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"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 image of new printed words with little conscious effort (Moats, p. 11)."

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"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 image of new printed words with little conscious effort (Moats, p. 11)."

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References:
1. Moats, Louisa C, "Teaching Reading Is Rocket Science." American Educator. Summer 2020.

2. Schwartz, Sarah & Sparks, Sarah D. "How Do Kids Learn to Read? What the Science says." EdWeek.org. October 02, 2019. https://www.edweek.org/teaching-learning/how-do-kids-learn-to-read-what-the-science-says/2019/10

3. Spear-Swerling, Louise. "The Research-Practice Divide in Beginning Reading." Theory Into Practice. 461(4), 301-308.

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Weaving together the skills that make up literacy...

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Weaving together the skills that make up literacy...

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Scarborough's Reading Rope represents the five pillars of literacy  in a different way. Here, each skill, as a strand, comes together to make a strong braid of skilled reading. Word recognition is a tightly woven braid of phonemic awareness and phonics, and once students master this skill they will be ready to begin braiding the strands of skills that make up language comprehension.

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Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better." -Maya Angelou

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Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better." -Maya Angelou

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While the science may be clear, that does not always translate into the classroom. It has been interesting and disheartening to read how rampant the 3 cue system is. I get it, because before I started on this learning journey I thought teaching kids to read meant teaching kids to love reading. A part of that is because I love to read. I don't remember how I learned to read, I just always remember loving reading and books as a kid. I was taking it for granted, how hard it is to learn how to read.

On top of that I haven't thought about things like onset and rime and sounding out words in 30 years. However, "even experienced teachers can have inaccurate perceptions of their knowledge about phonemic awareness, phonics, and early reading development" (Spear-Swerling, p. 307).

Maybe teachers don't know the science, maybe the curriculum they are using is centered around the cueing system. Maybe teaching phonics seems absolutely daunting. Whatever the reason, we owe it to our students to educate ourselves so we can better teach them. It helps to have a supportive administration and school district, but it starts with each of us individually, learning from what the science of reading tells us.

"...teacher's knowledge is a vital bridge between scientific research and educational practice, because without well-informed teachers, scientific research on reading cannot full benefit children" (Spear-Swerling, p. 307).

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"Written language is a code... 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" (Schwartz & Sparks).

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"Written language is a code... 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" (Schwartz & Sparks).

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Teaching kids to read is so much more than just exposing students to text. Some kids pick reading up easier than others. The vast majority of students need direct, methodical reading instruction. Spoken language develops naturally; our brains are hard-wired to pick up our L1 simply because we are immersed in it. Some instruction is needed, but reading is far more complicated. So where do we begin?

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"There are five essential components of reading: phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension" (Schwartz & Sparks).

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"There are five essential components of reading: phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension" (Schwartz & Sparks).

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To become strong readers, kids need precise instruction in all five of these pillars of literacy. But, it needs to be done in a logical order, with each skill scaffolding off the next.

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"Without strong skills in either domain, an individual’s reading comprehension will be compromised." (Moats, p. 5)

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"Without strong skills in either domain, an individual’s reading comprehension will be compromised." (Moats, p. 5)

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"The implications of the Simple View of Reading should be self-evident: reading and language arts instruction must include deliberate, systematic, and explicit teaching of word recognition and must develop students’ subject-matter knowledge, vocabulary, sentence comprehension, and familiarity with the language in written texts" (Moats, p.5)"

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...by teaching students to "...[translate] alphabetic symbols into meaning" and to recognize "the speech sounds (phonemes) that the alphabetic symbols represent." They learn to "map sounds to letter and letter combinations (graphemes)." The will learn to "map speech to print [by recognizing] letter sequences... and syllable patterns [into] meaningful units (morphemes)" (Moats, p. 11).