Out with SSR - In with Reading Workshop!

Remember when SSR was popular? Sustained Silent Reading was implemented in schools across the country, and it was based on the belief that the best way to improve reading skills was to provide uninterrupted time for reading. So for 30 minutes a day, all school activities were suspended as teachers, administrators, students, and even custodians stopped to read. Students were supposed to be inspired to love reading through book choice, time to read, and observing adult reading models. It made perfect sense .... but what appeared to be a wonderful idea in theory didn't always lead to strong reading gains in practice.

Even though I love reading, I wasn't completely surprised when researchers began to question the effectiveness of traditional SSR practices. I strongly believe in giving kids more choice as well as plenty of independent reading time in class, but I believe the old SSR model was weak because of the following assumptions:

1. If we give students time to read and choice in what they are reading, they will spend the given time reading their chosen book. 
2. It's more important for teachers to model a love of reading than to work directly with students during independent reading time.

Let's take a closer look at what was REALLY going on during that uninterrupted block of reading time. If you used SSR in your classroom, you may remember looking up from your own book only to notice your students’ eyes wandering and sleepy heads drooped over half-closed books. Big surprise! Many kids weren't reading at all!  Sure, good readers loved SSR and enjoyed having more time to read in class and SSR may have been effective for them. But struggling readers were not improving because they weren't actually reading. Clearly, having time to read and seeing a teacher model reading were not enough to inspire struggling readers to become passionate readers.

So where did we go wrong? I believe the olde SSR model was doomed from the start due to the teacher’s assigned role. Requiring teachers to read silently during SSR was a mistake. Because we were supposed to be reading ourselves, we couldn't confer with students to find out why they weren't reading or to help them find appropriate reading material. We couldn't hold them accountable for their reading or work with them on reading skills. All we could do was read, and that's what we did.

Thankfully, the old sustained silent reading model has all but disappeared. Many educators who recognize the importance of student choice and time to read now embrace a method called reading workshop and use the acronym SSR to mean Self-Selected Reading. On the surface it may look like old SSR model, but the critical difference is the teacher's role. Reading workshop sessions start with a short mini lesson that often includes a favorite read aloud. Then students choose their own books and read silently for at least 30 minutes a day. However, during reading workshop, the teacher uses the self-selected independent reading time to quietly confer with individual students or to conduct small guided reading groups. Literacy centers and basal reading texts are noticeably absent; the power of this program can be attributed to students actively engaged in reading appropriate books for long periods of time. A quick glance around the room reveals that kids ARE actually reading and not just flipping pages or daydreaming. A caring teacher has taken time to help them find appropriate reading material and confers with them on a regular basis, and that makes all the difference. Teachers still model a love of reading, but they are active ambassadors for reading rather than passive consumers of print. They read aloud with enthusiasm, and they take an interest in what their students are reading. In short, they infuse their classrooms with a love of reading, and they create an environment where time to read is treasured.

Why am I so passionate about reading workshop? Perhaps I'm fired up because I saw the power of reading workshop when I was teaching, and I hope to inspire others to embrace this method as well. Not only did my students become better readers, but they learned to find joy in the simple pleasures of reading.  Teaching my students to love reading was a gift that I gave them, a gift that would continue to impact their futures long after they left my classroom. What could be more rewarding?

If you would like more information on reading workshop, you can begin your journey by visiting the Reading Workshop page on my Teaching Resources website. You'll find a list of recommended books, a free webinar recording, helpful printables, and links to online resources. If you love reading and are frustrated with your current reading program, jump in and give reading workshop a try! I can promise that you'll never regret it!

Empower Your Readers

Remember my earlier blog post in which I said I was abandoning AR? Many teachers have written to me to ask me how I'm teaching reading without AR and whether I'm happy with my decision.

My response has been that my students and I both love the way our reading classroom works, and it's proven to be very effective (based on comparisons with my grade level, school, and district quarterly reading scores). I'm using a modified Reading Workshop approach that I call the Power Reading Workshop. It combines the relaxed atmosphere of a Reading Workshop with individual accountability and goal-setting. My students love to read and actually complain when it's time for reading to end each day. "Noooo.... I'm just getting to the good part!" "Just 5 more minutes...please!" When was the last time your students begged you for more reading time?

In fact, I'm so happy with how things are working that I'm working on a book to make these strategies available to other teachers. There are many wonderful books about how on the Reading Workshop concept, such as The Book Whisperer and Igniting a Passion for Reading. However, my book will be a little different because it's a step-by-step approach to implementing a Power Reading Workshop. After much deliberation and input from other teachers, I've decided to call the book Empowering Readers: A Quick Start Guide to Reading Workshop.

Unfortunately, the book probably won't be ready until summer. I thought I could write it up in a month or two, but I'm still tweaking the strategies. I put together an email discussion group to give me feedback and test the ideas, and we've all found this project to be an exciting endeavor.

Last week I had an "ah-ha" moment about how to make this information available right now. Instead of making people wait until summer to buy the book, why not allow them to buy it now and participate in the discussion group as the book is written? It's like getting the book in advance, along with the support of an outstanding group of teachers during the implementation process. Each time I update the book with additional material, I post it to the discussion group files and make it available to all members. Our group is called the Empowering Readers Learning Community. When the book is complete, all members will have access to the final ebook.

If you are interested in discovering more about the Empowering Readers Learning Community, visit www.lauracandler.com/erlc.php. You'll be able to download a preview version of the first 10 pages of the book and find out more details about how to sign up for the Learning Community.

As you consider starting a Reading Workshop in your class, it might help to read one member's comment to the group. Rita wrote, "I started using Reading Workshop the third week of January. I used your 10 day start up lessons. Laura, I have been teaching 41 years and this is the first time that I have ever felt that a reading program really got students excited about reading. I love the fact that the Reading Workshop approach allows students to select their own good fit books and they actually spend time reading. The atmosphere in my room is wonderful during reading period."

Interested? Don't wait any longer to learn how you can inspire your students to love reading!

www.lauracandler.com/erlc.php

Abandoning AR

Like many elementary educators, I’ve lived with the Accelerated Reader (AR) program for the last decade. I’ve gone from using AR to define my reading program to using it flexibly as just one tool in my instructional toolbox. But this year I won’t be using it at all.

Because of recent changes in the way AR operates, my school has decided not to support the program. We can continue to use it until a problem arises, but there won’t be any tech support. I’ve decided to abandon it altogether and just go cold turkey into a new year without AR. Why do I feel like I’m jumping off a cliff into unknown waters, not just changing my reading program?

Tomorrow is the first day of school. I wonder what my students will think when I announce that we will not be using AR this year? I can just imagine their shocked faces. No AR???? Some will stand up and cheer, but others will feel lost without the program. I have similar mixed feelings. On the one hand, I know that the AR program does not produce joyous readers. On the other hand, I’ve found it to be a useful tool for tracking reading progress. It does get results, but at what cost? Face it - how many adults would enjoy reading if we knew we had to pass a test after finishing each book?

Luckily, I just finished reading a wonderful book called The Book Whisperer that will help me make sense of my decision to abandon AR completely. The author, Donalyn Miller, would probably be horrified that I found any value whatsoever in AR! She uses a “reading workshop” approach to deliver instruction, and passionately advocates for student choice in reading. She believes that to become better readers, students need to read more during the school day and become engaged with their texts in meaningful ways.

I guess in my heart of hearts I’ve known for a long time that AR was nothing more than a security blanket. It was an easy system for tracking progress, but it didn’t do much to foster a lifelong passion for reading. Promoting the joy of reading is a worthy goal; however, in today’s climate of accountability, it’s also important for students to perform well on standardized tests.

This year I’m on a mission to do both - promote the joy of reading AND increase reading achievement. I hope to inspire my students to grow as readers, challenging them to tackle increasingly difficult texts and a variety of genres. We’ll establish a climate where independent reading time is treasured and student choice is respected. I’ll create mini-lessons to teach skills, but mostly I’ll encourage my students to read, read, read!

AR won’t have a place in my classroom this year. It’s past time for me and my students to grow up and leave that security blanket behind!