 20 minutes and put it low on their priority list.
“I don’t mind reading on my own time,” said Sarah Finstad, an Anzar freshman. “I don’t like it when it’s forced. I would rather use the time as a study hall.”
Some students are “page flippers,” McKowen said – they don’t actually read what’s on the pages. Finstad agreed.
“I don’t like (SSR) because half the people in our advisory don’t actually read,” she said. “They goof off and talk quietly.”
Some students feel 20 minutes is not enough time, but McKowen and other students say it’s surprising what can be read in 20 minutes.
Freshman Marjan McLean, a self-described avid reader, wishes the SSR period was longer.
“I love (SSR). I’m a big book reader,” she said. “It’s hard to read with a whole bunch of people in the class. … I’ve always liked to read. I’ve been around books my whole entire life.”
When McLean hears complaints from students, she thinks they don’t like SSR because it’s hard for them to sit down and be quiet for 20 minutes.
While some schools require students to keep track of the number of pages read or require them to write book reports, Anzar officials don’t think there should be accountability measures because that would take away from the pleasure of reading.
SSR also serves to help students who aren’t proficient readers. McKowen said some students come to Anzar with a fifth-grade or lower reading level. Sometimes, people don’t like reading because they’re not good at it, she said, hoping SSR will teach students that reading can be fun. The school does have an academic literacy class that works with students who read below their grade level.
“The whole idea is to get better at reading by reading,” said Dan Daniels, a teacher and librarian at Anzar.
Daniels is looking at ways to improve the SSR program, such as training staff in how to teach reading and increasing access to reading materials for students.
Also important to improving reading skills is that students have a time to read for pleasure, going beyond reading textbooks.
“To be successful, there needs to be a lot of variety. The more variety of reading materials available, the better,” Daniels said.
Daniels said reading is important because the “majority of information of the world is still largely in print.”
SSR has been used in elementary, middle and high schools. In some schools, it’s held in English classes. It’s also been referred to as DEAR (Drop Everything And Read) and DIRT (Daily Independent Reading Time).
