Sustained silent reading

[citation needed] According to advocates such as educational researcher Stephen Krashen, SSR leads to gains in several literacy domains.

[1] Krashen looked at a large number of studies to see what conclusions were supported by empirical evidence.

Krashen believes this is because the presence of a reward suggests that an activity is work, and makes it less appealing.

ScSR and GROR share many commonalities with SSR, but additionally feature a more hands-on approach from instructors, who actively play a part in book selection, encourage the reading of diverse texts, monitor student progress, hold book conferences, provide feedback, and hold their students accountable.

In 2000, the NRP meta-analyzed all quasi-experimental and experimental studies of SSR and found their effects to be positive.

Jim Trelease, educator and author of The Read-Aloud Handbook, is one of many reading advocates who have disputed the impartiality of these findings.

"Perhaps from the wonderful folks who make all those workbooks, textbooks, and score sheets that wouldn't be bought and used in class during the time students were lounging around reading books, magazines, and newspapers and getting so good at reading they might need even fewer of those sheets next year."

There is some support for this charge: A blog titled "Why Sustained Silent Reading (SSR) Doesn't Work" is posted by the publisher of four workbooks that sell for $89.99 each.

[citation needed] Uninterrupted sustained silent reading (USSR) was the predecessor to SSR in many ways.

The prevailing thought process behind USSR was that it would not only create better readers, but also increase students' comfort levels as they navigated indexes, table of content sections, and even entire libraries citation.

[15] There are several notable organizations, acronyms, and celebrations that capture the essence of sustained silent reading.

In the United States, some educators celebrate "DEAR Day" every year on April 12, the birthday of author Beverly Cleary.

[16] Some specific institutions such as libraries and schools may even celebrate "DEAR Day" during the entire month of April.