I want teenagers to read books starring characters their own age going through similar developmental challenges. That way teenagers can rehearse their own lives before making trial-and-error choices.
Plus, reading other people's stories is an exercise in empathy, and we need more of that everywhere.
It seems like sustained silent reading (SSR) is a great way to encourage this in the classroom.
BUT. The National Reading Panel in 2000 did a research study at the end of which they stated that research on SSR did not prove one way or the other whether or not SSR improved reading ability (https://www.nichd.nih.gov/publications/pubs/nrp/Documents/report.pdf). Many teachers interpreted this to mean that SSR is obsolete.
Other teachers and researchers decided that SSR might work and it might not, but it was time to modify the pure form of the activity with reading comprehension strategies. Some teachers simply added mini-lessons before the reading session ("Reading Workshop"); others added work during and after the reading session ("R^5"); others simply removed the "silent" from SSR and incorporated social interaction regarding the books students were reading.
Studies on these methods showed evidence of varying success; however, one of the principles behind SSR that I was taught in high school is that sometimes school kills love of reading with assignments. Is this veering away from SSR going to reinforce "readicide" (https://books.google.com/books/about/Readicide.html?id=-Pemw9rwdo8C&printsec=frontcover&source=kp_read_button#v=onepage&q&f=false)?
So my question for my own consideration is: What if I allow students time in class to read a young adult book and then simply required the student to write an email with a compliment-comment sandwich (maybe a question as lettuce) to the author? Not only would this require some level of reading comprehension - something that falls through the cracks of SSR - but it might start a living conversation with a potential role model.
Speaking of digital interaction, it can go the other way too. Teenagers can become role models for younger student. For example, here's a link to a comment I made on a student's blog: https://kidblog.org/class/MissTaggartsClass/posts/cs3emdx2fz311bbyrxd9169c9
Love this idea. One of the push backs of SSR is exactly what you talk about. There is no real motivation or comprehension that goes with it. Especially if it's allowing student choice over their book. Love the idea of an email....but also love the idea of choice. What if students had the choice to write an email to the author, or maybe they would rather write a book review on GoodReads or as a comment on Amazon for the next reader....or what if they created a book trailer video to upload to youtube? All of these would accomplish the same outcome but you would allow students choice on how they completed the assignment and to what audience they wanted to communicate to.
ReplyDeleteI love those ideas! Taking notes ;)
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