SSR: The Most Important Thing You Do All Day

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SSR The Most Important Thing You Do All Day

• Make a positive impact on your academic and
  personal success

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Questions You Might Have

• What is SSR?
• What is the benefit to me?
• What do I need to do?
• How does each day work?
• How will I earn a grade?
• How is it going to help me?

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What is SSR?

• An acronym forSustained Silent Reading.
• A reading intervention strategy used in schools
  all over the nation.
• A planed, structured time to read a book of your
  choice, fiction or non-fiction, where reading
  strategies are practiced and discussed.
• A time for sharing about books with classmates
  and your teacher.
• A quiet period of time for only reading.

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Other Names for SSR

• SSR Sustained Silent Reading
• USSR Uninterrupted Sustained Silent Reading
• DEAR Drop Everything and Read
• FUR Free Uninterrupted Reading
• SQUIRT Sustained Quiet Uninterrupted
• Reading Time
• IRT Independent Reading Time
• WART Writing and Reading Time
• FVR Free Voluntary Reading

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What is the benefit to me?

• Learn reading strategies in mini-lessons during
  SSR time.
• Practice those strategies in groups, pairs, and
  individually during reading time.
• Gain a deeper understanding of yourself as a
  reader and to read so you understand the story
  and the authors purpose.
• Own a set of strategies that you can use in your
  other classes and when you read for pleasure.
• Talk to others about your book and listen to what
  others are reading and understanding.
• Evaluate your reading formally and informally.
• Get to know your own reading style and needs.

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What do I need to do?

• Bring a book you are interested in and that you
  will read for the entire SSR time.
• Read, read, read. You will earn a grade for
  participation and focus during this time.
• Participate in mini-lessons strategies lessons.
• Practice strategies that you are assigned to
  complete during SSR time on your Bookmark or in
  your composition book.
• Apply strategies when you read and then write
  about what you know, what you did, how you used
  it, and how it worked or made a difference for
  you to understand more deeply what you read.
• Give honest feedback when you are asked about
  your reading.

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During SSR I will teach you READING strategies
that good readers use to comprehend what they
read

• Recall prior knowledge before, during, and after
  reading to glean understanding
• Engage in questioning before, during, and after
  reading to clarify understanding and focus their
  reading
• Activate sensory images to deepen their
  understanding of the text
• Determine what is important
• Infer to predict, draw conclusions, make
  judgments, and form unique interpretations from
  the text
• Network new information with existing knowledge
  to create original ideas and interpretations and
  make critical evaluations
• Get past comprehension problems by consciously
  and independently applying appropriate
  strategies.

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How does each day work?

• Bring a book to class.
• When the clock announces that class begins, you
  should begin reading or shortly after getting out
  your materials for the day.
• Listen to and learn reading strategies during
  mini-lessons by taking notes in your composition
  book.
• Read, read, read until time is up.
• Complete assignments on your book mark or in your
  composition book.

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How will I earn a grade?
You will earn a grade for both participation and
approximately every two-three weeks, I will
present a reading strategy mini-lesson. After
that you will be graded

• On a Book Mark, a note taking tool, complete
  daily requirements for practicing the strategy.
• A completed a reflection, a written assignment so
  that I can evaluate how well you practiced the
  strategy, what you know about it, and how you
  were able to apply the strategy to gain a better
  understanding of reading and yourself as a
  reader.
• The Book Mark, the reflection, and your daily
  participation will become ¼ of your language arts
  grade.

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Why are we taking time out of the school day to
have SSR?
It is the most important thing you do all
day. Because reading is a skill. Ask any sports
coach, the band director, the speech coach, the
key-boarding teacher, a dance teacher, or a chess
champion, What do I do to be good? Practice.

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Research shows SSR

• Makes you a better reader.
• Makes you a better writer.
• Improves your vocabulary.
• Students learn an average of 45 words with each
  novel they read.
• Word meaning is picked up 10 times faster by
  reading than intensive vocabulary instruction.
• Improves your spelling.

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Research also shows..

• that students who read more demonstrate markedly
  higher achievement
• Students in the top 5 read 144 times more than
  students in the bottom 5.
• Students in private schools read 67 more than
  public school students.
• On national testing, students who scored in the
  top 25 spent 59 more time reading than do
  students who score in the bottom 25.