Book Description

This capstone answers the question how do comprehension strategies incorporated into sustained silent reading impact 6th grade students' reading achievement? I begin by defining the middle school reader, and then explore the purpose of sustained silent reading, provide a definition of reading comprehension, and investigate the effectiveness of sustained silent reading, specifically in response to the National Reading Panel's 2000 stance against sustained silent reading as an effective instructional practice to improve reading comprehension. I challenge the Panel's position by researching five reading strategies--think-alouds, conferences, reciprocal teaching, and response journals--and incorporate these strategies into my curriculum. I provide my results by looking at student journal responses, student reflections, reading test scores from the Measure of Academic Progress, and my own self-reflection. I prove that strategies incorporated into my sustained silent reading program had a positive and significant impact on my students' reading scores.