Unannounced. No warning. In the middle of a math lesson, you say: "Drop everything and read." Everyone — including you — grabs whatever book they're currently reading and reads silently for 15 minutes.

The surprise element makes it feel like a gift, not an assignment. The fact that the teacher reads too models that reading is something adults choose to do, not just something they assign. And the 15 minutes of unexpected silence in the middle of a school day is a reset that benefits everyone.

Research supports this: students who get daily free reading time with self-selected books show measurable gains in reading achievement, vocabulary, and reading attitudes. The key is that the time is ungraded, unquestioned, and genuinely free.