LAKESIDE MIDDLE SCHOOL

“SUSTAINED SILENT READING”

PROGRAM

Dear Parents:

This year, Lakeside will continue its efforts to promote reading achievement and life-long reading habits through our utilization of a “Sustained Silent Reading” program (or S.S.R.). This instructional strategy engages students in the practice of frequent and routine silent reading.

Here are some key aspects of the program:

S.S.R. Schedule:

q S.S.R. will take place during our 20-minute advisement period after lunch Monday through Thursday.

q Friday mornings will be dedicated to advisement activities (i.e. ASB activities, sharing of school-wide information, etc.).

Selection of Student Reading Material:

q Studies of Sustained Silent Reading programs all strongly indicate that successful programs allow students to chose their own reading material.

q Students will select novels, short stories, or non-fiction books to read on our dedicated S.S.R. days Monday through Thursday.

q Parents should assist students in selecting interesting and motivating books to be read for S.S.R.

q Books should be at a student’s independent reading level. Parents should ask their child to read aloud from the books he/she would like to read for S.S.R. For a student to read successfully at an independent level, a student should not make more than two or three reading errors in a standard length paragraph.

q If parents are concerned about the appropriateness of the book their child may bring to S.S.R, then the parent should submit a list of acceptable books to the student’s advisor and the advisor will monitor the student’s selection to make sure parental requests are met.

q If the occasion should arise that an advisor is alerted to a highly questionable aspect of a student’s selection, then a permission note from the student’s parents will be requested.

S.S.R. Student Expectations:

q During S.S.R. advisement periods, all teachers and students will participate in silent reading for the full twenty-minute period. There will be no interruptions to this silent time.

q Students are expected to be actively engaged in reading from their chosen S.S.R. materials during every S.S.R. advisement period.

q Students who do not have their reading material with them are expected to silently and quickly chose alternative reading material from their advisor’s classroom library.

q Students who talk, visit, or who otherwise choose not to read during this time period will be referred to administration as would a student who violated any other behavior expectation set by the school.

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Grading of Student Participation in S.S.R. // Report to Parents

q Students will receive a “work habits” grade on their report card for their participation in S.S.R.

q Students will continue to receive a “citizenship” grade for participation in traditional advisement activities.

Parent Support

q Lakeside needs to build up classroom libraries for our S.S.R. program. Please consider donating appropriate reading materials to be utilized in each classroom’s S.S.R.’s library.

q Parents should be familiar with the books their students are reading for S.S.R. and be engaged in routine conversations about this reading.

q Model sustained silent reading at home.

q Our staff will continue its ongoing evaluation of our Sustained Silent Reading program. We will appreciate any feedback you can share with us regarding this effort to improve student interest and skills in reading.

Studies indicate that by the time students are in middle school, their ability to read well is more impacted by the time they spend actually reading, than by any other factor or form of instruction. This simple, but vital, bit of research was the impetus to initiate our Sustained Silent Reading program. The success of the program and the measured increase in our student’s reading inspires us to continue integrating this practice into our instructional day.

Lakeside will continue its efforts to promote the reading ability of our students, and we will continue to cultivate one of the greatest gifts of all – to instill in our students the lifelong love of reading. Thank you for your support.

Sincerely,

Craig Ritter

Principal

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LAKESIDE’S SUSTAINED SILENT READING PROGRAM

I have read the above information regarding Lakeside’s Sustained Silent Reading program and have discussed the selection of reading material and student expectations with my son or daughter.

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Parent signature Date

I understand the student expectations for Lakeside’s S.S.R. program.

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Student name (PLEASE PRINT) *Student’s Advisor name

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Student signature Date

PLEASE SIGN AND RETURN TO STATION #1 ON SEPTEMBER 1^ST.

*The list of advisors will be available at station #1.