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Silent sustained reading (SSR) has long been a time-honored tradition in schools.

We know we want students to read a lot, and the more they are able to read the better they’ll get at it, but simply giving students time and free reign to read whatever they want actually has a pretty low effect size.

Choosing from a variety of reading practices can be more effective while still honoring student choice, increasing motivation, and instilling a love for reading.

Read Alouds

Students in all grades need to hear complex language read aloud. Make this strategy even more effective by turning it into an interactive read aloud, giving students chances to write, discuss, and react to the text to deepen comprehension.

Do resist the urge to let students listen to an entire novel aloud, as listening comprehension and independent reading comprehension are different skills. Students have not mastered the reading standards unless they can demonstrate the skills after independently reading a grade-level text.

Reader’s Theater

This is a fun way to keep students engaged and working on fluency.

Whole Class Novel

You will spend several weeks (I like to keep between 4-6) reading, discussing, analyzing, and writing about a novel as a class so be sure to pick a good one. I liked to begin a whole class novel with an interactive read aloud to get students hooked. I gave students a copy of the reading schedule and it was their duty to stay on track, and they were welcome to get ahead if they wished. My mini lessons would zoom in on a purposeful section of text for rereading and close reading. Stay intentional about teaching the transferrable standards throughout the book, not just the surface level comprehension.

Literature Circles

Literature circles allow the teacher to select options for students to choose from. Students will meet regularly to discuss their books and you can give guiding questions and stems for discussions. Books can be related topically or thematically.

When introducing literature circles in my classroom I liked to give each table group a set of books, set the timer for a minute or two, and let them look to see if they were interested in it. They could look at the cover, read the back, read the first page, or flip through it. When time was up I’d rotate the baskets until everyone got a chance to see every option. Then they’d sign up for the book they wanted.

Expand your thinking by offering informational circles, where students get to choose from a set of informational texts to read with a small group. This structure could also apply to poetry circles, article circles, etc.

Close Reading

Zoom in on a selection of text for students to read or reread closely, setting a purpose for analysis based on a reading standard. Outcomes involve discussion or a written response. Close reading should be happening at some point throughout all the other practices listed here.

Repeated Readings

As described in Shifting the Balance, Grades 3-5: 6 Ways to Bring the Science of Reading into the Upper Elementary Classroom (Cunningham et al., 2024), repeated readings are excellent for building fluency and deepening comprehension. Choose excerpts carefully and keep them short, engaging, and challenging.

This is another reason we want students to stay on track or get ahead when reading a whole-class novel, so the standards focused mini lessons will be with second and third readings of the text, since they completed the first reading independently.

Guided Reading Groups

Pull a small group of students to your table to work on a specific skill. Groups should be purposeful and flexible. This is a great way to differentiate, closing gaps for some students while pointing others ahead.

Offer Choice

Choice increases motivation and engagement, but students don’t always need complete control over what they read. You can offer choice from a carefully curated list, let them choose whether or not to read with a partner, where they sit to read, or in what order they read a group of texts. You could determine a genre, topic, author, or theme and let students choose a text in that category.

Broaden Their Interests

When students say they don’t like to read, what they mean is that they don’t like to read boring books. Students should be able to follow their interests, but we can also help broaden their interests by introducing them to books worth reading. Here are some ideas that can help with that:

Book Minute: Begin each class by asking, “Who’s reading something good?” and let three students share.

Book Recommendation Bulletin Board: Keep post-its handy and let students write down the title of a book they enjoyed and post it on a bulletin board. I’ve seen some teachers let students design a mini cover of the book to post.

Quote Graffiti Wall: Instead of writing down titles and authors, students can jot down inspiring, funny, or well-written lines from the books they are reading and post on a bulletin board. They can write directly on the bulletin board paper with a marker.

First Chapter Fridays: Read the first chapter of a different book every Friday to get students interested in reading more.

No one is saying to give up SSR forever. It’s just one part of a balanced literary diet, and not the most effective piece. If you feel yourself getting in a rut, choose a way to mix up the way you present reading to students. Research supports the dynamic and varied use of multiple reading practices for intentional purposes.

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Are there other practices that work well in your classroom? Let me know in the comments below.

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References

In addition to the links posted throughout the post, the following books greatly contributed to my understanding of ideas.

Cunningham, K.E., Burkins, J., Yates, K. (2004). Shifting the balance, grades 3-5: 6 ways to bring the science of reading into the upper elementary classroom. Stenhouse Publishers.

Gallagher, K. (2009). Readicide: How schools are killing reading and what you can do about it (1st ed.). Stenhouse Publishers.

Miller, D., & Kelley, S. (2013). Reading in the wild: The book whisperer’s keys to cultivating lifelong reading habits (1st ed.). Jossey-Bass.

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