Lynn Nam

Berrien Springs Middle School

One Sylvester Avenue
Berrien Springs, MI 49103
May 12, 2014

Jan Birmingham, Curriculum Director
Berrien Springs Public Schools
One Sylvester Avenue
Berrien Springs, MI 49103

Dear Mrs. Birmingham,
I am a sixth grader in Berrien Springs Middle School, and I am writing to express deep concern about
lack of silent reading time in class in our school. The silent reading time is excessively short, that some
students, who read slower than others, have to close their book even before they finish a chapter. Also, some
students reading MAP score decreased, or did not meet the expectation. For some students, silent reading
times in class is the only chance to read in whole week, because of sports practice, homework, and other
activities, and every student deserves a chance to read every day.
When the school started, my goal was to read at least 100 pages of book every day. But, it wasnt
facile, when I have piano lessons, violin lessons, play practices, and soccer practices at least twice a week. At
first, I stayed up late every day to read, so I couldnt get enough sleep. But later on, it got extremely hard to do
that, even though I wanted to, because of exhaustion from busy days.
According to ORELT, Open Resources for English Language Teaching, sustained silent reading
improves students understanding, develop the skills of reading, teach students how to guess the meanings of
unfamiliar words from the text, help students understand the relation between reading speed and reading
efficiency, and help students improve their reading efficiency through understanding how to interpret
information given in graphical form. This shows that silent reading is extremely essential for students. After
doing a research, I learned that an average teenager needs at least 9 hours of sleep every day. Also, I learned
that if an average person doesnt get enough sleep, it can cause irritability, moodiness, disinhibition, apathy,
slowed speech, and flattened responses, impaired memory, and even inability to be novel or multitask. This
clearly shows that lack of silent reading isnt just a simple problem, but a huge dilemma that can lead to
students serious health problems.
Then how do we solve this problem? The solution is clear. We must increase silent reading time. This
may sound like a simple solution, but it will prevent students from health problems and, possibly, increase
their reading and English skills. I truly hope that someday, not a single student in our school has a difficulty at
school or home, because of just one problem; lack of silent reading.

Sincerely,

Lynn Nam