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This website covers a wide range of vital vocabulary for understanding cognition and how it affects reading. There are also many resources for how to assist your students in developing cognition.

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By Kim R. Fitzer and James B. Hale
Is Reading Natural?

Reading is not a natural part of human development. Children do not automatically learn how to read and need to be taught to read. Statistics Canada (2009) reported that of all children with disabilities (ages 5 to 14), more than half (59.8%) have learning disabilities (LDs).

Most of these children have a disability in reading (89.6%) (Gabel, Gibson, Gruen, LoTurco, 2010; Semrud-Clikeman, Fine, & Harder, 2005). This may be due to the importance of reading in all academic areas, as studies suggest math and writing LDs are also very common (Shaywitz, 2007; Willis, 2008).

Word Attack Skills, Reading Decoding, and Reading Competency
Defining Terms

Phonological Awareness: skill at identifying and manipulating sounds.

Phonemic Awareness: understanding that words are made of sounds (44 English phonemes) that can be used to create new words.

Grapheme Awareness: understanding that symbols in reading (letters) correspond to sounds.

Early exposure to sounds and letters is critical, even before school begins (Richards, 2009; Tallal, 2012). Children must learn four things:

1. Awareness that speech is composed of the smallest meaningful units of sounds (phonemes);

2. Awareness that letters (graphemes) and word parts (morphemes) are visual language symbols;

3. Recognition that written letters represent the sounds (alphabetic principle);

4. Understanding that phonemes and morphemes can be manipulated (Segmenting and Blending).

A Common Problem Seen in Early Reading and Word Reading LDs

Children can memorize words by sight instead of developing word attack or reading decoding skills. This is a common problem in children who have reading LDs (Fiorello, Hale, & Snyder, 2006).

This memorizing strategy allows children to guess at most words in the early grades from the initial letter or whole word configuration (shape of word) and still achieve average scores on most reading tests. What they often struggled with is pseudoword reading tasks (e.g., read the words belped, fralt, nockess). Although these children may not be identified with a reading LD, because of their average scores in early grades, later in elementary school they may have significant reading problems (Berninger et al., 2000; Hale et al., 2008).

Why would that lead to reading problems later in school?

In kindergarten, children are exposed to words that are easily memorized, because there aren't that many of them. However, as the lexicon expands dramatically through elementary school - with approximately 2000 to 3000 new words learned each year (Biemeller, 2003) - this visual memorizing strategy becomes less effective.

These same children cannot memorize enough words over time, and so their word reading and reading comprehension decline with age (Shaywitz, 2003). A child has to decode harder words not visually recognized to link the words to lexical-semantic word memory and their definitions (Biemeller, 2003).

What should parents and teachers do?

It is important to build word attack skills and good understanding of phoneme-grapheme correspondence throughout the early grades (Ramus et al, 2003; Shaywitz et al., 1999). Parents and teachers should watch for children who often guess at words or skip words they don't know. These children will often read much quicker during silent reading (because of the guessing/skipping strategy) and try to avoid oral reading. Comprehension too may be better during silent reading because they are able to "fill in the gaps" when they miss a word, and still understand what they read.

The Neuropsychology of Word Reading

There are many brain areas involved in reading competency, even at the basic word reading level (Feifer & Della Toffalo, 2007; Hale & Fiorello, 2004; Shaywtiz, 2005), so problems in one or more of these areas of the brain could lead to reading disabilities.

In a landmark study, Pugh et al. found a functional disconnect between the phonemic and graphemic systems in the inferior parietal lobe, which is likely the most common cause of word reading disability (Fiorello et al., 2006).

Click here to access the handout Brain Areas and Reading Skills.

Reading Fluency/Speed and Reading Comprehension

Reading comprehension requires reading quickly ( reading fluency),keeping track of what words are in the sentences ( working memory), vocabulary meaning and text conventions ( semantics/grammar), and understanding what is read ( receptive language) (Berninger & Richards, 2002; Cutting, Materek, Cole, Levine, & Mahone, 2009).

Children must learn six things:

1. Automatic recognition of words as "pictures" in the brain (sight word recognition);

2. Quickly retrieving words in visual long-term memory for rapid naming (retrieval/fluency);

3. Linking read words with word meanings (vocabulary) in long-term memory (lexical/semantic knowledge);

4. Keeping track of words and meanings for sentences and passages (verbal working memory);

5. Knowledge of sentence structure and punctuation (grammar);

6. Linking read words, word meanings, and grammar for understanding (receptive language).

Common Problems Seen in Children with Reading Comprehension LDs

Most proficient readers read words by sight, and some children may be good at word decoding/attack, but they don't transfer those words to long-term visual memory (Hale & Fioello, 2004). Without automatic sight word recognition, too much effort is spent on decoding and comprehension is impaired (Ehri, 2005; Wolf, Miller, & Donnelly, 2000).

Why would poor sight word recognition lead to reading comprehension problems?

Problems with long-term visual memory can lead to poor sight word recognition. Without a good sight word vocabulary, reading speed is reduced, and working memory is consumed with reading decoding/attack. This does not allow for working memory to keep track of the words read, and comprehension is subsequently impaired (Elliott et al., 2010; Torgesen, Wagner, Rashotte, Burgess, & Hecht, 1997).

This seems in direct contrast with the earlier comments about not allowing children to use a sight word approach only for reading. This is because reading is hierarchical. A child first learns to decode words, then transfer the decoded words to long-term visual memory so the words can be rapidly named, and thus comprehension can develop as word reading competency increases (see Fiorello et al., 2006).

What should teachers do?

It is important to build vocabulary first and foremost, and then decoded words can be translated into reading sight words efficiently. With sight word recognition and reading speed, the demands on working memory are less, and so working memory can be used for reading comprehension to occur.

Watch for children who always try to "sound out" (decode) words, and/or have slow reading speed (Willis, 2008; Wolf, 2007).

The Neuropsychology of Reading Fluency/Speed and Comprehension

There are many brain areas involved in reading comprehension, even if basic word reading and reading speed are adequate (Berninger & Richards, 2002; Feifer & Della Toffalo, 2007; Hale & Fiorello, 2004; Shaywtiz, 2005). Reading comprehension and oral language comprehension are highly related, so any child with receptive or expressive language problems may also have a problem with reading comprehension (Feifer & Della Toffalo, 2007; Roth, Speece, & Cooper, 2002).

Click here to access the handout Brain Areas and Comprehension Skills.

Putting it Together: A Model of Word Reading and Comprehension

There are "fast" and "slow" routes for reading in the brain. In the beginning stages, one learns to decode words using the connection between sound and symbol in the brain's dorsal stream. But the fastest way to read a word is by sight, which is important for reading fluency and comprehension. Without reading fluency, word reading takes all of one's working memory, and comprehension is impaired.

So the reader's goal is to transfer an unknown word from the dorsal stream (word attack) to the ventral stream (automatic sight word reading) (Feifer, Nader, Flanagan, Fitzer, Hicks, 2014). Competency in both decoding and sight word recognition are needed however, with the former proceeding the latter during reading skill development.

Should we teach children to memorize words instead of decoding them?

The answer is NO. It is important to NOT let children try to learn words by sight only (e.g., guessing at words based on initial letter or total word configuration).

Why?

Because as the lexicon expands with increasing age there are too many words to try to memorize, so decoding of harder words is necessary for words we don't automatically recognize by sight, and then we can access them via the slower dorsal stream (Hale & Fiorello, 2004).

What do specific problems with reading look like? What are the implications for intervention?

The following table highlights some of the problems students experience during reading. No one pattern is "clear cut" because reading competencies are interrelated, and there may be more than one of the following problems in the same child, especially if a reading LD is present. However, understanding these patterns is a good first step toward developing effective interventions for children with reading disabilities (Crews & D'Amato, 2010; Feifer & DeFina, 2000; Fletcher & Vaughan, 2009).

Phonetic Coding and Sound/Symbol Association Word Recognition Visual Procssing/Rapid Automatic Naming Reading Comprehension

Difficulty learning visual letters

Difficulty recognizing words and letters in print, may see lip movement when reading

May have difficulty with visual discrimination or recognition of letters; makes phonemic equivalent errors

Comprehension not impaired for oral language or sentences presented orally, but impaired for written sentences

Difficulty learning sounds for letters

Over-relies on sight word approach. Guesses at words by initial letter or whole word configuration

Good visual memory may lead to adequate reading performance in early grades (not later grades, where decoding is needed)

Comprehension directly related to words misread; as number of inaccurate guesses increases, comprehension declines

Difficulty with sound (phoneme) - symbol (grapheme) association

Slow and laborious reading, with many misread words; reads with little expression, but lip movement seen during silent reading

Letter reversals, b for d, p for q; m for w, Letter and number inversions; poor memorization of words and linking meaning to read words

Comprehension errors frequent as majority of working memory is taxed by decoding, oral comprehension may be adequate

Difficulty breaking apart words or combining parts of words

Slow and laborious reading, with many misread words; some sight word reading may be used

Re-reads words and skips lines while reading; complains that eyes hurt or rubs eyes; loses place while reading

Confuses word order (syntax); Frequent errors in comprehension due to working memory being taxed or poor word relationships

Reasonable phonetic misspellings "akshun" for action

Rarely uses punctuation when reading, sounds out all words, even sight words, such as "righut" for the word right

Sequencing and tracking errors, will say "on" for no or "saw" for was; Complains of eyes hurting or sore when reading, and words or letters move ("jump") on the page

Slow laborious reading interferes with fluency, working memory, and comprehension; often re-reads a passage numerous times before understanding it

Good sound-symbol association for decoding words

Recognizes a majority of words taught

May not have problems with visual processes, but could have sequential processing problem

Working memory problem leads to poor text meaning or connected text understanding; so poor comprehension of sentences and passages despite good word reading

Most children may experience one or more of these problems during their reading skill development, therefore, it is important to note if the pattern is consistent over time, and resistant to intervention (Crews & D'Amato, 2010; Feifer & Della Toffalo, 2007).

In addition, it is important to recognize that good readers and children with reading LDs differ in their brain function and error patterns, so a good error analysis is critical for developing effective interventions for affected children (Feifer et al, 2014; Cao, Bitan, Chou, Buma, & Booth, 2006; Simos et al., 2005, 2007).

Teaching Reading: Linking Assessment and Intervention

There are a number of valuable resources for teaching children with reading problems and reading LDs. The following evidence-based intervention strategies were developed based on a number of important resources, including Berninger & Wolf (2009), Feifer & Della Toffalo (2007), Fry, 2010; Mercer, Mercer, & Pullen (2008), and Shawitz (2005). Several of these intervention strategies recognize the National Reading Panel (2000) findings that effective reading instruction addresses alphabetics, fluency, and comprehenison.

Click here to access the handout Interventions for Sound/Symbol Association and Phonetic Coding (K-2).

Click here to access the handout Interventions for Sound/Symbol Association and Phonetic Coding (3+).

Click here to access the handout Interventions for Word Recognition/Automaticity (K-2).

Click here to access the handout Interventions for Word Recognition/Automaticity (3+).

Click here to access the handout Interventions for Reading Fluency (K-2).

Click here to access the handout Interventions for Reading Fluency (3+).

Click here to access the handout Interventions for Reading Comprehension (K-2).
Click here to access the handout Interventions for Reading Comprehension (3+).
Related Resources on the LD@school Website

Click here to access the article WIST Program: A strategy to improve orthographic memory in students with reading disabilities.

Click here to access the article Improving Reading Fluency: Which Interventions are the Most Effective?.

Click here to access the article Integrating Vocabulary Instruction with Reading Comprehension Strategies.

Click here to access the article Direct Instruction of Reading for Elementary-aged Students.

Click here to access the article Effective Vocabulary Strategies for Students with Learning Disabilities.

Additional Resources

Click here to access the resource Phonemic Awareness: Developing Sound Sense.

References

Biemiller, A. (2003). Vocabulary: Needed if more children are to read well. Reading Psychology, 24(3-4), 323-335.

Berninger,V.W., Abbott, R. D., Brooksher, R., Lemon, Z., Ogier, S., Zook, D., & Mostafapour, E. (2000). A connectionist approach to making the predictability of English orthography explicit to at-risk beginning readers: Evidence for alternative, effective strategies. Developmental Neuropsychology, 17(2), 241-271.

Berninger, V. W. & Richards, T. L. (2002). Brain Literacy for Educators and Psychologists. USA: Academic Press.

Berninger, V. W., & Wolf, B. J. (2009). Teaching students with dyslexia and dysgraphia. New York: Paul H. Brooks Publishing.

Cao, F., Bitan, T., Chou, T. L., Buman, D. D., & Booth, J. R. (2006). Deficient orthographic and phonological representations in children with dyslexia revealed by brain activational patterns. . Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 47, 1041-1050.

Crews, K. J., & D'Amato, R. C. (2010). Subtyping children's reading disabilities using a comprehensive neuropsychological measure. Journal of Neuroscience, 119( 10), 1615-1639.

Cutting, L. E., Materek, A., Cole, C. A., Levine, T. M., & Mahone, E. M. (2009). Effects of fluency, oral language, and executive function on reading comprehension performance. Annals of Dyslexia, 59(1): 34-54.

Ehri, L. C. (2005). Learning to read words: Theory, findings, and issues. Scientific Studies of Reading, 9(2), 167-188.

Elliott, C. D., Hale, J. B., Fiorello, C. A., Dorvil, C., & Moldovan, J. (2010). Differential Ability Scales-II prediction of reading performance: Global scores are not enough. Psychology in the Schools, 47(7), 698-720.

Feifer, S. G., & DeFina, P. D. (2000). The neuropsychology of reading disorders: Diagnosis and intervention. Middletown, MD: School Neuropsych Press.

Feifer, S. G., Nader, R. G., Flanagan, D. P., Fitzer, K. R., & Hicks, K. (2014). Identifying Specific

Reading Disability Subtypes for Effective Educational Remediation. [Special Issue]. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 20, 1, 18-30.

Fiorello, C. A., Hale, J. B., & Snyder, L. E. (2006). Cognitive hypothesis testing and response to intervention for children with reading problems. Psychology in the Schools, 43(8), 835-853.

Fletcher, J. M., & Vaughn, S. (2009). Response to intervention: Preventing and remediating academic difficulties. Child Development Perspectives, 3, 30-37.

Fry, E. (2010). How to teach reading (4th ed.). Huntington Beach, CA: Shell Educational.

Gabel, L. A., Gibson, C. J., Gruen, J. R., LoTurco, J. J. (2010). Progress towards a cellular neurobiology of reading disability. Neurobiology of Disease, 38, 173-180.

Hale, J., Alfonso, V., Berninger, V., Bracken, B., Christo, C., Clark, E., Davis, A., Decker, S., Denckla, M., Dumont, R., Elliott, C. Feifer, S., Fiorello, C., Flanagan, D., Fletcher-Janzen, E., Geary, D., Gerber, M., Gerner, M., Goldstein, S., Gregg, N., Hagin, R., Jaffe, L., Kaufman, A., Kaufman, N., Keith, T., Kline, F., Kochhar-Bryant, C., Lerner, J., Marshall, G., Mascolo, J., Mather, N., Mazzacco, M., McCloskey, G., McGrew, K., Miller, D., Miller, J., Mostert, M., Naglieri, J., Noggle, C., Ortiz, S., Phelps, L., Podhajski, B., Reddy. L., Reynolds, C., Riccio, C., Schrank, F., Schultz, E., Semrud-Clikeman, M., Shaywitz, S., Silver, L., Swanson, L., Urso, A., Wasserman, T., Willis, J., Wodrich, D., Wright, P., & Yalof, J. (2010). Critical Issues in response-to-intervention, comprehensive evaluation, and specific learning disabilities identification and intervention: An expert white paper consensus. Learning Disability Quarterly, 33, 223-236.

Hale, J. B., & Fiorello, C. A. (2004). School neuropsychology: A practioner's handbook. New York: Guilford.

Mercer, C. D., Mercer, A. R., & Pullen, P. C. (2010). Teaching students with learning problems (8 th ed.). New York: Pearson.

National Reading Panel (2000). Teaching children to read: An evidence-based assessment of the scientific literature on reading and its implications for reading instruction. Washington, DC: US Government.

Pugh, K. R., Mencl, W. E., Shaywitz, B. A., Shaywitz, S. E., Fulbright, R. K., Constable, R. T., ... & Gore, J. C. (2000). The angular gyrus in developmental dyslexia: task-specific differences in functional connectivity within posterior cortex. Psychological science, 11(1), 51-56.

Ramus, F., Rosen, S., Dakin S. C., Day, B. L., Castellote, J. M.,White, S., & Frith U. (2003). Theories of developmental dyslexia: insights from a multiple case study of dyslexic adults. Brain, 126, 841-865.

Richards, T. L., Aylward, E. H., Berninger, V. W., Field, K. M., Grimme, A. C., Richards, A. L., & Nagy, W. (2006). Individual fMRI activation in orthographic mapping and morpheme mapping after orthographic or morphological spelling treatment in child dyslexics. Journal of Neurolinguistics 19, 56-86.

Roth, F. P., Speece, D. L., & Cooper, D. H. (2002). A longitudinal analysis of the connection between oral language and early reading. The Journal of Educational Research, 95(5), 259-272.

Semrud-Clikeman, M., Fine, J., & Harder, L. (2005). The school neuropsychology of learning disabilities. R.K. D'Amato E. Fletcher-Janzen, & C. R. Reynolds (Eds.). Handbook of School Neuropsychology. New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons.

Shaywitz, S. (2005). Overcoming dyslexia: A new and complete science-based program for reading problems at any level. Vintage.

Shaywitz, S. E, Fletcher, J. M., Holahan, J. M., Schneider, A. E., Marchione, K. E., Stuebing, K. K., et al. (1999). Persistence of dyslexia: The Connecticut Longitudinal Study at adolescence. Pediatrics, 104, 1351-1359.

Simos, P. G., Fletcher, J. M., Sarkari, S., Billingsley, R. L., Francis, D. J., Castillo,...Papanicolaou, A. C. (2005). Early development of neurophysiological processes involved in normal reading and reading disabilities. Neuropsychology, 19, 787-798.

Simos, P. G., Fletcher, J. M., Sarkari, S., Billingsley-Marshall, R., Denton, C. A., & Papanicolaou, A. C. (2007). Intensive instruction affects brain magnetic activity associated with oral word reading in children with persistent reading disabilities. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 7 (1), 37-48.

Statistics Canada (2009). The performance of Canada's youth in reading, mathematics and science. Ottawa, ON: Author

Tallal, P. (2012). Improving neural response to sound improves reading. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America,109(41), 16406-16407.

Torgesen, J. K. Wagner, R. K., Rashotte, C. A., Burgess, S., & Hecht, S. (1997). Contributions of Phonological Awareness and Rapid Automatic Naming Ability to the Growth of Word-Reading Skills in Second-to Fifth-Grade Children. Scientific Studies of Reading, 1(2), 161-185.

Willis, J. (2008). Teaching the brain to read: Strategies for improving fluency, vocabulary, comprehension. USA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

Wolf, M., Miller, L., & Donnelly, K. (2000). RAVE-O: A comprehensive fluency-based reading intervention program. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 33, 375-386. (Special Issue on the Double-Deficit Hypothesis: Special Issue Editors:M. Wolf & P. Bowers).

Wolf, M. (2007). Proust and the squid: The story and science of the reading brain. New York, NY: HarperCollins.

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Reading and the Brain: Strategies for Decoding, Fluency, and Comprehension

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By Kim R. Fitzer and James B. Hale Is Reading Natural? Reading is not a natural part of human development. Children do not automatically learn how to read and need to be taught to read. Statistics Canada (2009) reported that of all children with disabilities (ages 5

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Cognitive Reading: How Cognition Affects Reading Development

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Cognitive Reading: How Cognition Affects Reading Development

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This reading discusses what functions are necessary for reading and how cognition is important for developing these functions.

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Summary

Learning to read well requires that the basic processes of decoding and comprehending become automatic so that they do not have to be thought about consciously. Readers who must decode letters and words consciously are distracted by the process and are thus unable to concentrate on the meaning of what they are reading.

The cognitive skills that support decoding, such as attention, visual discrimination, visual sequential processing, immediate memory and working memory, must be automatic for successful reading. Many struggling readers are deficient in these skills. But despite the necessity of these skills, they are not taught in schools. In fact, the primary challenge in improving the teaching of reading is to close the gap between what the research tells us is needed for struggling readers and what is actually provided in our schools. ¹ The fact that cognitive skills are not explicitly taught in schools does not mean that they can not be taught. For over half a century, techniques to develop basic cognitive skills have been known and used in various clinical therapies but haven't been practical to deliver in the classroom. Today, digital game-based learning is making the delivery of cognitive training programs viable in a classroom setting.

BrainWare SAFARI is a comprehensive cognitive skills development program presented in a video-game format. Students have experienced dramatic increases in their cognitive skills after using the program for 11-12 weeks. This paper discusses how reading skills can be improved in struggling readers, as well as normal and gifted students by improving their underlying cognitive skills. Cognitive skill improvement can help any child learning to read. Even older students who are having trouble reading will be able to rapidly make significant improvements in their literacy.

Important Reading Facts

85% of children diagnosed with learning difficulties have primary problems with reading and related language skills.

Reading difficulties are neuro-developmental in nature.

Neuro-developmental problems do not go away, but a student or adult can still learn or progress in school nonetheless.

Most children can be taught reading and explicit strategies for success in school.

More than 8 million students in grades 4-12 are struggling readers.

Many older students can read, but cannot understand what they read. (US DOE, 2003)

Background

Most people do not remember learning to read. They may remember learning letters but do not typically recall how and when they made sense out of written symbols. This is because the process of decoding letters and recognizing the patterns of letters that form familiar words has become automatic and no longer requires conscious thought.

Whenever a person first learns a skill, every aspect of the learning experience requires conscious attention. If we think about what is involved in learning to drive a car, ride a bike, or spell the word catch, we notice that the brain internalizes the procedures only after a great deal of practice.

Once internalized through practice, we refer to skills as residing in unconscious or implicit memory(some researchers also use the term "procedural memory." Implicit memory allows the brain to carry out processes at an automatic level, without conscious thought. Thus, these processes are considered neuro-developmental. Once the mechanisms of reading have been integrated into an unconscious process, the reader's mind is free to concentrate on developing a structure of meaning. When we refer to unconscious processes, we mean that the processes can be performed without thinking.

Speech and language are natural functions of the brain, and children master speech just by spending time with people who already speak. Reading, on the other hand, is not a natural function. Unfortunately, children do not learn to read simply by spending time with people who already read.

Many of the structures used in spoken language come into play in reading as well, but often for purposes other than those for which they seem to have been designed. ³ Translating what one already knows about language from speech and listening into visual symbols is a highly complex process that some learn intuitively, but that the majority must be taught. ⁴ For struggling readers, the learning curve is even steeper. Generally, only with that kind of specific instruction and extensive practice can struggling readers master the decoding of letters and letter combinations to create meaningful units of morphemes and words, to understand word origins, and to achieve comprehension through a core knowledge base. ⁵

Reading Task

Reading is composed of two main processes: decoding and comprehension. Decoding involves the process of recognizing letters, relating them to speech sounds, and then connecting those sounds to make words. Children are explicitly taught that letters represent the sounds of spoken words and they practice those relationships. Then they connect those sounds to make words.

Comprehension, the second of reading's main processes, involves understanding the written word, and specifically connecting information within the context of a particular text. Students must also learn to relate what they are reading to prior knowledge. And they must learn to read fluently. The frontal lobes of the brain are called upon to coordinate thought processes in more complex ways as those processes begin to become more expansive. As a child becomes a proficient reader, he or she uses both decoding and comprehending so that both skills become more interdependent upon each other. That is, the context and meaning of the text aid in the decoding process, as the child predicts what words will appear, just as the decoding process gives rise to additional meaning.

There is one final task involved in learning to read, and that is remembering what one has read. Children must be able to organize and summarize the content and to make connections to previously learned material. They must also store the information in long-term memory so that they can use that information in the future.

Cognitive Skills

Underpinning the tasks required in reading are basic cognitive skills that allow the brain to take in and process information. Children who struggle with reading tend to have difficulty with some of these basic skills, such as memory, paying attention, organizing information and following instructions. It is important to note that these cognitive skills are not uniquely critical in reading they underlie the ability to learn any skill.

Below is a model of mental processing ⁶ that illustrates these functions as a general model of learning and cognitive processing. As this model shows, external and internal stimuli must be attended to, the most important or relevant ones selected (ignore the dog barking outside, listen to the teacher), and then they must be organized (for example letters and words perceived in sequential order left to right in the case of reading). The activities just described can be grouped into a category called Reception.

The process of Perception takes the selected and organized data that has been derived from sensory input and begins to associate it with meaning. Letters are identified and distinguished one from another, patterns of letters are compared to sight words and other patterns of words in memory, and the sounds of unknown words are connected to create something familiar. Perceiving also includes the process of integrating new information into existing memory.

The next step, Thinking, is the point at which conscious and focused activity takes place. If the various mental processes associated with receiving and perceiving written information are still carried out consciously, then an individual's ability to comprehend, interpret, reason, plan and act on that information will be severely limited or non-existent.

One salient feature of this model is the essential role of memory. Memory is involved through the receiving, perceiving, and thinking processes when incoming sensory input is compared to previous patterns, when previous knowledge is retrieved to aid comprehension, and when information is held in memory to think about, as examples.

Reading Difficulties

Persistently poor readers may read word for word or read a sentence without attending to its meaning. This means that the brain has not yet integrated a systemic approach to the reading process and experiences it only as a series of unrelated fragments that elude lasting recall. Any reader who has to stop and go back over the material in order to make basic sense of it is doing so because the mechanisms of reading have not been integrated into an unconscious process that leaves the mind free to concentrate on developing a structure of meaning.

Lets consider the example of a third-grader named Joe. Joe learned first grade reading skills well enough not to be considered an at-risk reader. But as the text became more challenging in second grade, his reading slowed down. He usually looked only at one word at a time, which meant that he confused the meaning of most sentences. His struggle just to get the individual words right interfered with any ability to make connections and, thus, he could not summarize or retrieve related ideas.

Many children appear to slump and struggle with reading when they get to the third grade. Third grade is when schoolwork and standardized tests require them to think and perform at a more inferential level. ⁷ Students who are still stuck deciphering a text word by word are not usually able to build a sense of meaning from what they are reading.

Psychologist Franklin Manis ⁸ refers to a focused, complex process that occurs in the brains of successful readers as they process letter distinction fast enough to maintain the flow and fluency of text. ⁹ If letter recognition is not instantaneous, or if the letters the reader identifies are not quickly connected into a familiar word, comprehension slows down. It is then up to the frontal lobes to determine whether or not the visual input is important enough to the child to motivate him or her to maintain attention.

Paying attention, focusing, and concentrating are skills that proficient readers develop in order to make meaning. If a child fails to develop these skills, then comprehending text is difficult, and may be impossible. The ability to pay attention underlies the accomplishment of all reading tasks. ¹⁰

Unfortunately, Joe's teacher may not have been able to work with Joe as would be needed to develop his attention skills. Finding 30 to 90 minutes for reading and writing instruction on a regular basis in order to cover the necessary specific literacy standards in depth is difficult in many schools. To compound the problem, students do not come packaged alike with the same cognitive processes. Often this results in the teacher teaching to the middle of the class, while he or she wonders how and with what means learning can be differentiated so as to insure that every child is on task and properly focused.

Unfortunately, such problems are often ignored because some people believe that intelligent children learn to read easily and naturally, while less intelligent ones do not. This misperception derives from a prevailing impression among many educators that learning to read is a natural process that results from immersion in a literacy-rich environment and rich text experiences. In fact, reading is one of the most unnatural acts we humans perform and most current reading programs do not directly address the building of basic cognitive skills. ¹¹

How Cognitive Skill Development Works

The human brain is designed to coordinate many different sensory inputs into a single pattern in order to create meaningful information that can be used to perform tasks or think about that information. Taking in, comprehending, remembering, and manipulating sensory inputs to accomplish a task at hand requires well developed cognitive skills. To understand how cognitive skill development works, think of a child learning to ride a bicycle.

When a child learns to ride a bike, he or she must coordinate body movement in several different ways. First, the child has to balance on the bike so that it does not fall to one side or the other. Second, the child has to pedal the bike so it will move forward. Third the child has to steer the bike using the handlebars so it will go in a particular direction. Fourth, the child has to have a means of stopping the bike. Usually this means applying the brakes, but it might also mean dropping his or her feet to the ground.

After a little practice, the child has assimilated these various tasks separately from each other well enough to integrate them into a single set of patterns that, from then on, can operate outside of conscious awareness. At that point, the child thinks of riding the bike, not of balancing, pedaling, steering and braking. All the different processes have integrated into a single process that the brain can repeat ad infinitum without any further conscious input.

At the same time, all of the actions can be modified at will by the conscious mind, so as to change speed, direction, and so forth. When we say that the processes have become unconscious, we do not mean that they are no longer under conscious control. Rather we mean that the processes can be performed in the absence of conscious thought.

In similar fashion, the brain learns to do certain things that no longer have to be thought about when we are reading or exercising other related skills, such as doing math problems. The better integrated the processes are, the better a person can read.

In their efforts to help students integrate the processes into an unconscious routine, teachers employ a number of different strategies. They strive to select appropriate reading materials, assign appropriate tasks, guide students in practice, and adjust instructional interactions. One of the strategies teachers seek to employ is scaffolding, where the instructor provides opportunities to continue mastering phonics, vocabulary, fluency, and comprehension in a time-sensitive and intricately coordinated manner so that the student is exposed to new concepts and ideas that are at the right level neither too easy nor too difficult.

However, two difficulties often arise. One is that individualizing instruction and scaffolding to the degree needed are time-consuming. Most teachers with classrooms of 18 to 30 students are hard-pressed to find the time to attend to individual students needs. The other difficulty is that many of the basic cognitive skills required for reading, such as attention, visualization and memory, are not the skills that teachers have been taught to teach.

But while these skills have not been a part of the pedagogical repertoire of the classroom teacher, they have been trained, for more than half a century, by optometrists, speech pathologists, psychologists and other learning experts. Because they required highly trained therapists and one-to-one administration, these training programs were extremely expensive and consequently beyond the reach of all but a few of the students who were in the direst need.

Digital Game-Based Learning a Way to Deliver Cognitive Skills Training

When a person has established bad reading habits, it is difficult and, at times, may even be impossible to change those habits through direct action by the learner, since they are no longer specifically conscious of those mental processes. However, that same person can do something different from reading, such as training with a video game that causes the habits to change.

Recently, digital game-based learning programs have been developed which are extremely effective at training basic cognitive skills and which are more affordable and practical for classroom use than clinical therapies. While clinical therapies are vitally important for some children, it is not feasible to devote the time and individual attention to such therapies across the board in most classrooms. Moreover, because digital game-based programs incorporate the latest video-game technologies, students find them enjoyable to use.

One of the most effective digital game-based learning programs is BrainWare SAFARI ¹². Children using the program at home have increased their cognitive skills by over four years on average, in just 11 weeks of using the program three to five times a week for one-half hour to one hour. ¹³ Students using BrainWare SAFARI in a school setting at the same pace reportedly improved their cognitive skills by six years on average. ¹⁴

BrainWare SAFARI provides students with game-like challenges that cause them to develop new habits of cognition so that they can read and process their reading much more effectively than before. In fact, the same students who improved their cognitive skills by over four years achieved one year and eleven months improvement on tests of math and reading achievement (Woodcock-Johnson).

Digital game- based learning approaches have several important benefits for schools. First, students can work on them relatively independently. This means that the teacher no longer has to be the sole mediator of what level of difficulty and challenge the student is ready for. Second, because they are computer-based, inconsistent delivery of the material and potential bias are avoided. Third, computer-based programs can provide immediate feedback, letting the student know what they have done well and where they need more work rather than waiting for a teacher to grade a test or a paper. And finally, the tedium or repetitive exercises to train these skills is eliminated for the teacher who no longer has to control the drill and for the student who can practice his or her skills in the context of an entertaining video game without fear of judgment or failure.

While the specific skills these games teach are not identified by many educators as specific reading skills, they are the mental processing skills that would support any academic or life activity. It maybe helpful to explain the relationship between the kinds of the 43 cognitive skills that are developed in BrainWare SAFARI and their role in reading. The chart below relates seven of the cognitive skills developed in BrainWare SAFARI to the reading process. While all 43 cognitive skills relate to reading success, we have selected a subset to illustrate the relationships. It is important to note, however, that the other skills may also contribute to improvements in decoding and comprehension, and that the simultaneous development of multiple skills, as in BrainWare SAFARI, serves to drive skills more quickly to implicit memory (automaticity). The goal is the unconscious operation of these processes so that the reader can focus on meaning.

Indeed, one of the reasons BrainWare SAFARI has been so effective in helping students increase their cognitive abilities is that the program trains them to operate multiple skills at the same time, pushing them rapidly to a level of automaticity needed for fluent reading and better comprehension. In other words, the program offers cognitive loading, but not cognitive overloading.

Cognitive Skill

How the skill relates to reading

Visual Sustained Attention

Staying focused for a period of time even just long enough to accumulate several letters into a word or several words into a sentence.

Visual Discrimination

The ability to differentiate a b from a p and an m from an n and to recognize them quickly without consciously having to evaluate them.

Visual Span

The amount of information you can take in at a glance taking in several words at a time, for example, enables reading to be faster and more fluent.

Visual Processing Speed

The faster the brain can process the visual stimuli that appear on the page, the more likely the reader can combine them into meaningful groups (words and phrases).

Auditory/Visual Sequential Memory

The ability to recall a sequence of bits of information is critical in remembering and recognizing the spelling of a word.

Working Memory

Being able to hold information in your mind while you manipulate it that is, think about it is what enables a reader to fit words into groups that have meaning.

Conceptual Thinking

One aspect of abstract or interpretive thinking is the ability to form concepts collections of features that create a category or an idea. Ideas such as dog or fairness are examples of concepts that readers may need to form or rely on in the reading process.

Implications

When a student makes a jump of six years or even four years in his or her cognitive maturity, the demands that reading makes can suddenly be handled much more easily. That student has a better ability to integrate the various reading skills, to track the eyes smoothly across the page, to remember what the words mean, to integrate those meanings into sentences, to get the implications those sentences have, and so on.

The kinds of results that have been achieved with games designed to develop specific combinations of cognitive skills in an integrated manner mean that there is reason to hope that even students in advanced grades who are having trouble reading effectively will be able to make significant improvements in their reading in a short time. ¹⁵

To say the same thing using the educator's terminology we were using before, a program like BrainWare SAFARI can provide the scaffolding, leveling of materials and opportunities for students to work on their own or in small groups on specific tasks. Very importantly, if a student has difficulty attending, visualizing, making connections, or retrieving information, those deficiencies can be rapidly remediated. Indeed, by developing the underlying cognitive skills that allow the brain to draw on implicit memory and concentrate on meaning rather than process, we should be able to develop a nation of readers all at advanced levels of achievement.

About The Authors

Peter Kline is the accomplished author of more than 20 books and numerous articles on education, literature and the arts. For the past 20 years, he has been involved with integrative-accelerative learning. Mr. Kline worked with Eastman Kodak and the New York Public Schools to develop and implement programs for teacher training and corporate culture change. He also developed an integrated whole language and phonics program that has been used with a number of schools to help students make rapid improvement in reading skills. Mr. Kline founded The Thornton Friends School in the Washington, D.C. area, and has worked with school systems in Chicago, IL; Minneapolis, and St. Paul, MN; Brooklyn, Queens, Rochester, and Utica, NY; Detroit, MI; Arlington, VA; and Washington, D.C. Mr. Kline's latest books include Why Americas Children Cant Think; Ten Steps to a Learning Organization; The Everyday Genius; and The Genesis Principle.

Nancy Meyer-Brown is a veteran educator, having taught pre-school through college. She has been an administrator at the elementary and middle-school levels, as well as serving as literacy coordinator at the district level for the Perry Township, Indiana school district. She has designed literacy tools for practitioner use at the point of instruction, developed programs for beginning teachers, led multiple academic planning initiatives, and conducted literacy research projects. Ms. Meyer-Brown is the recipient of a National School of Education Excellence Award. Ms. Meyer-Browns interest in how education can assist the disengaged and/or struggling student piqued her interest in cognitive skill development. She trained with Dr. Patricia Wolfe, author of Mind Matters, to be a trainer of teachers on brain-based education. She also facilitates seminars for senior citizens on the aging brain.

Resources

Ackerman, S.J. New from the Frontier, an unfelt filter. Brain Work, The Neuroscience Newsletter, 13 (3), 7-8.

Helms, D., and Sawtelle, S. A Study of the Effectiveness of Cognitive Skill Therapy Delivered in a Video-Game Format, Optometry and Vision Development, Volume 38, Number 1, 2007.

Liben, L.S. Thinking through maps. Spatial schemas and abstract thought. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2000.

Moats, L.C., Furry, A.R., & Browness, N. Learning to Read: Components of beginning reading instruction. Sacramento, CA. Comprehensive Reading Leadership Center, 1998.

Manis, Franklin. Language Deficits in Dyslexic Children: Speech Perception, Phonology & Morphology, Journal of Experimental Psychology, 2000.

Shaywitz, S. Overcoming dyslexia: A new and complete science-based program for reading problems at any level. New York: Alfred A Knopf, 2003.

Wolfe, Patricia & Nevills, Pamela. Building the Reading Brain, Corwin Press, 2004.
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Much additional research has been done since this white paper was written on the role of cognitive skills in reading and how to improve reading by strengthening the cognitive foundation for learning.
Impact of Computer-Based Cognitive Training on Elementary Students' Reading Skills Reading Success Depends on Cognitive Factors Effectiveness of RTI Reading and Math Interventions Improve with the Addition of BrainWare SAFARI Executive Functions and Reading Comprehension

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What Is Cognitive Reading? The Brain Constructing Meaning from Text

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Learning to read well requires that the basic processes of decoding and comprehending become automatic so that they do not have to be thought about consciously. Readers who must decode letters and words consciously are distracted by the process and are thus unable to concentrate on the meaning of what they are reading.

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The Effect of Memory on Reading and Writing Development

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The Effect of Memory on Reading and Writing Development

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This webpage covers how working memory can slow reading and writing development.

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According to Maryanne Wolf in her book Proust and the Squid, working memory is what we use when we have to hold on to information briefly, so that we can perform a task with it. Working memory is an essential component in the development of literacy skills. The ability to retain verbal information in working memory is essential for reading and learning.

Working memory can be conceptualized as a central executive function with two subsystems: a phonological loop that stores verbal information and a visuo-spatial 'sketchpad' that stores visual and spatial information (Baddeley, 2007). According to de Jong (2006), dyslexia involves deficits in both the phonological loop and central executive functioning. Working memory also affects children's acquisition of phonics (i.e., learning the relationships between letters and sounds) in school. Poor phonics skills are a significant indicator of early literacy problems. A student must be able to connect letters with the correct sounds, put them together to form a word, keep that word in mind while he or she reads the next word, string all those words together to form a sentence, and then figure out the meaning of all those words. The ability to take apart and analyze sounds in words requires the student to have a strong/active working memory. This affects spelling as well. Research has shown a distinct link between working memory and reading comprehension.

Working memory capacity is often related to reading comprehension. Working memory capacity could influence both the duration that a fact remains in the working memory and the probability that it is consolidated in long-term memory. A reader with more efficient working memory might have additional capacity and processing time to devote to rehearsal and consolidate information, while the poorer reader would require all his processing capacity to perform the minimal amount of work on a given task. As reading material becomes more difficult in higher grades, the reader may also experience difficulty comprehending text he is reading, tire during lengthy readings, and have increased frustration as a result of poor working memory.
What is the best way to target working memory?
In a careful, meta-analytic review, Melby-Lervag, Redick, & Hulme (2016) concluded that "there is no evidence that working memory training yields improvements in so-called far-transfer abilities...Repetitively practicing simple memory tasks on a computer are unlikely to lead to generalized cognitive abilities...[And instead,] there is good evidence that difficulties with word reading and problems with reading and language comprehension can be improved by intensive, targeted educational interventions" (p. 526) (i.e., a structured literacy approach). DyslexiaHelp has always recommended a systematic, structured approach to teaching oral language, reading, spelling, and writing skills. The earlier the student receives an evaluation and intervention the better to introduce, teach, and implement strategies. During intervention it is important to focus on both repetitive practice (i.e., drill) to help increase automaticity as well as provide the student with various language opportunities within meaningful contexts. Here are some other suggestions for mitigating working memory challenges:

Provide the student with a list of written directions as a cue or select a simple activity with fewer steps to memorize.

Break a complex procedure into component skills, teach them separately, and then work on integrating.

Consider using visual organizers to provide the student with a written record of key ideas from the text. For example, a student might be taught to review the visual organizer created from one portion of a text before reading the next portion.

Incorporate activities that target phonological awareness. This requires the student to not only hold the spoken word in their memory, but at the same time analyze the sounds. On this website we have provided more information about phonological awareness and its affect on reading in our Phonological Awareness section.

References

Baddeley, Allen (2003). Working Memory: Looking Back and Looking Forward, volume 4. Retreived from www.nature.com/reviews.

Carlisle, Joanne F. & Rice, Melinda S. (2002). Improving Reading Comprehension: Research-Based Principles and Practices. Timonium, Maryland: York Press, Inc.

National Research Council (1998). Preventing Reading Difficulties in Young Children. Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press.

Pugh, K. & McCardle, P. (2009). How Children Learn to Read: Current Issues and New Directions in the Integration of Cognition, Neurobiology and Genetics of Reading and Dyslexia Research and Practice. New York, NY: Psychological Press.

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According to Maryanne Wolf in her book Proust and the Squid , working memory is what we use when we have to hold on to information briefly, so that we can perform a task with it. Working memory is an essential component in the development of literacy skills.

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The Effect of Processing Speeds on Reading and Writing Development

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The Effect of Processing Speeds on Reading and Writing Development

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This blog reviews what processing speed is and how it can affect reading and writing. It also includes strategies to help students struggling with a slow processing speed.

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Processing speed is a way of describing how the brain receives, understands and responds to information. Not everyone thinks at the same pace. And while speed has nothing to do with how smart a child is, kids who struggle with slow processing speed may struggle to follow lessons and complete tasks at school.

Slow processing speed is also related to literacy development and math skills. It can cause a child to fall behind their peers, become frustrated, and form negative associations with learning. Often these experiences make kids think they aren't good at school, causing low self-esteem and a lack of self-confidence.

But this downward spiral can be avoided if the symptoms are recognized early on. When students are provided with targeted strategy training and teachers adjust tasks appropriately, it gives kids with slow processing speed the best chance of reaching their full potential.

Recognizing signs of slow processing

Every child is unique and no two individuals with slow processing speed will have exactly the same set of symptoms. Nonetheless, those with slow processing often do poorly on timed exams and assignments. These kids may struggle to follow class discussions and generally don't complete assignments at the same pace as other students.

They may have trouble processing directions and tend to experience difficulty getting started on tasks, both verbal and written. Kids with slow processing have a harder time getting things into working memory. Long-term memory is also affected, as something needs to be understood in order for it to be transferred for long-term storage.

They can lack focus and have trouble tuning out distractions. Children with slow processing sometimes struggle with executive functions, such as goal setting. Poor planning skills may lead to a lack of self-efficacy, or the ability to break a task down into manageable steps.

Adults with undiagnosed processing issues may not have been successful at school or achieved all of their career goals.

These individuals might struggle to express themselves in fast-moving conversations. This is because they are so busy working out what has been said that they don't have the opportunity to respond.

Reading and writing can prove particularly troublesome for young-adults. This is especially the case as literature and essays become longer and more complex in higher grades.

Sometimes slow processing is seen in individuals who have other learning difficulties such as dyslexia, dyspraxia, ADHD, and dysgraphia.

Processing speed and reading

Part of early reading skills is learning to decode a word by sounding it out. Putting sounds to letters requires a lot of cognitive energy and is not an efficient way of reading. Eventually our brains learn to recognize groups of letters and identify a word by sight.

Only the unfamiliar words need to be decoded and reading becomes faster and automatized, so we can focus on meaning. For kids with slow processing, reading is often mentally taxing as they must juggle the decoding process while holding multiple pieces of information in short term memory in order to understand the meaning of a text.

Learning to recognize the highest frequency vocabulary words in English, particularly those coming from the Dolch List, is key for developing strong literacy skills in children with slow processing speed.

10 Tips for helping a child with processing difficulties

1. Allow time, time and more time.

Kids with slow processing speed are not lazy, they just process at a slower pace. This means they need more time to understand lessons, take quizzes and complete work outside of school. Everything from reading a book to following their parents' instructions can take longer. That's why it's important they be given as much time as they need.

2. Repeat instructions and task directions.

Directions are particularly difficult to process as they require understanding and holding multiple pieces of information in working memory, long enough for them to be acted upon. Not only is repetition key, but when possible involve multiple senses to help the child understand what is required. That means reading directions aloud, showing charts and diagrams and even finished examples of work.

3. Provide outlines and summaries of lessons.

Dealing with too many details at once can cause cognitive overload for the child with slow processing speed. Teachers can help by providing summaries that highlight the main ideas and gist of a lesson and allow students to understand the big picture, before tackling the more detailed points.

4. Encourage overlearning.

Some children may feel silly reading the same thing over and over again but this kind of overlearning may be exactly what it takes for the child with slow processing speed to understand a set of directions. The same goes for repeating a lesson until it can be understood. Computers are great tools in this respect as an activity can be taken as many times as the child needs to master the material. This is particularly helpful when it comes to learning spelling and sight words and is one reason why the Touch-type Read and Spell program has proven so effective for learners with processing difficulties.

5. Get them to work it out on paper.

Trying to juggle multiple pieces of information in their head can greatly overwhelm the child with slow processing speed. It can cause him or her to quickly become frustrated with a task. Luckily, many problem solving activities at school, particularly where math skills are concerned, lend themselves to working on paper.

6. One question at a time.

When students are completing a worksheet or taking an exam that presents multiple questions on the same page, cover up all but the question being worked on. The child might to do this with his or her hand or a blank piece of paper that can be moved along as they work. This will make it easier to focus on the information that is being requested and to start a task that can seem overwhelming at first glance.

7. Shorten assignments.

These children may make more mistakes simply because their brains are already strained by having to process the task at hand. Concentrating and reducing their workload can allow them to invest more time in providing quality work. After all, there's only so much time in the day and kids with slow processing tend to run out of it quickly!

8. Give grades for knowledge vs. performance.

A child with slow processing speed may not be able to complete the same amount of work as his or her peers. For example, it will take him longer to compose open answer items and mental stamina can give way to frustration if he is expected to generate complex responses. That's why it's important to evaluate him based on what he has learned vs. how much he can do.

9. Allow assignments to be completed on a computer.

Many similarities have been observed between dysgraphia, which causes difficulty in handwriting, and slow processing. Kids may struggle with understanding the way a letter is written and the necessary spacing. This can really slow a child down given the amount of tasks they are required to handwrite in elementary school. Using a computer and learning to type automatizes the writing process so ideas are translated into words via muscle memory in the hands. This reduces the potential distraction caused by the physical act of forming letters. It also gives kids access to spell-checkers.

10. Minimize background noise at school.

As with children who have ADHD, it may help to place a child with slow processing speed close to the front of the classroom so they can concentrate their attention and focus on what is being said. Visual noise in the form of busy bulletin boards should also be avoided if possible.

Above all, provide plenty of encouragement and support. It may sound like a given, but these kids need patience, understanding and time in order to be successful!

How technology can help
Computers can provide much needed shortcuts for a child who is already exhausted from having to process a task, get started brainstorming ideas, and then organize those ideas into written form.
Technology also opens up the possibility of learning through repetition. A computer won't get frustrated in the same way a teacher will if task instructions or explanations need to be repeated multiple times. A keyboard or touch-screen also makes it possible to avoid handwriting work.

Beyond these benefits, the process of learning how to touch-type gives individuals with slow processing an opportunity to learn at their own pace, without feeling bad or embarrassed if they need more time.

Courses like the Touch-type Read and Spell program are broken down into short and manageable modules which can be repeated as many times as necessary. They contain plenty of positive feedback along the way and help a child build momentum in learning.

Students learn to type. Moreover, the multi-sensory approach of hearing a word, seeing it on the screen and typing it is great for literacy skills advancement.

The more a learner uses the program, the stronger their word recognition skills will be, freeing up cognitive energy and attention for focusing on ideas in reading and writing.
Do you have any experience teaching a child with slow processing speed? Join the discussion in the comments!

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10 Tips for helping students with slow processing

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Processing speed is a way of describing how the brain receives, understands and responds to information. Not everyone thinks at the same pace. And while speed has nothing to do with how smart a child is, kids who struggle with slow processing speed may struggle to follow lessons and complete tasks at school.

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The Effect of Attention on Reading and Writing Development

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The Effect of Attention on Reading and Writing Development

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This website includes an interactive portion that allows you to see what factors are affected by attention and strategies to combat them. Please take a look at all of them but focus on the ones that impact reading, writing, and hearing.