Jodi shares lessons and anecdotes from her classroom experiences as a Reading Specialist. She notes that all too often the poorest readers learn that if they keep quiet during sustained silent reading (SSR), they're doing okay—no reading required. This is especially true in middle school where class sizes are large and instructional emphasis is on content rather than reading.
In Are They Really Reading? Ms. Marshall discusses how to find out if your students are using SSR time wisely and what to do about it if they're not. Her book describes how to support middle-grade readers who need it the most, while embracing a research-proven need to increase independent, self-selected reading time for students.
Additionally, we advocate remedial phonics instruction for reading problems. Check out our free, no-obligation workshops to help your struggling readers.