Mary Anne says: "Also, please review the information about SSR in the classroom."

"SSR TAKES MANY FORMS
In some schools, individual teachers include sustained silent reading as part of their programs. In other schools, SSR has been adopted schoolwide. In many schools a special time is set aside each day when every student (and every teacher and staff person, including the principal and the custodian!) is expected to "drop everything" and read silently. Indeed, the main thrust behind most SSR programs is to demonstrate to students that pleasure-reading is something to be valued by all.

In some classrooms, students select from a predetermined reading list. Or they select from a bin of books color-coded to indicate reading level. But most teachers give students the freedom to choose a book that they think they'll enjoy. Often teachers encourage students to select books that aren't too difficult. Many teachers train students in the "five-finger test" as a method of determining readability.

In the five-finger test, students are asked to select a page from the book to read to themselves. They hold up all five fingers on one hand as they begin to read. Each time the student encounters a word that is hard to read, her or she puts down one finger. If all five fingers are in the down position before a student finishes reading the page, the book is probably too difficult. The student probably should put the book back on the shelf and look for one that won't be so hard. "
http://www.education-world.com/a_curr/curr038.shtml

It seems to me that SSR is done for purposes of getting student to enjoy reading. So if a student was studing a book, "She was preparing for a debate in her Civics class" that wouldn't be SSR.