• Sustained Silent Reading

    SSR has a long history of demonstrated success. As Stephen D. Krashen writes in The Power of Reading:

    "What the research tells me [about SSR] is that when children or less literate adults start reading for pleasure… good things will happen. Their reading comprehension will improve, and they will find difficult, academic-style texts easier to read. Their writing style will improve, and they will be better able to write prose in a style that is acceptable to schools, business, and the scientific community. Their vocabulary will improve, and their spelling and control of grammar will improve."

      
    Components of Successful SSR Programs

    Successful SSR programs typically have key features in common. In The SSR Handbook, Pilgreen identifies eight factors for a “stacked for success program.”
    These factors are:
    • 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
    • Non-accountability: making sure not to attach work to reading that takes place in SSR
    • 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
     
     
     Adapted from L. DePoala