S.ustained S.ilent R.eading
&
Increasing Literacy
In The Health Science's
Olivia Jenkins, MSN, RN
Health Science Instructor
Ashe High School
What is Sustained Silent Reading?
• Sustained Silent Reading (SSR) – in school
reading for fun, free voluntary reading with no
instruction or required text for reading
Why Is SSR Important?
• Most school reading is assigned reading. SSR offers students
an opportunity to read material of their own choice
• Allows students to learn new words on their own
• Builds students’ confidence in their abilities to work through
reading troubles – students want to peruse
• Evidence based practice shows unmotivated readers want to
read more after SSR is implemented
• SSR increases recreational reading outside the classroom
SSR Statistics
• Less than one third of 13 year-olds are daily readers, a 14 percent decline
from 20 years earlier
• The percentage of 13 year-olds who read for fun on a daily basis declined
from 35% to 30%, and for 17 year-olds declined from 33%-22%
• On average, Americans ages 15-24 years-old spend almost two hours a
day watching television, and only 7 minutes of their leisure time reading
• Nearly 50 percent of all Americans ages 15-24 years old do NOT read
books for pleasure
Source: Gallagher, Kelly. Readicide: How
Schools are Killing Reading and What You
Can Do About It. Portland, ME: Stenhouse
SSR Increasing Academic
Achievements
• Reading as a leisure activity is the best predictor of
comprehension, vocabulary, and reading speed
• Students who do the most recreational reading become
the best readers
• Students who read the most for fun also had the highest
writing scores
• Students who read the most for fun score highest on
standardize3d reading test
"The Power of Reading: Enhancing SSR".
Retreived from:
ww.miamia.k12.ok.us/downloads/ssr.ppt.
"NAEP’s Solution to Flat Reading Scores“Read for Fun”. July 19th, 2013. Retreived
from:
http://usedbooksinclass.com/2013/07/09/na
Why SSR In Health Science To
Increase Literacy?
• Use books with medical terminology to
advance your curriculum
• HOSA Medical Reading Event
• Have students present to the class about their
book, medical words found in the books PLUS
definitions
Incorporating SSR In Your
Classroom
• Set a minimum amount of time devoted to SSR
each week (i.e. 30 minutes per week)
• Have materials (i.e. magazines) for students who
forgot their reading material
• Create a class log at the front of the room and the
class can log how many hours they read that
semester- they really get into this!
Individual SSR Logs
Individual SSR Logs
• Keep them fun!
• Can turn in for a grade or NOT
• Students can keep them in an index box at the front of
the room and look back at them through out the year
• Completing logs should not be included in the SSR
time
Advertise SSR In Your Classroom
• Lets students display on one of the bulletin
boards what they are reading
How To Incorporate SSR/Literacy
in Health Science Classes?
• Use Health Related authors (i.e. Tess
Gerritsen, Robin Cook, Patricia Cornwell etc.)
• BMT 1- Forensic or Crime novels
• Have students define medical terminology
words in the book in a book report
Enhancing SSR
• Have students discuss to the class what they are reading
• Set up chairs in small group settings and have the students
talk about their books in a small group setting
• Have students discuss the medical terminology found in
the book in the small group – look up the words they are
not familiar with
Enhancing Literacy In Health
Science
• Put students in groups, have the group read the
book, bring the groups together to discuss the
book in a “case study” form
• Have students journal about the “patient” in the
book
• Remember, SSR is suppose to be “FUN” reading
Book List For Health Science
• Robin Cook
• Blair Underwood
• Tess Gerristen
• “My Sisters Keeper”
• Patricia Cornwell
• “Fault Of My Stars”
• Anne Fadiman
• “The House On Henry Street”
• Michael Palmer
• “When The Spirit Catches You,
• James Patterson
You Fall Down”
Book List For Health Science
• The Immortal Life of
Henrietta Lacks
• Wonderful Life: The
Burgess Shale and the
Nature of History
• The Diversity of Life
• Under a Lucky Star
• The Double Helix: A Personal
Account of the Discovery of
the Structure of DNA
• E=mc2: A Biography of the
Word’s Most Famous Equation
• A Short History of Nearly
Everything
HOSA Medical Reading
2015
Living and Dying in Brick City – Sampson Davis,
MD What Every Body is Saying – Joe Navarro
How They Croaked – Georgia Bragg
The Running Dream – Wendelin Van Draanen
Throwaway Players – Gay Culverhouse
HOSA Medical Reading
2016
• Josie’s Story: A Mother’s Inspiring Crusade to Make
Medical Care Safe, by Sorrel King
• The Woman Who Knew Too Much, by Gayle Greene
• Dentist Goes Animal, by David A. Fagan, DDS
• Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End,
by Atul Gawande
• Taking People with You, by David Novak
Role Model!
• Evidenced based practice has shown, SSR is more successful when
the teacher role models SSR
• Pick a book yourself to read during SSR time
• Discuss your book with the students, join one of the small groups
yourself
• Remove yourself from the front of the classroom and join the
students in a desk during SSR
• THIS IS NOT THE TIME FOR TEACHERS TO GRADE PAPERS
Role Model!
• Students not only need to learn to enjoy
reading, they also need to learn how to
discuss a book and share their feelings about
the book
• Students will FOLLOW THE ROLE MODEL
Books For Literacy In Health
Science
The Immortal Life of Henrietta
Lacks
• Author: Rebecca Skloot – Freelance Science writer who writes about
science and medicine
• This book can be used in objective Biomedical Research (cloning, stem
cells) Regenerative Medicine, Vaccines and Cancer Cells.
• Health Science II and Nursing Fundamentals: Ethics and Informed Consent
• Ideas: Have students start reading at the beginning of the semester and
finish it during the cancer and cell research unit
• Covers many issues in science
The Immortal Life of Henrietta
Lacks
• Beyond SSR this book is great for classroom activities
• Students can cast the characters and tell the characters story to
the classroom. I even have students take on the roll of the doctors
• Online Jeopardy games with this book
• Have students create a timeline of the events in this book OR from
1889 when Johns Hopkins Hospital was founded to 2009 on gene
patents
The Immortal Life of Henrietta
Lacks
•
Henrietta’s medical history is provided on page 16.
•
The nature of HeLa cells and people’s initial response to the phenomenon is
reminiscent of the current debate over the use of stem cells. Read page 58 for a
compare/contrast assignment.
•
The Human Genome Project is mentioned on page 181.
•
Privacy issues regarding an individual’s DNA, particularly genetic discrimination, is
discussed on pages 187 and 198
•
Cloning is another recurring theme as myths about cloning are often brought up
by the Lacks family. More realistic fears, such as creating “designer babies” are
also referenced. Check out pages 214 and 246 for some specific examples.
The Immortal Life of Henrietta
Lacks
• Controversy regarding the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV)
and vaccine is another hot topic (see pages 212-213).
• What is informed consent? What does it really cover?
Chapter 17, page 31.
• Of course, cancer is the major concern here; however,
chapter 20 provides some explanation as to the nature of
cancer as we understand it today
The Spirit Catches You And You
Fall Down
The Spirit Catches You And You
Fall Down
• Author: Anne Fadiman
• Description: Tells the story of the collision of two cultures (Western
Medicine and Hmong)
• Topics: Cultural Competence in Healthcare
• C0urses: Great book for Health Science II to read over the course of the
semester and participate in active discussions. This can help prepare
them for clinical in Nursing Fundamentals
Critical Care
A New Nurse Faces Death, Life,
and Everything in Between
Critical Care
A New Nurse Faces Death, Life,
and Everything in Between
• Author: Theresa Brown
• Description: Stories of the burdens we deal with as nurses in a given shift.
Really demonstrates a walk in a nurses shoes.
• Courses: This one is a great one for Nursing Fundamentals to read and
discuss as a group. The group discussions will be even more in depth after
the attend clinical.
The Hot Zone
The Hot Zone
• Author: Richard Preston
• Description: This is a medical thriller focusing on severak viral
hemorrhagic fevers such as Ebola (EBOV), Sudan Virus (SUDV), Marburg
Virus (MARV) and Ravn Virus (RAVV). Talks about biosafety of scientist
and case-fatality rate.
• Courses: Biomedical Technology – discusses the role of medical
researchers, infectious diseases, and outbreaks
Josie’s Story: A Mother’s Inspiring
Crusade to Make Medical Care
Safe
Josie’s Story: A Mother’s Inspiring
Crusade to Make Medical Care
Safe
• Author: Sorrel King
• Description: - Sorrel King and the Josie King Foundation have been at the
forefront of the campaign to make health-care organizations safer.
Across the country, health-care organizations invite Sorrel King to speak
at training sessions, conferences, and seminars on patient safety. Josie's
Story includes a resource guide for patients, families, and health-care
providers
• Courses: Biomedical Technology, Health Science II to follow the objective
about patient safety
If I Stay
If I Stay
• Author: Gayle Forman
• Description: In a single moment, everything changes. Seventeen-year-old
Mia has no memory of the accident; she can only recall riding along the
snow-wet Oregon road with her family. Then, in a blink, she finds herself
watching as her own damaged body is taken from the wreck... A
sophisticated, layered, and heartachingly beautiful story about the power
of family and friends, the choices we all make—and the ultimate choice
Mia commands.
• Courses: Biomedical Technology – Medical Terminology. Health Science I
– Anatomy and Medical Terminology. Health Science II – Patient Care.
The Body Farm
The Body Farm
•
Author: Partricia Cornwell
•
Description: Little Emily Steiner left a church meeting late one afternoon and
strolled toward home along a lakeside path; a week later, her nude body was
discovered, bound in blaze-orange duct tape. Called by the North Carolina
authorities, forensic pathologist Kay Scarpetta recognizes similarities to the
gruesome work of a serial killer who has long eluded the FBI But as she tries to make
sense of the evidence, she is left with questions that lead her to the Body Farm, a
little known research facility in Tennessee where, with the help of some grisly
experiments, she might discover the answer.
•
Courses: Biomedical Technology – Forensic Objective
References
•
Gallagher, Kelly. Readicide: How Schools are Killing Reading and What You Can Do
About It. Portland, ME: Stenhouse Publishers; 2009: P.41
•
Hopkins, G. (2007). “Sustained silent reading” helps develop independent readers
(and writers). Retrieved from: http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/
curr038.shtml
•
"NAEP’s Solution to Flat Reading Scores-“Read for Fun”. July 19th, 2013. Retreived
from: http://usedbooksinclass.com/2013/07/09/naeps-solution-to-flat-reading-scoresread-for-fun/
•
"The Power of Reading: Enhancing SSR". Retreived from:
ww.miamia.k12.ok.us/downloads/ssr.ppt.