Category: Reading Brain Connections

Student Developmental Processing Lag

Student language development was stunted during the pandemic. Students were put in “rooms” with computers. This led to a “student lag” in developing cognitive processing skills. Students are struggling to upload and process language, and analyze and synthesize the information with stored knowledge for future use. You can hear student brain strain as they scrabble to process the information, often struggling to locate old information and hold new information long enough to make the necessary connections to process spoken and written information. Students are now working overtime to build and perhaps struggling maintain brain connections. This lends to many tired and overwhelmed students who often become frustrated. Students will often checkout of the learning process with or without proper interaction and instructional scaffolding. Students who lack intrinsic motivation will likely fall further behind. Intrinsic motivation pushes them to power through the struggle to develop the necessary connections to process information.

Many students didn’t have “normal” interactions with extended relatives, neighbors, classmates, or community members during the pandemic. These nonplanned community interactions usually stimulate the development of oral language capabilities that assist in developing written literacy skills. These skills are interwoven. Students also didn’t receive the “normal” opportunity to build and strengthen brain connections that students usually need to function within a regular school day. Many of these connections are developed through natural social interactions. Students may also develop part of these brain connections through purposeful instructional lessons that allow for practice of taught skill.

The severity of the processing lag will differ depending on different possible factors. Some of those factors are noted below:

  • Student Age. Students are typically pruning unneeded brain connections during their preprimary years of education. Children typically have major cognitive changes around age 7 and 10-12 that correspond with physical developmental changes. Children between the ages of 2 and 6 spend a large amount of time mimicking their surroundings.
  • Reading on a digital device. This usually develops skimmers of the words/passages, which decreases their ability to read deeply for accurate comprehension. This also affects their short-term memory development and use.
  • Lack of interaction with individuals of higher cognitive processing skills
  • Lack of investigative activities that require interaction outside of their home, like travel or trips to the local museums
  • Lack of reading instruction and materials that may require the interaction of other individuals
  • Lack of exercise
  • Learning how to use technology
  • Adjusting to longer usage of technology…staring at a computer screen, television or video game
  • Less time writing manually. Manual writing assist in learning how to process and use information. This also assists in memory formation.

Students may need a few years to “catch-up” to their grade-level expectations. This may be shortened through explicit instruction. Students will be lacking necessary background information (foundational or prior knowledge) that may further impede the learning of new concepts. This may increase the need for differentiating and scaffolding of instruction and learning opportunities to ensure participation and ownership of new information taught. Patience may be one of the bigger pieces of the “catch-up” phase.

References

Piaget, J. & Inhelder, B. (2000/1966). The psychology of the child. New York, NY: Basic Books.

Wolf, M. (2018). Reader, Come Home: The Reading Brain in a Digital World. New York, NY: HarperCollins.

Alphabetic Principle

Our brain is not prewired to read, so we must “train” our brain through instruction and practice. This will develop the connections necessary to process and read printed words. But reading the words is not enough, as one must have meaning attached to the words to comprehend what the words mean. The comprehension component of reading begins at birth, when a person begins to attach sounds to meaning. Learning how to read the symbols or words begins when a person attaches pictures to sounds. Some will learn the name of each individual alphabet letter by accident, most will need to be explicitly taught what each letter is called. This can be tricky as some letters can stand for several different sounds and the sounds of the individual letter can change when they are combined with other letters. Individuals begin learning about letters, letter sounds, and the sounds of combining letters into words as they learn how to speak or communicate orally. This is called phonemic awareness.

Students are typically taught one letter and one sound at a time, before adding or talking about the other sounds an alphabet letter may make. This may seem laborious for some, but very necessary to build an adequate, firm foundation in which to develop fluent reading and comprehension of the written words. Letter-sound correspondence taught using action or movement can lessen the strain. Students should see the letter in print as they are saying the sound. It is also helpful for students to write the letters as they say the letter’s sound. There are programs or video clips that can be used to reinforce and practice letter-sound correspondences. Learning letter-sound correspondences increases students’ ability to decode and encode written words based on the individual sounds of a word.

Students who are dyslexic will often take longer to learn letter-sound correspondences as their brains are initially wired differently. Their brain connections typically develop differently from most individuals. This is also why some dyslexic individuals tend to be labeled as dumb, lazy, etc. A dyslexic brain works overtime to develop new connections between the different parts of brain necessary to process written words into meaning. This often makes students tired or overwhelmed. Students need a safe learning environment to explore the relationships of sounds and letters, without ridicule, as they develop efficient reading highways in their brain.

The University of Oregon (2009) wrote and published an article at reading.uoregon.edu that discusses the concepts and research of alphabetic principle and its components. The article defines alphabetic principle as two parts, alphabetic understanding and phonological recoding. Alphabetic understanding or sound-letter correspondences is the second pillar of structured literacy, which I defined in an earlier blog as the knowing of the relationship(s) between phoneme(s) and grapheme(s). This knowledge gives students a tool to allow them to be self-starters, to begin sounding out (decoding) and spelling (encoding) words on their own. Learning to read is a very complex, interdependent process that takes time and practice.

More Instructional Support Strategies for Dyslexic Students

Individuals with dyslexia have brain processing issues, because their brains did not initially develop the same highways and byways to process written language.  But many dyslexic students will have fluid oral communication skills.  This may be why it has taken many years for society to recognize dyslexia as learning disability.  Some students you will not recognize as dyslexic, others will jump up and down dyslexia.  Boys tend to be diagnosed or show higher signs of dyslexia as they seem to squirm louder than girls.

Dyslexic students usually work twice as hard to learn how to read than the average student, as they are developing new brain connections.  Teaching all students using rich Structure Literacy curriculum and instruction can reach most students.  Taking brain breaks or moments of rest can the increase student motivation.  My thought is that any students who is struggling to learn how to read and write should be supported in the process.  Each dyslexic student will need different types of supports to develop the necessary highways and byways, as student environment plays a role in the brain development process.  The earlier the intervention or supports are put into place the higher chance the student has to overcome the risk of literacy acquisition.  The following dyslexic instructional strategies can be effective for any student at-risk in literacy.

  1. Use highlighters or a marking code. A highlighter is a tool that students can use for various tasks.  Students can use them to highlight important information that they may need for future tasks, such as writing or reading comprehension.  Highlighters can be used to note different parts of texts, such as topic sentence, detail, conclusion, parts of a sentence, etc.  Students can use different colors to signify different types of information.  Students can also use boxes, circles, underline, stars, etc. to note the same things when different colored highlighters are not available.  This technique is helpful to teach/model students by highlighting different parts of written language.  This technique can also assist early writers in proof reading their writing.
  2. Read the passage or words aloud at any volume. When students read the passage aloud, they are involving both their hearing and visual senses.  Most dyslexic students already have good oral communication skills—they can effectively process heard information.  Reading the passage aloud usually allows them to better comprehend the passage.  In addition, students are using their visual sense to build or strengthen their brain connections for reading using just their vision.  Whisper phones are a way for students to read written words aloud and not disrupt their fellow classmates.  Some students will grow out of the need to use both their visual and hearing to comprehend the passage, while others will need to occasional use both senses.
  3. Listen and follow along at grade-level. Students listen to a book on tape and read it with the tape or follow along.  This is a good tool for students who can orally comprehend at grade-level, but not read the words and comprehend at grade-level.  This strategy allows students to be exposed to grade-level information and it helps them to build and strengthen brain connections for reading to comprehend at grade-level.  This strategy should be used along with other strategies to increase student achievement level.  This strategy has been used for many years to teach primary students how to read.  Students listen to an oral reading of a book or passage and follow along.  Some of the computer programs have books or passages that can be read as the words are highlighted, but students need to follow along.
  4. Discussing information read. Developing an environment where all students feel safe to share is key for the success of this strategy.  Each student can bring their background/environment knowledge to the discussion.  Many dyslexic students have strong backgrounds of knowledge and good oral communication skills.  Discussing the read information can assist students in expanding their lexicon or student knowledge about a topic.  Student discussion(s) can also increase their information processing highways and byways.  This instructional strategy can also assist students in retaining the information read.  This strategy can also strengthen student ability to communicate orally.
  5. Encourage their interest, passion. When possible allow students to choose their topic of study.  This usually increases engagement and intrinsic motivation.  Some students will still “battle” the assignment or parts of the assignment.  I usually use science topics during the primary and elementary school years to increase student engagement in a task.  Most students can find an animal, insect that stirs their intrinsic motivation to read and write about.  The topic can be narrowed, to a particular aspect of the animal.
  6. Assistance in copying words from the board. Some dyslexic students struggle in copying words from the board or from a distance.  This could be due to vision issues, which is usually an additional issue—not dyslexia.  I usually lend them my notes or ask another student to assist them.  Most can copy from a paper that is placed right next to the paper that they are writing on.  Interactive word walls are excellent tools for students who struggle in copying from the board.

References

Gillingham, A. (1956). Remedial training for children with specific disability in reading, spelling, and penmanship. Massachusetts: Educators Publishing Service, Inc.

Hinshelwood, James. (1917). Congenital word-blindness. London: H.K. Lewis.

Book Reading Activities

COVID-19 temporarily changed how we live our daily lives, in particular how we educate our youth.  Most schools have gone to a “long-distant”, digital format to continue providing instruction and practice for students to continue their formal education.  Students have more time to read and should be making this a top priority.  This is one of the most important educational practices a student can do during this time.  Students should be reading novels or books that have longer story lines.  Students should be reading books closer to their reading ability.  Many educational sites are offering free downloads of novels for students to read.  Most school sites also have books that can be downloaded or read on-line.  Students who are not used to reading written words on electronic devices may struggle at reading and processing the written words.  So, this may make the process of reading and comprehending written words slower than  normal. 

The following options are possible exercises that students can do at home to increase reading achievement.  Most of these options can be used with either non-fiction or fiction books.  These practices usually increase student knowledge and cognition.  The exercise of reading continues to strengthen and develop brain connections that increase student literacy abilities.  These “brain muscles” should have regular exercise.

  • Keep a journal about what they have read each day or time they read.  This journal can include pictures that convey a character or passage of what they have read.
  • Write a summary of each chapter, four to eight sentences. Writing a paragraph that has a topic sentence followed by detail sentences or sentences that describe the details of the chapter, and a conclusion sentence about the chapter.
  • Write a summary of the book. This summary should include details about the beginning, middle, and end.  The amount of details that should be included in the summary will be different at each stage of the maturation process.  Students can also include details about the major characters and pictures about the different settings and characters, etc.
  • Draw a picture of your favorite character(s). Students should include four or five colors to express the character.  The process is especially helpful for younger students.  I have taught many older students who also enjoy this process. Older students should be held accountable for writing about the picture.  I often have students write a paragraph. 
  • Described the main character(s). Students might describe what they look like, what the character(s)enjoy, what they don’t like, and how the character(s) spend their time.
  • Described the setting of the story. Students might describe one setting or several settings of a novel.  Students might include pictures and written words to describe the setting of the story.  Some of the information displayed by the students may be inferred information.  This means that each written description or picture may be different, as we all have different backgrounds of knowledge. 
  • Draw a picture of the setting or favorite scene in the book.
  • Describe the problem or climax of the book. This is something that not every student can grasp, some may need discussion to fully comprehend or pinpoint the problem or climax of the book.
  • Face-time (or contact through an electronic device) a relative, classmate, or friend to describe the plot of the story, character, chapter, etc.
  • Buddy read; this can be accomplished in different formats. Younger students can read aloud to higher level siblings, older students can read aloud to younger students.  Students can read the same book, using an electronic device or a phone.
  • Read to a pet. Most students love to read to a pet.
  • Read aloud to self. This engages the hearing and well as the visual senses to process the written words.  This is especially helpful to early or struggling readers.
  • Discuss what your reading with a classmate, parent, friend, or relative. This may need to take place using an electronic device.  
  • Read with a parent. The student and parent take turns reading.  They might read either every other line of a story, read every other paragraph of the story, or read every other page of the story.  The format is usually dependent on student ability.  I prefer reading every other paragraph.
  • Develop a 3-D model of your favorite setting or part of the book.  The 3-D model can be made of play-dough, clay, wood, tin foil, beans, paper, or anything that you may have on hand.   

 

Enjoy this time to read and explore, travel through books!  

 

 

 

Increasing Student Wealth, Lexicon of Knowledge

Developing student lexicon* to increase comprehension of spoken and written language happens naturally and purposively. The environment that an individual lives in naturally develops their lexicon. For example if you live on a farm, you obsorb the knowledge/language of farm culture. The degree of farm language that you learn depends on the components of the farm that you are exposed to, and your degree of participation in the those components. The learned and stored information about farm life may be relevant in other cultures or life-styles. For example you may learn about record keeping that is applicable in every business. Or you may learn about the components of healthy food consumption that applicable to human development in any culture.

Where I was raised it was natural for most individuals to learn about fresh water fish, it was part of the community culture. It was natural to learn about the salmon run, where in a community near the ocean it may be more natural to learn about sea turtles or tide pools. The habitats, life-cycle, and behaviors of different types of fish have many similarities. Within a purposeful learning environment the study of fish usually gives the opportunity to introduce different cultures, geographical areas, bodies of water, etc. of where the fish reside. The similarities and differences help students to increase their lexicon to comprehend both seen and unseen language related to fish and their habitat. The new learned information about fish is then available to make new conclusions.

In the book How Lincoln Learned to Read,Wolff describes how 12 individuals were educated through their the culture or life-style. This is a non-fiction book that discusses individuals that made notable contributions to America. Some of individuals had great disabilities, some had wealth, and some were very poor. The book includes people and events that influenced their learning. Reading How Lincoln Learned to Read helps the reader to paint a picture of how individuals are educated inside and outside of the classroom and how a person gathers information to understand written and spoken language. The book also helps the reader to understand how early childhood education can influence adult choices.

One chapter of the book describes the education of Belle born to slaves. She was educated by her parents to function effectively within the institution of slavery. This was not the slavery of the plantation South, but of the Northern Dutch who had smaller farms. She had to learn that she was commodity and that staying with her parents could end at a very young age. The chapter also describes how her life evolved into a free woman and how she used prior knowledge to move her forward. Another chapter of the book describes how a girl named, Rachel was raised in hills without the conveniences of modern day technology. The chapter goes on to describe how she lost her father at age 11, forcing the family to move closer to her mother’s family. Where she was able gain a formal education through a private school. The chapter goes on to describe how she used the knowledge that she gained as a child her writing. Some of her writings about nature, the hills, set the stage for present science education. The book also describes individuals such as Abraham Lincoln, Henry Ford, and Benjamin Franklin.

*Students store spoken and written words in their lexicon or mental dictionary. Students increase their mental dictionary through their environment. Student lexicon is always adding new words, pictures, gestures, etc that may help them to better comprehend language. This development begins at birth. Their brain begins attaching meaning(s) to individual tones of sound. Students adjust their stored information as they are introduced to new sounds and their meaning(s). Students also adjust their stored information as new meaning(s) or connections are introduced to the stored information. For example, if you know that dogs shakes when it gets wet, but do not know that dogs may smell when they get wet. Then you experience the a bad odor of a wet dog. Your mental dictionary will adjust your stored information to be dogs shake and may smell when they get wet. The stored information may look similar to a spider web as the information is added and adjusted. Students transfer the stored meaning(s) of tones (voice) to symbols (print) as they learn how to read and write. Student lexicon also helps students to infer or conclude the unwritten or unspoken meaning of a conversation or writing.

Reference
Wolff, Daniel (2009). How Linclon Learned to Read. New York: Bloomsbury USA.

Why are we losing ground in the reading acquisition?

The 2019 National Assessment of Educational (NAEP) reading results show that the national reading scores fell 2% percent in Grade 4 and 4% in Grade 8. This does not sound like much until you put the number of students that one percentage point represents, approximately 1,500 students. One state, Mississippi, continued its positive climb. While 17 states scored 3%-4% points lower than the previous year. And the remaining states remained unchanged from the previous year. This means that the number of students reading at Basic or Below Basic grew from 63% to 65%. It is important to note that this is a sample of students from each state.

So, what is going on? What has created the backward descend in reading acquisition? One plausible reason maybe the time that students are spending in front of an electronic device. Students often spend one to three hours using a digital device at school and then another two to four hours looking at an electronic device at home. During this time students may be reading short messages or posts often written in uncomplete sentences. Students may be spending time scanning headlines or a few sentences of an article. Students might be interacting with the latest electronic game that may offer some occasions to read, usually incomplete sentences. In addition, I am observing that more and more teachers are using mostly “on-line” curriculum or lessons that require students to spend large amounts of time in front of the computer. This may be hindering student reading ability, as time spent in front of an electronic screen may limit student ability to develop deep-reading processes (Wolf, 2018). Deep-reading requires students to read the words at a slower rate, so that the words can move through the circuits of brain to pick up prior knowledge or come alive with meaning. Deep-reading is an interactive activity that uses more energy. Skimming or light reading requires less energy. In addition, current research is suggesting that students struggle with comprehending information in an on-line format (Cavalli, et al., 2019; Kanniainen, Kiili, Tolvanen, Aro, & Leppänen, 2019).

Furthermore, technology/computers change the way students process written language. The brain is an organ that will adapt to function within its environment. If the environment is rich with positive conversations and interactions of individuals of higher cognition then an individual’s brain will build circuits to function in that environment. Research suggests that students who have interactions with individuals of higher cognition usually learn, retain, and reuse information at a higher rate (Vygotsky, 1929). If the environment is rich with limited interactions of individuals and or limited exposure to conversations of higher cognition then the brain will build circuits to function in that environment. The brain needs regular mental and physical exercise of cognition as it matures to develop and maintain connections necessary to deeply process and comprehend verbal and written words (Healy, 1990; Wolf, 2018).


References
Healy, J. M. (1990). Endangered Minds. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster Paperbooks.
Wolf, Maryanne (2018). Reader, come home. The reading brain in a digital world. New York, NY: HarperCollins.
Vygotsky, L. (1929). The problem of the cultural development of a child II. Journal of Genetic Psychology, 36, 415-434. Vygotsky Reader, Blackwell. Retrieved from htts://www.marxists.org/archive/Vygotsky/works/1929
/cultural_development.htm.

How the Brain Processes Written Language

Reading is not a natural activity; it is a learned process (Wolf, 2007).  The process of reading is very complex, using several highways and side-roads to effectively analyze written forms into usable information.  The process of learning how to read begins at birth when babies begin attaching sounds to meaning.  The brain also begins attaching visual or picture forms to sounds and meaning.  The natural foundation or wiring for reading is dependent on your genetics and its growth is dependent on your environment.

Most individuals are genetically wired to develop the basic or initial letter and word processing networks to analyze and convert written words into usable meaning.  The natural wiring includes three different regions of the brain that individuals use to process written words in meaning (Pugh et al. 2000; Eden, 2004).  These regions are located in the left hemisphere of the brain.  The first region is the anterior—interior front gyrus or Broca’s area of the brain (Pugh et al., 2000).  This region is responsible for processing articulatory recoding or phonological processing (Pugh et al., 2000; Moats, 2014).  This region connects letters to sounds.  The second region of the brain is the temporoparietal or Wernicke’s gyri (Pugh et al., 2000).  This area of the brain is known for processing orthography or visual representation into phonology or patterns of speech and semantic or meaning.  The third region that is necessary for fluid reading and meaning is the occipitotemporal or storage of familiar word forms (Pugh et al., 2000).  This area stores words, their pronunciations, and their meaning.  Some individuals do not have the natural wiring to learn how to read.

Individuals who have developmental dyslexia are not naturally wired to process written forms into speech and  meaning.  Researchers (Pugh, 2000; Eden, 2004; Hoeft, 2014) have learned through MRI imaging that individuals with developmental dyslexia initially only use the Anterior region of the brain or only one of the three regions necessary to effectively process written passages.  The other two regions are initially not connected to the Anterior region.  Dyslexics typically compensate using areas of the right side of the brain (Healy, 2010).  The connections can be developed through direct, systematic instruction.  Each individual student with dyslexia may need different types of intervention intensity to develop the necessary highways or bridges that connect the areas of brain that most individuals use to process written language.

 

References

International Dyslexia Association Conference (2013-2014) Dr. G. Eden, Dr. F. Hoeft, Dr. L. Moats, & Dr. K. Pugh

Healy, J. (2010). Different Learners. New York: Simon & Schuster

Wolf, M. (2007). Proust and the Squid. New York: Harper Perennial

Reading Your Environment

The summer break from the school classroom allows more time to explore and expand our knowledge and strengthen our literacy skills through our surrounding environment. Most adults do not take the time to explore and ponder our environment. Partly because we may already know what a sign means or what an object is or the information presented does not seem important to us. Accompanying children often miss the opportunity to learn or build their comprehension bank as adults are not taking the time to stop and explain or read the information aloud with them to absorb or ponder. This does not mean that you have to stop at every opportunity. But making the time to stop when these opportunities arise can ease the process for children in developing new literacy brain connections and/or reinforcing established connections. The opportunities for exploring our environment/world are endless; many are natural, some need to be planned. Some suggestions of planned exploration are explained in the following paragraphs.

Visit a museum. Museums are usually an opportunity for children to practice their reading skills and learn new things. I do suggest museums that included opportunities for children to touch and explore. Museums usually have opportunities for children or young adults to read information about the different displays or activities. Many museums will have opportunities for individuals to take part in different kinds of activities. The activities can include: a) digging for fossils or relicts that may explain how individuals lived in that area, b) exploring how magnets work, c) exploring how the human body works, d) planting flowers or vegetables, or e) building with Legos. The list of possible activities for children to participate in will depend on the focus and resources of the museum. Museums can also create curiosity that may lead to opportunities to research information learned further at home or at a library. While at museums children are expanding their knowledge through oral and printed words. Children are also expanding their knowledge or building new brain connections through their sense of touch.

Go for a walk or hike. Many communities have trails that include signs along the way to explain a special feature or plant. Most trails will have signs for you to follow to ensure that you’re going in the right direction. Many trails will have signs about special places, plants or wildlife. Stop and read the signs with your children and assist them in understanding what the signs mean. Most trails will include wildlife and plants. Stop and exam the structure of a plant or talk about how the plant receives nutrients. Or stop and observe an animal, maybe it has young or is gathering food. Talk about safe and unsafe animals and how to spot them. If you’re not native to walking or hiking, I do recommend that you ask others about the walk or hike and what you might need to take with you on your journey.

Visit a state and/or national park. They can be good source to increase and strengthen literacy brain connections. Each park will have a focus and all parks are not the right park for you and your family. Most parks do offer activities for individuals age 0-99. The focus of the park will dictate the opportunities available, some will allow fishing others will not. Some will offer programs for children to learn about native animals, plants, or the stars. Some may include touring caves, gold mines, or rock climbing. Many parks will also include guided or self-tours for the whole family. All parks will have opportunities for individuals to read written words.

Visit a bookstore that has sections of books for children and young adults to explore. I tend to gravitate towards Barnes and Noble, because they usually carry books on every topic and genre for individuals age 0-100. Bookstores often have story time that give children an opportunity to listen to a story. Some stores also include activities for children to complete after the story. Some stores will also have activities for young adults, like book clubs or book discussions on a particular book(s).

Visit a library-get a library card. Libraries can also be a wonderful place to read about the environment. Libraries can be a time to sit and read with your children. Libraries often have story time that follow with activities for children to complete. Most libraries offer the opportunity to download a book to read at home. Most libraries will have audio versions of a book that allow children or young adults to either listen to or read along with the audio. Many libraries will have a summer program for children to participate in.

Driving in your vehicle. The road can be an opportunity to read your environment. Look for a particular sign. Read license plates—look for particular states, letters, or numbers. Read mileage signs; discuss your destination—how many miles do we still need to go?, what is the next town?, etc. Read signs about a town or community along your way. Discuss what the color of each road sign means.

Read the store while shopping. Read the ingredients included in the can or package with your child. Read the signs of where to find things. Read the labels on the boxes. If you have a pet or if your thinking about getting one, visit the pet section. Talk about the different varieties of beds or fish tanks. What will be or is best for your pet. Discuss the different types of fish and how to best care for each type of fish.

Development of Reading Connections in the Brain

Translating written language into meaning or the process of reading is like completing a dot to dot picture. The brain has to connect the right dots or take the right highways and sideroads to deeply or fully comprehend written language. The complex process of connecting the right dots begins at conception, as brain connections are organized or cataloged through predetermined genetic design. The original or genetic organization can be altered or changed through a child’s environment.

Individuals are not naturally wired with the connections to process letters into usable information. The brain has to develop those connections to process written letters into useable information, which begins at birth through oral language. A child’s verbal communication connections serve as a reference for the process of developing written processing connections. Some children can more easily develop the right connections to use written language. Meaning they pick up letter names and their corresponding sounds and are able to build words and their meanings into usage information without purposeful instruction. Most children need planned instruction to learn each letter and the letter’s corresponding sound(s) and how to develop letters into meaningful words. Most children also need planned instruction to break down words into sounds and meaning. And some children will need explicit, systematic instruction to fully digest letters, words, and sentences into useable information. Understanding what type of literacy instruction children need will follow in a future post.

References

International Dyslexia Association Conference; Dr. Louisa Moats, Dr. F. Hoeft, & Dr. K. Pugh
Binet, A. & Simon, T. (1916) The development of intelligence in children. Williams & Wilkins Co.
Fowler, W. (1983). Potentials of childhood (Vol 1.) D.C. Health & Co.
Piaget, J. & Inhelder, B. (1966). The psychology of the child. Basic Books.
Vygotsky, L. (1934). Thought and language. MIT Press.

 

 

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