Science of Reading


Science of Reading – a Video Intro from Ed Week

https://www.edweek.org/teaching-learning/i-literally-cried-teachers-describe-their-transition-to-science-based-reading-instruction/2023/09?utm_source=nl&utm_medium=eml&utm_campaign=eu&M=7740620&UUID=3bd04b6b3b7d3ecae145c7fbe2942713&T=10293981

The debate on how to teach early reading has raged for a century. But for the last few decades, the cognitive science has been clear: Teaching young kids how to crack the code—teaching systematic phonics—is the most reliable way to make sure that they learn how to read words.

Education Week interviewed longtime reading teachers caught in the evolving landscape of literacy instruction to ask what it was like for them to move from a familiar strategy for teaching reading to “science of reading”-based approaches to instruction. They described being handed a mashup of literacy curriculums over the years ranging from methods heavy on balanced literacy heavy to a “hodgepodge” of strategies that left them feeling insecure about their instructional ability and uncomfortable about students who left their classrooms without a strong reading foundation.

They also revealed how, after years of teaching reading, they’ve recently embraced a more systematic and explicit method of instruction that finally has them feeling confident in their teaching roles.

Science of Reading- What it is.. from Curriculum Associates

Click here for a link to Curriculum Associates’ Overview of “Magnetic Reading”. Intro below:

At Curriculum Associates, we believe all students can become skilled readers, and the best way to get them there is explicit, systematic, and evidence-based literacy instruction grounded in the body of research that has proven that teaching students to read is an art and a science. These beliefs are at the core of our Magnetic Reading K–5 resources, designed to take every student from foundational skills to reading fluency.

Reading Is a Complex Process
Thousands of international, interdisciplinary, scientific, and educational studies have pinpointed what— and, crucially, how—we must teach students who are learning to read. The resulting evidence forms the foundation of reading science. Humans are not hardwired to read in the same way we are to speak. We must all be explicitly taught to decipher the “code,” beginning with these word recognition skills:
• Phonological Awareness: the ability to recognize and manipulate the sounds of spoken language
• Phonics: the ability to map sounds onto letters or combinations of letters (i.e., sound spellings)
• Recognition of High-Frequency Words: the ability to automatically identify and read words that occur most often in text As students move systematically from learning to read to reading to learn, these language comprehension skills are essential for students to become proficient readers:
• Literacy Knowledge (Genres and Text Features): knowledge specific to understanding the features of literary and informational text
• Background Knowledge (Content and Cultural): information stored in the brain based on prior experiences of topics and ideas
• Verbal Reasoning: the ability to draw conclusions by connecting new information to what is already known
• Language Structures: the knowledge of word meanings and how they are combined into meaningful sentences

More recent research has proven that there are additional contributors to skilled reading. These contributors form bridging processes both within and across word recognition and language comprehension (Nation, 2019):
• Literacy Knowledge (Concepts of Print): knowledge specific to understanding how print works, such as reading it from left to right and top to bottom in English
• Fluency: the ability to read with accuracy, automaticity, intonation/inflection, and proper phrasing
• Vocabulary Knowledge: the ability to understand the meanings of words and phrases The students themselves also play a key role in reading success. Skilled readers utilize active selfregulation strategies to maintain engagement with the text (Duke & Cartwright, 2021).

Active self-regulation includes:
• Motivation and Engagement: the interest and desire to read that leads to active reading
• Use of Comprehension Strategies: deliberate actions that help readers construct meaning