Among the numerous controversies spawned by the National Reading Panel Report is the lack of support for self-selected reading time in our classrooms. The panel does acknowledge that in order for students to establish good reading habits they need time to read daily. However, they express that allowing students time to read in our classrooms may not be the best use of our time. They feel that classroom time is better spent with direct instruction. Their recommendation to educators is that we should have the students read daily at home!

Gosh! Why didn't we think of that? Just think of all the time we've been sacrificing in our classrooms when all we had to do was say, "Students, I want you to read at home tonight!" So easy!

My comments, of course, are laced with sarcasm. My response to their statement is one of profound amazement. How could these distinguished panelists not be grounded any further in the realities of the classroom---or for that matter, the realities of society? Don't they know we've been sending home reading logs daily and requiring our parents to sign them to reassure us that their children have read 20 minutes that day? We do it to send a message, but we also know that many students don't read nightly even when parents' signatures are returned.

To be perfectly honest with you, I can remember nights in my own household when all three of my daughters were still in school. I remember taking one daughter to drama lessons, one to gymnastics, and another to her basketball game. We returned home after these activities hungry and tired. My husband and I would cook supper while the girls did their homework and got baths. I still had lesson plans to work on for the next day as well as clothes to get ready for the next morning. Evenings were always hectic! And, then, one of my own children would put that homework log under my nose and exclaim, "Mom, sign off that I've read 20 minutes tonight."

Yes, there were nights that I signed the log, hoping my child had read but not having witnessed the reading. And, remember that I'm pretty conscientious when it comes to reading! Surely there are other parents who sign off on a regular basis who want their students to succeed but who don't monitor this time that we hope will help students build reading habits.

So, to respond to the members of the National Reading Panel, believe it or not, we did think about having students read at home so that we could pack as much instruction into our school day as possible. But, then we realized the inevitable. And we also came to understand that we needed to send a clear message to our students about what we really value in our classrooms. We value reading and what books have to offer. We have decided that having the SSR time daily will allow us to motivate students to read and to grow in their confidence as readers. The Reading Panel members probably wouldn't believe how much easier it is to teach a student who feels confident as a reader and as a writer.

In our heart of hearts as classroom teachers, we do believe that the students in our classrooms who read the most, truly are the ones who also read the best. Let's continue to give them the opportunity to do that!

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