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Teaching Reading Is Rocket Science, 2020
Table of Contents
Foreword: For the Love of Reading..........................................................................................2
By Randi Weingarten
Executive Summary...................................................................................................................4
Preface .......................................................................................................................................6
Increasing Reading Achievement and Preventing Reading Failure: A Top Priority................8
Where We Are: Research-Validated Ideas That Should Drive Instruction .........................................9
Where We Are: Taking Stock of Teacher Preparation in Reading...................................................10
Can We Do Better? ....................................................................................................................13
Toward a Curriculum for Teacher Preparation and
In-Service Professional Development.....................................................................................14
Reading Psychology and Development........................................................................................14
Language Structure ....................................................................................................................17
Best Practices .............................................................................................................................20
Assessment That Informs Teaching..............................................................................................21
Where We Need to Go: Changing Teacher Preparation and Professional Development..........23
Endnotes ..................................................................................................................................26
Appendix .................................................................................................................................28
Foreword: For the Love of Reading..........................................................................................2
By Randi Weingarten
Executive Summary...................................................................................................................4
Preface .......................................................................................................................................6
Increasing Reading Achievement and Preventing Reading Failure: A Top Priority................8
Where We Are: Research-Validated Ideas That Should Drive Instruction .........................................9
Where We Are: Taking Stock of Teacher Preparation in Reading...................................................10
Can We Do Better? ....................................................................................................................13
Toward a Curriculum for Teacher Preparation and
In-Service Professional Development.....................................................................................14
Reading Psychology and Development........................................................................................14
Language Structure ....................................................................................................................17
Best Practices .............................................................................................................................20
Assessment That Informs Teaching..............................................................................................21
Where We Need to Go: Changing Teacher Preparation and Professional Development..........23
Endnotes ..................................................................................................................................26
Appendix .................................................................................................................................28
32 pages, ebook
Published January 1, 2020
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
June 11, 2020
Readlax: Online Speed Reading! (promo)
Best notes and quotes from the book:
"Reading is not simply a desire; it is a fundamental skill necessary for virtually everything we do. And we need to ensure all of us, particularly our children, learn to read and read to learn so they too can do everything."
"The most fundamental responsibility of schools is teaching students to read. Because reading affects all other academic achievement and is associated with social, emotional, economic, and physical health, it has been the most researched aspect of human cognition"
"In today’s literate world, academic success, secure employment, and personal autonomy depend on reading and writing proficiency."
"The development of automatic word recognition depends on intact, proficient phoneme awareness, knowledge of sound-symbol (phoneme-grapheme) correspondences, recognition of print patterns such as recurring letter sequences and syllable spellings, and recognition of meaningful parts of words (morphemes)."
"Language comprehension, the other essential domain that underlies reading comprehension, depends on background knowledge, vocabulary, ability to decipher formal and complex sentence patterns, and recognition of the devices that hold a text together."
"Reading requires sufficient visual acuity to see the print, but the act of translating alphabetic symbols into meaning is only incidentally visual.21 Rather, the recognition of printed words depends first on awareness of the speech sounds (phonemes) that the alphabetic symbols represent and then on the brain’s ability to map sounds to letters and letter combinations (graphemes). As reading develops, the mapping of speech to print includes recognition of letter sequences, including syllable patterns and meaningful units (morphemes). The reading brain gradually builds neural networks that facilitate rapid processing of symbol-sound and sound-symbol connections. Once these networks for mapping speech to print are developed, the brain can recognize and store images of new printed words with little conscious effort."
"Good readers do not skim and sample the text when they scan a line in a book. They process the letters of each word in detail, although they do so very rapidly and unconsciously. Those who comprehend well accomplish letter-wise text scanning with relative ease and fluency. When word identification is fast and accurate, a reader has ample mental energy to think over the meaning of the text."
"Learning to read is not natural or easy for most children. Good readers process the letters of each word in detail, although they do so unconsciously."
"The term dyslexia refers to a reading problem characterized by inaccurate and/or slow development of skills in printed-word reading and spelling. The origins of dyslexia are typically within the phonological system of language processing. Phoneme awareness, rapid automatic naming of symbols, phonic decoding, spelling, written expression, and automatic word reading (reading words seemingly “by sight”) are the core problems in dyslexia."
"A focus on language comprehension can—and should—begin long before children can read text on their own. Reading aloud to children from well-written text serves to develop their vocabularies and knowledge, their familiarity with academic language, and their appreciation for the pleasures of the written word"
"The ability to read nonsense words depends on rapid and accurate association of sounds with symbols. Strong readers do this easily so they can decipher new words and attend to the meaning of the passage. Weak readers usually are slower and make more mistakes in sounding out words. Their comprehension suffers as a consequence. Weak readers improve if they are taught in an organized, systematic manner how to decipher the spelling code and sound words out."
"Good readers process every letter of almost every word when they read. It is weak readers who skip words and try to make sense by relying on pictures or other cues."
"While background knowledge can be gained from reading, those who already know more about a topic make better inferences and retain meanings better."
"Teachers need to connect the teaching of skills with the joy of reading and writing, using read-alouds and motivating activities with a rich, knowledgebuilding curriculum."
"The science of early identification is quite advanced. Several tools are available for determining which students in K–3 are at risk for having difficulty in learning to read."
"What specific skills that should be present at the end of kindergarten are the best predictors of later reading achievement? Essential skills consist of the ability to segment the phonemes in simple words, to name alphabet letters presented randomly, to produce the sounds represented by most consonants and the short vowels, to spell simple words phonetically, and to demonstrate age-appropriate vocabulary development."
"unlock the power and joy of reading for our children.” —Louisa C. Moats
Read more about reading training:
1) Reader for Chrome
2) 7 Best Speed Reading Books
Best notes and quotes from the book:
"Reading is not simply a desire; it is a fundamental skill necessary for virtually everything we do. And we need to ensure all of us, particularly our children, learn to read and read to learn so they too can do everything."
"The most fundamental responsibility of schools is teaching students to read. Because reading affects all other academic achievement and is associated with social, emotional, economic, and physical health, it has been the most researched aspect of human cognition"
"In today’s literate world, academic success, secure employment, and personal autonomy depend on reading and writing proficiency."
"The development of automatic word recognition depends on intact, proficient phoneme awareness, knowledge of sound-symbol (phoneme-grapheme) correspondences, recognition of print patterns such as recurring letter sequences and syllable spellings, and recognition of meaningful parts of words (morphemes)."
"Language comprehension, the other essential domain that underlies reading comprehension, depends on background knowledge, vocabulary, ability to decipher formal and complex sentence patterns, and recognition of the devices that hold a text together."
"Reading requires sufficient visual acuity to see the print, but the act of translating alphabetic symbols into meaning is only incidentally visual.21 Rather, the recognition of printed words depends first on awareness of the speech sounds (phonemes) that the alphabetic symbols represent and then on the brain’s ability to map sounds to letters and letter combinations (graphemes). As reading develops, the mapping of speech to print includes recognition of letter sequences, including syllable patterns and meaningful units (morphemes). The reading brain gradually builds neural networks that facilitate rapid processing of symbol-sound and sound-symbol connections. Once these networks for mapping speech to print are developed, the brain can recognize and store images of new printed words with little conscious effort."
"Good readers do not skim and sample the text when they scan a line in a book. They process the letters of each word in detail, although they do so very rapidly and unconsciously. Those who comprehend well accomplish letter-wise text scanning with relative ease and fluency. When word identification is fast and accurate, a reader has ample mental energy to think over the meaning of the text."
"Learning to read is not natural or easy for most children. Good readers process the letters of each word in detail, although they do so unconsciously."
"The term dyslexia refers to a reading problem characterized by inaccurate and/or slow development of skills in printed-word reading and spelling. The origins of dyslexia are typically within the phonological system of language processing. Phoneme awareness, rapid automatic naming of symbols, phonic decoding, spelling, written expression, and automatic word reading (reading words seemingly “by sight”) are the core problems in dyslexia."
"A focus on language comprehension can—and should—begin long before children can read text on their own. Reading aloud to children from well-written text serves to develop their vocabularies and knowledge, their familiarity with academic language, and their appreciation for the pleasures of the written word"
"The ability to read nonsense words depends on rapid and accurate association of sounds with symbols. Strong readers do this easily so they can decipher new words and attend to the meaning of the passage. Weak readers usually are slower and make more mistakes in sounding out words. Their comprehension suffers as a consequence. Weak readers improve if they are taught in an organized, systematic manner how to decipher the spelling code and sound words out."
"Good readers process every letter of almost every word when they read. It is weak readers who skip words and try to make sense by relying on pictures or other cues."
"While background knowledge can be gained from reading, those who already know more about a topic make better inferences and retain meanings better."
"Teachers need to connect the teaching of skills with the joy of reading and writing, using read-alouds and motivating activities with a rich, knowledgebuilding curriculum."
"The science of early identification is quite advanced. Several tools are available for determining which students in K–3 are at risk for having difficulty in learning to read."
"What specific skills that should be present at the end of kindergarten are the best predictors of later reading achievement? Essential skills consist of the ability to segment the phonemes in simple words, to name alphabet letters presented randomly, to produce the sounds represented by most consonants and the short vowels, to spell simple words phonetically, and to demonstrate age-appropriate vocabulary development."
"unlock the power and joy of reading for our children.” —Louisa C. Moats
Read more about reading training:
1) Reader for Chrome
2) 7 Best Speed Reading Books
May 16, 2018
If you ever want to know how poorly we handle reading in this country, read this report.
"Surveys measuring experienced teachers' ability to identify speech sounds, spelling patterns, and word structure reveals confusions that are typical of most adults. For example, the concept that a letter combination can represent one unique speech sound (ch, wh, sh, th, ng) - is unclear to a surprising number of elementary teachers" (p. 12).
It does also highlight the importance of teaching reading and provides researched-backed information on what reading teachers should know and do to be successful.
Edited
"Surveys measuring experienced teachers' ability to identify speech sounds, spelling patterns, and word structure reveals confusions that are typical of most adults. For example, the concept that a letter combination can represent one unique speech sound (ch, wh, sh, th, ng) - is unclear to a surprising number of elementary teachers" (p. 12).
It does also highlight the importance of teaching reading and provides researched-backed information on what reading teachers should know and do to be successful.
Edited
September 23, 2017
The article, Teaching Reading is Rocket Science: What Expert Teachers of Reading Should Know and Be Able To Do, provides us with well researched information regarding the importance of teaching reading, where we are in regards to our teaching programs, what we should be teaching within these programs, and how we obtain these goals within teaching programs and professional development. The author, Louisa Moats, states within the opening sentence, "Reading is the fundamental skill upon which all formal education depends" (p. 7). Highlighting the importance of teaching reading and why this research is in high regards for both preservice and service teachers, if they are to be successful toward teaching their students to read. Although some students will learn to read no matter what teaching they receive, most students need teaching instruction that is explicit and systematic.
Before reading this article, I was unaware of the lack of education toward reading, writing, and language within the teacher preparation programs. I was surprised to see that even in 1999 we were still seeking scientific research in reading acquisition. According to Moats, it was at this time that reading scientists and educators were finally able to agree on what needs to be done to assist with the needs of our students in regards to learning how to read.
In addition, I was unaware of the following effective reading instruction component, "Frequent writing of prose enables deeper understanding of what is read" (p. 8). I am interested in learning more about this component and how is that I can practice this skill within the classroom to assist readers.
his resource provided me with a list of practices that I should look at in reading instruction. Especially with my middle school aged students who are still having difficulties with reading. Reading interventions and reading instruction continues after the third grade. Comprehension strategies, vocabulary instruction, prose writing, reading a variety of texts, written English instruction, and providing lessons on basic word structures (p. 10) are activities that should continue within the middle school and high school education.
In addition, I felt as though this article provided a call to action for educators to make a difference toward the instruction of reading in the following ways: seek out new research in reading instruction and incorporate them into practice, promote and partake in high quality professional development ensuring continuing education with best practices for the classroom, and get involved within the master teacher programs offered at the state and national level.
Before reading this article, I was unaware of the lack of education toward reading, writing, and language within the teacher preparation programs. I was surprised to see that even in 1999 we were still seeking scientific research in reading acquisition. According to Moats, it was at this time that reading scientists and educators were finally able to agree on what needs to be done to assist with the needs of our students in regards to learning how to read.
In addition, I was unaware of the following effective reading instruction component, "Frequent writing of prose enables deeper understanding of what is read" (p. 8). I am interested in learning more about this component and how is that I can practice this skill within the classroom to assist readers.
his resource provided me with a list of practices that I should look at in reading instruction. Especially with my middle school aged students who are still having difficulties with reading. Reading interventions and reading instruction continues after the third grade. Comprehension strategies, vocabulary instruction, prose writing, reading a variety of texts, written English instruction, and providing lessons on basic word structures (p. 10) are activities that should continue within the middle school and high school education.
In addition, I felt as though this article provided a call to action for educators to make a difference toward the instruction of reading in the following ways: seek out new research in reading instruction and incorporate them into practice, promote and partake in high quality professional development ensuring continuing education with best practices for the classroom, and get involved within the master teacher programs offered at the state and national level.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews