BOB stands for Bring on the Books. It is Sutherland’s name for USSR, a block of time dedicated to Uninterrupted Silent Sustained Reading.

Last fall I wrote about the advantages of uninterrupted silent sustained reading programs (USSR) or Bring on the Books (BOB) as we call it, in the Library Links blog:

Dear USSR

Did you know BOB was named after a real person? Bob Baldwin was a community coach, an inspiration in the manner in which he conducted himself and an example in how he dealt with the cancer that took his life  he believed in the dedication of practice and the devotion to learning well. Bob’s son was a student at Sutherland.

As with the skills of the sports Bob coached, practice makes perfect – be it sports, music, cooking, sewing, acting, painting, problem solving, scientific experiments and reading.

BOB was established with the consultation of students, staff and parents.
As educators, we place value on learning opportunities we schedule in the school day.

Did you know reading comprehension is a provincial, district, and school goal?
Did you know Sutherland’s school planning council includes reading as one of its goals?

There are years of research and numerous studies illustrating the benefits of reading. One study showed evidence that 40% of Canadians cannot sufficiently read enough to compete in the job market or complete daily tasks this is the equivalent of 400 Sutherland students. A second study reported students who achieved lower grades spent less time reading than those with higher grades.

Give 20 minutes, twice a week a chance.  In the grand scheme of things, 40 minutes is not a lot of time to commit to a skill you will use for a life time. This amounts to 25 hours in a school year – a little more than one day of uninterrupted reading.

Need reading recommendations… check out the booklists under Literature Links

for some out of the ordinary ideas..