Dear Parents and Students,
As you know, the staff and faculty here at Richardson Middle School hold
literacy in high esteem, and toward that end we (as well as Torrance Unified
School District) have implemented a program called SSR (Sustained Silent
Reading) where a small portion of the academic day is assigned to nothing else
but reading. Each student and staff member is required to bring
a book to class to read each day and to also leave a second book in the
classroom as a backup if they inadvertently forget to bring the book they are
currently reading.
The time for this reading period is immediately after lunch, at the beginning
of fifth period for seventh and eighth grade students, before lunch for sixth
grade, and each student must have their own book with them before class begins.
And what do we do? We read and breathe. Nothing else. If you need to
go the the restroom, be forewarned; go during lunch.
Guidelines & Notes:
Periodicals (magazines) are not acceptable reading material for SSR purposes.
The instructor must be the ultimate arbiter of what constitutes acceptable SSR
reading material.
Classroom textbooks, classroom assignments, or other academically connected
reading material should be reserved for the classroom from which it originated.
Religious reading material intended for personal student use is
completely acceptable.
At various times I or another student will read aloud, or we may read
something interactive, such as a play or other performance work.
My personal preference is for students to obtain something they like
to read, and get lost in it.
I am cognizant of the fact that not everyone loves to read; reading, however,
is the definition of literacy, and when one can readily read and understand
the printed word, that in turn becomes part of the definition of an educated mind.
