Re: Making time to READ! (fwd)

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

On Sun, 31 Dec 1995, Joyce Conklin wrote:

> In your posting, Crockett said:
>
> >> At Mt. Pleasant High School,for a least one period a day our kids are
> in control of their entireprogram.  They decide what they're going to
> read, and they can also decide the grade they're going to make.......<<

Actually, I *think* the grade he is talking about is the score that each
student makes on the Accelerated Reader test.  I don't know if they have
a separate grade for *class* or not, but I'll send him a message and
ask.  That's a good question.
>
> We have one school in our district that has SSR (Silent Sustained
> Reading) for 15 minutes/day, but nothing about the "grade they're going
> to make." Does Mt. Pleasant have a separate grade for their reading
> period? Is it a separate "class" (i.e. a separate teacher)?

I'm sure students are assigned classes for that period because I had
discussed how difficult it is to get some teachers to go along if they
aren't readers themselves.  In that case, the *principal* would have to
be dedicated to the idea because it would be up to him/her to enforce the
reading time.  When our middle school still had the 15 minute
"enrichment" period, being the librarian, I heard lots of talk. One math
teacher said she just used that time to tutor math; another teacher said
she hated to read so she didn't make her students read -- she just let
them talk.  Quite a few others did the same. That made the ones who
enforced the reading rule seem hard-nosed and rigid. The *principal*
would have to "inspire" complete participation.  (But I also think the
prizes that they give are attractive enough that the students want them.)
>
> Since, as far as I know, there is not a similar program in the elementary
> districts which "feed" our high schools, would introduction of this
> program at the high school level require a long-term committment on the
> part of all (including the principal!) without appreciable improvement in
> the short term?

I would think it would work *better* if students grew up with silent
sustained reading time. Since concentrating on reading requires
"practice" for some students, I like his suggestion of beginning with 20
minute segments of reading, being read to, reading with.
>
> We have VERY FEW independent readers in our school as far as I can tell.
> I would like to see more readers, with the hope that it would flow over
> into an appreciation for learning in general -- am I too optimistic?

That's why I'm curious about his program. I've never experienced 50 or 60
minutes EVERY day for reading. When he reported his 1st semester's
failure rates, I thought they looked good -- better than ours.  He
attributes it to better reading habits.

I'm forwarding your questions to the reading discussion group; we'll see
what kinds of answers you get there.

Betty
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