Below you’ll find an extremely simplified diagram of what happens in the brain when we learn to read.
Adams, M. J. (2011). The relation between alphabetic basics, word recognition, and reading. In S. Samuels & A. Farstrup (Eds.), What research has to say about reading instruction (pp. 4-24).
I know it’s silly, but as my students leave each day I sing to them (decidedly off key), “Oh, it’s crying time again, you’re gonna’ leave me.” Many of them beam with joy that I’m going to miss them.
It’s that time of the school year for reflection–for us and for our students. Here’s a visual created by Peter Pappas for a taxonomy of reflection that would be helpful for all of us. Read more about it on his blog.
I don’t know if you’re as bad at acronyms as I am, but PISA is the Program for International Student Assessment. I’d read about the assessment before, but this really clarified things for me. Enjoy!
This morning I was reading some research about reading and came across some information about how our brains turn print into language. The idea that sent fireworks exploding in my brain is the very last step when words receive meaning: ”Reading a word such as stagger, limp, or tiptoe activates the motor areas in the brain that are involved in controlling the legs and feet, whereas reading a word such as chop or carve activates those controlling the hands. Whereas understanding a sentence about eating activates the areas related to gustatory sensations, understanding a visual description activates areas of the visual cortex (Adams, 2011, p. 8).
How cool is that! The next step is a response or completed circuit. Doesn’t that just give us all the more reason to include kinetic learning in our reading repetoire?
Samuels, J. & Farstrup, A., Editors (2011). What research has to say about reading instruction. Neward, DE: International Reading Association.