WHY A PARTIAL SPEED READING LESSON IS BETTER THAN NO LESSON AT ALL…

By George Stancliffe

09-Oct-2019

A “Sponge-Time” Speed Reading Lesson

In life, “ideal conditions” rarely exist.

Surfers look for the perfect wave. Skiers hope and pray for the best snow, or the ideal slope. Baseball players want the perfect pitch.

And if we’re not experienced in what we’re trying to accomplish, we fear that we’ll ruin everything, so why even try to start?

So it was, that in January 1997, I finally quit waiting for the perfect conditions to start teaching Speed Reading. After improvising, taking some chances, making a few mistakes, and tweaking my methods, I came across some concepts for teaching Speed Reading to children that work quite well under many circumstances.

One of the best laboratories that helped me to improvise my Speed Reading teaching skills was the “5-minute Sponge time” lesson that I used when I was a Substitute School Teacher.

What is Sponge Time?

During the early years of my Speed Reading teaching experience, I was employed as a substitute school teacher in several local school districts.

During Substitute Teacher training, we had been taught that many days, the timing of the day’s lessons doesn’t always end up perfectly. So that the math lesson could end 5 or 10 minutes before the noon lunchtime bell rings. Or the Spelling lesson might finish 5 minutes before recess.

Either way, what can I do with the kids, to make sure that the class doesn’t get out of control when there’s extra time?

Invent a “Sponge Time” lesson!

That’s simply a lesson that keeps the kids occupied and focused for the final 5–10 minutes before lunch or recess. If the kids actually learn something important, that’s all fine and dandy. But the main purpose of a Sponge Time activity is to make sure that the kids don’t get out of control, start a riot, break things, etc.

In a word, simply soak up the excess time, like a sponge.

I got into the habit of doing a quick Speed Reading lesson for most Sponge Time activities. But, for me, the most important element of my Sponge Time Speed Reading lesson was my personal goal: to help at least one child per Sponge Time lesson become a “True Speed Reader.”

A “True Speed Reader” is someone who really “gets it.” The light bulb has gone on. They really understand how to Speed Read.

In a 5-minute lesson, it would be unreasonable to expect all the kids to “get it.” But some kids are pretty gifted at this. And there is almost always at least one person in each school class who will “get it.” Sometimes there are several.

I recall one day, substituting a 4th grade class where there was one girl troublemaker who was the ring-leader of two other troublemakers. All the other students in the class were easy to get along with.

When the Social Studies lesson ended 15 minutes before recess, I went into action.

It went something like this:

“Hurry everybody! Grab a chapter book!”

They each quickly got a reading book.

Then I explained Natural Vision: “If you look out the window and see a tree, how long does it take you to see the whole tree?”

“Two seconds,” said Martha [the troublemaker (not her real name)]. Everybody else agreed.

“That’s right,” I said.

“So, how come they never taught you to see all the words on a page in just one or two seconds? All you have to do is to pretend that all the words on this page [that you are looking at] are just leaves on a tree. It’s just as easy to see all the words on a page as it is to see all the leaves on a tree. Just use your peripheral vision.”

“When you use your Peripheral Vision to see several words [or more] per glance, or even an entire page in just a few seconds, you are Speed Reading. But for the first couple of minutes, you likely will not understand anything at all.

“Don’t worry about the fact that you understand nothing at all, at first. Nobody does. This is normal. What we will do is to get the Speed, first. And then we will bring in comprehension gradually, later on, in a few minutes.

“So, I want each of you to open your book to any page at all. And I want you to see all the words on that page within 5 seconds. And remember: You are not allowed to understand anything, at first. Just see the words. Just like you are seeing all the leaves on a tree.”

“Ready, GO!” I exclaimed.

I gave them only 5 seconds. Not a second longer.

“Stop!” I said.

They stopped.

“Who got through the whole page, and saw all the words with their Peripheral Vision?”

Two hands go up.

“Good job! You’re doing great!” I said.

“Now, let’s see who can get it the second time around! Ready, GO!”

This time, they all try harder. Nobody wants to be embarrassed.

After 5 seconds I said “Stop!”

“Ricardo, were you able to see all the words on the page?”

“Yes, I was. In fact, I got 2 pages done,” said Ricardo.

“Wow! You’re doing exceptional!” I said.

“Did you get any comprehension, Ricardo?”

“Well, No. It was way too fast.”

“That’s OK. You weren’t supposed to get any comprehension yet.” I said.

“Martha, How about you? Did you get a whole page finished?” I said.

“Yes, it was easy,” said Martha

“OK, Hurry, we don’t have much time!” I said to the class.

“Now, I want you to see all the words on at least 10 pages in only 20 seconds, using your Natural Vision. That’s 2-seconds per page. Remember: No Comprehension!” I said.

“Ready, GO!”

They all now raced down the pages of the books as fast as they could go. After exactly 20 seconds, I stopped them.

“OK now, who all was able to see all the words on all 10 pages?”

Five hands go up.

“Fantastic! Now we’re ready for some serious Speed Reading! Who’s ready?”

Most hands go up.

“OK, you must all do exactly as I say, because we don’t have much time.

“Johnny, the secret of gaining comprehension while seeing thousands of words per minute is to make a movie in your mind of what you are reading about. The word for this is to Visualize.

“Right now, I’m going to give you only 5 seconds to see all the words on each page, and turn everything into a movie in your minds.

“Ready? GO!” I said.

I let them go for about 30 seconds. I tap my pen on the table/desk loud enough for all to hear (every 5 seconds), so that they know when they have to finish each page.

“STOP!” I said, after 30 seconds.

“I know that you weren’t supposed to get any understanding yet, but did anyone accidentally understand, even a little bit?”

Two or three hands go up.

“Susie, how much did you understand?” I said.

“Just a little bit. They were driving a red truck down the street, and the gas tank was leaking…” Susie said.

“Wow! That’s amazing! You’re going two thousand words per minute, and you accidentally understood that much? So [to the rest of the class:], don’t worry if you understood nothing about what your story was about right now. In a few minutes, you’ll start getting some comprehension, little by little.”

“Oh no! We’re running out of time! We’ve got to hurry! Just a few minutes left!” I said.

“I’m only going to give each of you 3 seconds per page to see all the words, as well as to Visualize. Turn it into a movie in your mind. Really try to get a movie in your mind this time. The more detail, the better.

“Ready, GO!”

I give them only one minute to go through all 20 pages of text.

“STOP!” I said.

“OK, who is starting to get some good comprehension now?” I said.

Martha [the troublemaker] raised her hand. “I am!” she said.

Martha proceeded to tell about the story that she was reading. She was getting the main ideas, and a few minor details. That’s pretty amazing for a 10-year old, who’s going about 3,000 words per minute (that’s 15 times faster than the average high school graduate!).

“Wow! You’re starting to GET IT!” Give me FIVE!” I said. (She gives me a “High Five”)

“Who else is starting to GET IT?”

Five or six more hands go up.

“Fantastic! This is a really good class! I think you all will GET IT before long! You’re all amazing!” I said.

“Now, I’m going to give you 2 minutes to get as far into your book as you can. Be sure to VISUALIZE as much detail as you can. The people who Visualize the best are the people who can Speed Read the best!

“Ready, GO!”

I tap my pen on the table/desk loud enough for everyone to hear (at 3 seconds per page). While tapping, I remind them to turn the story into a movie in their minds. Also, don’t stress. RELAX, take it easy, and they’ll understand more of the story. Then I just keep on tapping (every 3 seconds) for the rest of the 2 minutes.

When the 2 minutes is up, I say “Stop”

“OK, everybody: I’m going to give each of you only 30 seconds to tell your neighbor everything that you can recall about the story that you just read. One of you will go first, and tell everything that you remember, then switch places and the other one gets to tell what they remember. But you’re not allowed to talk for more than 30 seconds each.

“Ready, GO!”

After exactly 30 seconds I have everybody switch roles (sooner, if they don’t recall anything or if they have nothing to say).

After another 30 seconds I say “Now, we’re almost done. Recess will start in 3 minutes. Let’s see if you can read a WHOLE BOOK in 3 minutes, before Recess starts!”

“Ready, GO!

While reading, Martha is exclaiming out loud “I can’t believe it! I’m understanding all of this!” She says this over, several times during the 3-minute reading, while she reads about 60–80 pages

After this last 3-minute reading (at 3 seconds per page), the bell rang, and they were all out the door for recess. That is, all of the kids except Martha and her two side-kicks. They approached me to make an unusual request: “Would it be OK if we could stay inside during recess to Speed Read books?” (It was a sunny day, so their interest in Speed Reading couldn’t have been fake)

I told them “OK,” and I let all three of them stay inside to Speed Read during the 15-minute recess.

Martha read 3 whole books during that recess (about 150 pages each). I could tell that Martha was a True Speed Reader, and would be a gifted speed reader if she keeps using her skill.

The preceding story is true. Even though the actual lesson description has been idealized to be a “typical” Sponge Time Speed Reading lesson, Martha and her two friends really did stay in the class during recess to read books. Martha really was an amazingly gifted speed reader — with only 15 minutes of training!

There are 4 things to keep in mind if you should decide to try giving a Sponge Time Speed Reading lesson:

1. Have fun. If you’re not having fun, it won’t go as well.

2. Keep it upbeat and positive, no matter what.

3. Don’t give the kids a chance to think of anything else except Speed Reading. Push hard for a. speed, b. Natural Vision and

c. Visualization, and expect them to “GET IT.”

4. Give out lots of praise for any progress that any of them make. Especially when they start to “get it,” to any degree.

This story, and the results obtained are not unusual. In my experience, whenever I’ve had at least 5 minutes or more to do a Sponge Time Speed Reading activity, I’ve always had at least one student in the class who appeared to be a “True Speed Reader” before we exited for recess or lunch.

Many times there were several True Speed Readers.

Yes, it’s true that if you were to take the time to work more carefully with each of the students, you would get better results with all of them. For sure you’d have more True Speed Readers in the class. Some children just need some extra time before they catch on to Speed Reading (just like any subject).

However, you don’t have that luxury. This is only a Sponge Time activity. And you only have 10 minutes or so, to teach it to these kids that you’ll only see today. It’s now or never! And Speed Reading isn’t even in the curriculum. So be happy that you’ve been able to do this much. If you hadn’t substituted this class for this day, how many of them would end up Speed Reading?

None of them would.

So do your best, and move forward!

Now all you need to do is to go out and give this activity a try on your own. You’ll never regret it!

— George Stancliffe