Reading Record

I have added a new resource for English students: a form called the Reading Record for reporting the materials read for sustained silent reading (SSR), which will be an integral part of all my English classes this school year. It is available on the English Resources page at The Précis as either a Microsoft Word document (.doc format) or an Acrobat Reader document (.pdf format).

SSR and Accountability

I just read Steve Gardiner, Building Student Literacy Through Sustained Silent Reading and I agree that a book report is not the best means to hold a student accountable for SSR (sustained, silent reading). Students are too apt to just grab the text off the back of the book or to copy a blurb from Amazon -- the latter method is perhaps the most efficient for the student who is unwilling to read the book, just cut and paste! Oral reports take too much time, if they are made a regular part of the class routine, and have as much effect. Gardiner suggests book talks (discussions) three times a semester in addition to a reading record submitted at the end of each grading period. The reading records are scored on the basis to two things: one half of the score is a subjective evaluation of whether the student read an appropriate number of pages in the period for a student at his level. The other is a measure of the student's behavior during SSR. Students are penalized a set number of points each time they are disciplined during the grading period. These two scores, one for pages read and one for behavior during SSR, are weighted as test scores, and if students simply apply themselves during SSR they will score well.

Given Gardiner's extensive use of SSR, this seems to be a solid means of holding students accountable for their reading, especially since he strongly recommends that students be allowed to choose their reading (within limits, of course, developed and set by each individual teacher). Tests and book reports, in my experience, have never really motivated students to read when they didn't want to read. By setting an example and giving the students more control, Gardiner has succeeded in motivating students to read and to become lifelong readers.

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-- Update -- I have a Reading Record form for reporting the materials read for sustained silent reading (SSR).