Micro-Experimental Analysis of the Small-Group

This study examined a social-organizational hypothesis that explains how silent reading in small-group lessons might influence students ' learning. One hundred children in four third-grade classes, each divided into three ability groups, received two silent and two oral reading lessons. Group dynamics were measured from videotapes of the lessons. Students ' learning was measured from story recall and passage and word reading. Results showed that positive effects of silent reading were mediated by student attention and teacher-student discussion; students were more attentive during silent reading than they were during oral reading and they reinstated more story information in discussion. However, there was no net benefit of silent reading on learning. The reason was the blank, unproductive time when students had to wait for others to finish reading before discussion could resume. This slowed the pace of the lessons and seemed to offset benefits accruing from attention an