[CALIBK12] Let the secret out (reading rooms)

[Stephen Krashen]

Sent to the Washington Post, Nov 10

Let the secret out

Reading was the “secret” of Dr. Ben Carson’s success
at school (“A school’s special place for bookworms,”
Nov 8) and his experience motivated him to set up Ben
Carson Reading Rooms, pleasant, comfortable areas with
lots of good reading material. 

Ben Carson Reading Rooms are a great idea. They should
be available at every school and available to all
students all the time. And it shouldn’t be a “secret”
that reading was the cause of Dr. Carson’s success as
a student.

It shouldn’t be a secret that when children have
access to lots of interesting books and a place to
read them, that they read a great deal. 

It shouldn’t be a secret that when children read more,
they read better, write better, spell better, have
larger vocabularies, and better control of grammar. 

It shouldn’t be a secret that better libraries staffed
by credentialed librarians result in more reading and
better reading by children. 

Researchers in language education have know all about
these secrets.  It is about time the secret got out.

Stephen Krashen



A School's Special Place for Bookworms
Reading Room At Swansfield Is Funded by Grant

By Mary Otto
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, November 8, 2007; Page HO03

The small sky-blue room has a mural of trees and
flowers, soft carpet and cozy beanbag chairs. But most
important, it has bright shelves filled with new books
for children.

In anticipation of Monday's grand opening at the
Columbia school, parent volunteer Jennifer Mallo put
the finishing touches on Swansfield Elementary's Ben
Carson Reading Room last week. The room was created
with an $11,000 grant from a nonprofit foundation
started by Carson, a Johns Hopkins Hospital
neurosurgeon.
	
The room, like its counterparts in 37 schools around
the country, could not have opened without the support
of community book lovers and the commitment of
volunteers including Mallo.

"One of the greatest pleasures has been being able to
buy all these beautiful, wonderful books and to hold
all these shiny new books in your hands," said Mallo,
a self-described bookaholic and mother of three young
avid readers.

And the pleasure of holding a book and having time to
read is what this room is all about. In the mural,
there is an airplane flying, with a banner that says
"Think Big." That slogan sums up Carson's philosophy
of self-realization through the power of learning.

The doctor, who at one point was failing in school,
credits his mother with helping to turn his life
around by encouraging him to read instead of watching
television. By helping schools open reading rooms, he
hopes to pass along the secret of his success.

Amy Warner, executive director of the Carson Scholars
Fund, said Swansfield was the first school in Howard
County chosen to receive a reading room grant based on
the "enthusiasm and support" of parents and
volunteers, who will staff the room three days a week.

"We couldn't have created a room like this without
volunteer effort and community support," Swansfield
Principal Jonathan Davis said.

Children will earn the chance to spend time in the
room by reading at home or at school or by listening
to a parent or caregiver read. They will receive punch
cards to keep track of the time they spend reading
toward an age-appropriate goal, such as 150 minutes
for a second-grader.

"Once they've met their goal," Mallo said, "they'll be
able to come into the room." The child can pick a book
or magazine and maybe a stuffed "reading buddy" animal
or soccer ball and snuggle up for 20 minutes to read
something wonderful, silly or mysterious.
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If the child likes the book, he or she can mark the
stopping place for the next visit or write down the
title and author and check out a copy at the school
library.

But this special place -- a former supply and resource
room -- is different from the school library or media
center, Mallo said. Children don't have to come here
to get schoolwork done.

"It isn't curriculum-driven," she said. "It's for
pleasure and enjoyment and whatever you are interested
in."