Initiating Sustained Silent Reading
a simple objective of any school's reading program is to develop each student's ability to read silently without interruption for a relatively long period of time. Dr. Lyman C. Hunt, Jr. of the University of Vermont designated such a goal as early as 1960 and soon thereafter introduced Uninterrupted Sustained Silent Reading with the acronym USSR. The acronym was to command attention; we found it commanded too much attention so we dropped the U and SSR evolved. Initially, the sustaining power was thought to be a goal reached through months or years of practice. We discovered that the goal can be reached almost instantly if SSR is viewed as a complement of a teaching program. Since SSR takes school time, it supplants some part of each student's existing school program. It may supplant part of a student's reading program, but it is more effective when it becomes a part of each teacher's program. SSR is the drill of silent reading; it is the drill or practice necessary in learning to read, not a total reading program. SSR requires no special machines or materials other than a timer; it requires no special teacher training or expertise.