START is one of my favourite times every day. (START = Students and Teachers All Reading Together.) You may know it as DEAR (Drop Everything and Read) or simply SSR (Sustained Silent Reading). Whatever the name, the essence is the same: everyone reads something of their own choice for the alloted time period.
This program is based on research that suggests that students become better readers by reading more, and that they will read more if they choose what they read. While some of the conclusions of this research are questioned, according to the Northwest Education there does seem to be a consensus around the key elements of successful SSR programs. Of these elements, two stand out to me: staff training, and regular, distributed reading time.
Finding Room for START
In our school, the 15-minute START time rotates through the different periods of the day: on Monday, the first 15 minutes of Period 1 are reserved for START; on Tuesday, Period 2; and so on. That is, when we teachers are encouraged to make space for it.
One of the comments that my colleagues make about START is that there isn’t enough time to include it. With new and more demanding curriculum expectations, those 15 minutes are precious teaching time. And for those of us who have the good fortune to teach English, some wonder why bother with START since we’re doing so much reading anyway?
Whatever the reason, the fact is that many feel compelled to eliminate START from the class.
Half-hearted is worse than not at all
As one of my colleagues pointed out, what she likes about START is that it shows students that reading is a valuable use of time. I agree, and I wonder what the message is when we cancel this reading period, even for very good reasons?
I value silent, independent reading enough that I schedule it regularly into my classes, on top of the time set aside for START. I would continue to do so in my English classes even if the START program were dropped entirely.
And I think I would rather we did drop it than run it half-heartedly, where we seem to be saying to students that reading is important only if there’s nothing pressing to do.
