Re: Teenage Aliteracy

[Betty Dawn Hamilton <bhamilt@TENET.EDU>]

On Wed, 3 Apr 1996, Cheryl Bybee wrote:

> Absolutely my opinion.  I base this on both my experience with my own
> children and my experience as a high school librarian.  Teenagers, like
> many of us, are so strapped for time to do all they want and/or need to
> do.  I'm afraid it is just a statement of our lives these days.

I agree. Do you suppose this is a strong argument for *scheduling* SSR
(silent sustained reading) time into the school day?  I would *love* for
our students to *have* to read for at least 30 minutes. One school here
in Texas had 55 minutes PER DAY for all students to read.  In HS it was
SSR, but in the lower grade levels the 55 minutes was divided into being
read to for a period of time, ssr for a period of time, and "shared"
reading for a period of time (students reading to each other).

The person who initiated that program was one who argued that if football
and band can practice daily for 55 minutes (however long class periods
are), then reading should also be *practiced* that much! A good argument
I think!

Betty
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