How the Brain Learns to Read

Running head: HOW THE BRAIN LEARNS TO READ

Tara M. McKean June 8, 2011

1Helpful Tips to Read 13 Essential Questions on How the Human Brain Learns to Read2(Sousa, 2005, p. 31)In Chapter 2 of How the Brain Learns to Read, by David A. Sousa (2005) he asks, [three] basic questions about how the human brain learns to read (Sousa, 2005, p. 31). Throughout the presentation we will answer these questions and learn more about how the brain works to assist parents/guardians in helping children read.2

Essential Question #1:

What must a child be able to do in order to read effectively?3Children must be able to hear words being spoken through lots of language exposure within their environments. They also need to be able to practice listening and speaking in order to be successful in reading effectively! 3Reading is NOT a Natural Ability 4

Speaking is a normal, genetically-hardwired capability; reading is not (Sousa, p. 32).

Speaking is considered to be a survival skill and therefore it is innate (Sousa, 2005). By six months, infants that are considered average in developing should have begun to recognize phonemes and may start to babble (Sousa, 2005, p.16). Reading is considered to be more complex and must be learned through direct instruction (Sousa, 2005, p. 32). Children need to connect the phonemes (sounds) to the graphemes (written symbols). (Sousa, 2005). Clipart from Microsoft 2010

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To age

Pruning of the phonemes [start to occur] by [the age of one], the neural networks focus on the sounds of the language being spoken in the infants environment (Beatty, 2001) (Sousa, 2005, p. 16).From birth to age three children are learning the language acquisition.The brain is an amazing part of the human body that enables us to acquire language through listening to the spoken language early on. Reading any material such as a newspaper helps provide children with language! Look how excited this little guy is!Clipart from Microsoft 2010

5Early Stages of Reading6

Do you want a cookie? asked Dora.

(Clipart for Free, 2008)Before children learn to read, they acquire vocabulary by listening to others and by practicing the pronunciation and usage of new vocabulary in conversation (Sousa, 2005, p. 33). Hearing high frequency words in conversations and/or television shows such as Nick Jr's, Dora the Explorer and PBSs Super Why and Word World may help children increase vocabulary. An example would be Dora asking, Do you want a cookie? Children may take this experience and later use it in a sentence. I want cookie. This sentence follows a subject-verb-object sequence (Sousa, 2005, p. 19). A childs beginning reading will be more successful if most of the reading material contains words the child is already using. The phoneme-grapheme connection can be made more easily (Sousa, 2005, p.33).

6Learning to Read Starts with7Learning to read starts with the awareness that speech is composed of individual sounds (phonemes) and a recognition that written spellings represent those sounds (the alphabetic principle) the child has to be aware of how the phonemes of spoken language can be manipulated to form new words and rhymes (Sousa, 2005, p. 33). Providing children with lots of listening/speaking opportunities such as singing nursery rhymes together may help develop phonological awareness as well as provide experiences with new words (Sousa, 2005, p. 33). 7Phonological and Phonemic AwarenessAn example of phonological awareness, the word carpet has two syllables, each one composed of three phonemes (Sousa, 2005, p. 35). car/petPhonemic awareness like in the word mathas three phonemes. /m/-//-/t/8Phonological awareness is the recognition that oral language can be divided into smaller components, such as sentences into words, words into syllables and, ultimately, into individual phonemes (Sousa, 2005, p. 33).Phonemic Awareness is a subdivision of phonological awareness and refers to the understanding that words are made up of individual sounds (phonemes) and that these sounds can be manipulated to create new words (Sousa, 2005, p. 33)

8Phonemic Awareness and Learning to Read9

/p/-/i/-/g/ spells pig. /p/ makes the puh sound. // is a short vowel sound like in igloo and /g/ makes the guh sound. According to Sousa (2005), phonemic awareness in kindergarten is a strong predictor of reading success that persists throughout school. Early instruction in reading, especially in letter-sound association, strengthens phonological awareness and helps in the development of the more sophisticated phonemic awareness (Snow, Burns, and Griffin, 1998) (Sousa, 2005, p. 34).About 70 to 80 percent of children are able to learn the alphabet principle after one year of instruction. For the rest, additional study is needed (Shaywitz, 2003) (Sousa, 2005, p. 34). Clipart from Microsoft 2010

9Sounds to Letters (Phonemes to Graphemes)10

a

apple

To be able to read, the brain must memorize a set of arbitrary squiggles (the alphabet) and identify which symbols, called graphemes, correspond to the phonemes already stored in the mental lexicon (Sousa, 2005, p. 35). The rules of spelling that govern a language are called orthographyLanguages [that] have a very close correspondence between letters and the sounds they represent. This is known as shallow orthographyEnglish, on the other hand, often has a poor correspondence between how a word is pronounced and how it is spelled. This is called deep orthography (Sousa, 2005, p. 35). Clipart from Microsoft 2010

10Alphabetic PrincipleThis concept is a little difficult for children to learn due to a few problems. The letters of the alphabet are abstract and unfamiliar to the new reader, and the sounds they represent are not natural segments of speech (Sousa, 2005, p. 36). 11

According to Sousa (2005), there are more than 1,100 ways to represent the sounds of the 44 English phonemes. This condition, know as deep orthography, is one major reason that English is a difficult language to learn, especially for those whose native language has a more reliable letter-to sound correspondence, such as Spanish (Sousa, p. 36). The human brain is not born with the insight to make sound-to-letter connections, nor does it develop naturally without instruction (Sousa, 2005, p. 37). Children could possibly learn the alphabetic principle before formal instruction. Sousa (2005), mentions that, through practicechildren develop a context-sensitive understanding of letter-to-sound correspondence (Sousa, p. 37). Clipart from Microsoft 2010

11Letters to Words 12

Decoding starts with learning the letters of the alphabet and the basic sounds they represent (Sousa, 2005, p. 37).(Education Week, 2009)Shows like Word World immerses children in a language-rich environmentThe curriculum of WordWorld is designed to introduce, support and foster emergent literacy skills in children ages three to five. The curriculum draws from four skill sets critical for young children's emergent literacy: print awareness, phonological sensitivity and letter knowledge, comprehension (including vocabulary development) and socio-emotional skills (The Curriculum of WordWorld, 2010).

12MorphemesWhat are morphemes and morphology?Morphological and Phonemic Awareness13Morphemes are the smallest word elements that can change a words meaning (Sousa, 2005, p. 40).Morphology is a component of grammar that builds words out of pieces (morphemes) (Sousa, 2005). An example of morphemes are prefixes and suffixes.By grade 3, morphological awareness begins to surpass phonemic awareness in the development of decoding skills (Singson, Mahony, and Mann, 2000) (Sousa, 2005). Parts of speech can be determined through the use of morphemes (Sousa, 2005). 13Is Spelling Crucial to Reading?14

Success in reading does not automatically result in success in spelling (Sousa, 2005, p. 41).According to Sousa (2005), spelling becomes important almost as soon as the child has mastered phonemic awareness and begins to make the letter-sound correspondences. Now the new reader must match the variety of spellings to their sounds. Research studies have found that preschool children are sensitive to patterns in the way words are spelled, and the pieces (morphemes) that can be attached to them (Treiman and Cassar, 1997) (Sousa, 2005, p. 41). It is also noted that, mapping from spelling to pronunciation is more reliable than from pronunciation to spelling-the same sound can be spelled in different ways (Sousa, 2005, p. 41). 14

Essential Question #2:

What role does working memory play in learning to read?

15There are several key points that affect childrens ability to store words temporarily in working memory[such as] age, experience, and language proficiency (Sousa, 2005, p. 49).The role that working memory plays in learning to read depends on time, prior experiences and interest. Working memory is temporary and can deal with items for only a limited time. For preadolescents, it is more likely to be 5 to 10 minutes (Sousa, 2005, p. 48). Having children use Plan, Do, Review strategies to make connections may be beneficial during this crucial time frame in order for them to be successful. Also, reading good fit books that are of interest is more likely to make it past immediate memory to working memory for conscious processing (Sousa, 2005, p. 50). Good fit books- Good fit books are books students: can read independently; read with a purpose; find interesting; are able to comprehend, and know all the words (Boushey & Moser, 2011)

15Phases of Vocabulary Growth 16This model was developed by Ehri (1998), who proposed four phases of word recognition during early reading (Sousa, 2005, p. 38). Pre-alphabetic phase- Children remember words by connecting visual cues in word (such as the two ls in bell or the curve at the end of dog) with the words meaning and pronunciation (Sousa, 2005, p. 38). Partial alphabetic phase- also know as sight word reading is when children may remember words based off the first and last letters and misread words. These readers still have a limited memory, the ability to remember new words diminishes (Sousa, 2005, p. 39). Full alphabetic phase- During this phase, children a more likely to save these words to long-term memory. This complete phoneme-grapheme connection will facilitate committing this word to long-term memory, thus leading to more accurate reading (Sousa, 2005, p. 39). Practicing to manipulate and/or create words with letters may assist readers in memory. Consolidated alphabetic phase- The beginning reader begins to notice multi-letter sequences that are common to words stored in memory (such as the ending ake in cake, make, and take, or the ent in bent, cent, and tent) By forming a chunk for each common sequence, word reading becomes faster and more efficient (Sousa, 2005, p. 39). Practicing spelling of high frequency words with patterns may also assist children in reading. 16Reading Comprehension17

The number of words in a sentence may affect ones ability to comprehend the sentence and its meaning.The minimal distance principle is the words in a sentence refer to their closest related words For example there are seven words in this sentence: He rowed the boat all by himself. There are twelve words in this sentence: He rowed the boat that belonged to the fisherman all by himself. Beginning readers are more likely to retain the sentence with the fewest amount of words.

17Immediate MemoryLook. There goes a squirrel!

What were we talking about?18

Immediate memory is information that is held for up to 30 seconds. In this time, the information is considered important or not. If the information is considered not important, you no longer have access to this information. (Sousa, 2005, p. 47). 18Working Memory19

During the first 5 to 10 minutes of reading, children need to be fully focused on what they are reading and make connections in order for the information to be retained.Making connections with the text through active reading needs to take place during reading.Because of working memorys limited capacity, beginning readers will have difficulty understanding long sentences (Sousa, 2005, p. 49). Working memory is needed to assist children with reading comprehension otherwise they may just be reading the words off the page and not understanding them. Children need to be able to hold some images of words in their brain in order to understand the gists (Sousa, 2005). A gist is defined as the memory device known as chunking (Sousa, 2005, p. 50). Through practice the working memory becomes more efficient at recognizing words and at chunking words into common phrases. As a result, the child reads faster and comprehends more (Sousa, 2005, p. 49).

19Essential Question #3:20What happens in the brain when a child goes from a

Beginner readers use different neural pathways than skilled readers (Sousa, 2005, p. 54). Using Schema Theory in Teaching and Learning to activate prior knowledge before reading is beneficial to support readers with comprehension. Non-readers are still building pathways. Novice readers [need] to analyze each new word it encounters. It must pull it apart and associate the letters with their sounds. A part of the brain that overlaps portions of the parietal and temporal lobescalled the parietotemporal area[this is] where this important word analysis occurs (Sousa, 2005, p. 54). It is a slow process.With practice, skilled readers who reread the same materials using the same words assist the brain and use different pathways than a novice reader. The childs brain makes a neural modelcalled a word formthat encompasses the spelling, pronunciation, and meaning of that word[the pathway used is] called the occipito-temporal arealocated toward the lower rear part of the brain.

2021Using Schema Theory in Teaching and LearningActivate Prior Knowledge21Schema theory reaffirms the importance of the role of prior knowledge in learning Read the heading and the title. Have the readers examine visuals in the text, and make predictions based on the title and visuals (Sousa, 2005, p. 53). Make predictions!Reading similar themed books helps provide children with experiences that may help with understanding of the text (Sousa, 2005). Use KWL charts to assist in understanding how the students are organizing information and what schemata they are using (Sousa, 2005, p. 54). 22At Home Strategies to Improve Your Childs Spoken Language22As stated before, hearing high frequency words in conversations and/or television shows such as Nick Jrs, Dora the Explorer and PBS kids Super Why and WordWorld may help children increase vocabulary and help children with learning syntax and sentence structure.Reading to your child daily is essential part of modeling good reading strategies that help with fluency, increase vocabulary, and give language experiences for children to be able to read and write more effectively.Ask questions! Make connections with the text!Singing songs and poems help build literacy skills needed such as alliteration, rhyming, syllabication, and intonation (Sousa, 2005, p. 33). 23Strategy 1: Provide opportunities for speaking and listeningProvide an environment that is rich in literature!

Use technology: www.storylineonline.net &

http://www.wordworld.com/parentsteachers.phpare excellent websites!

(Education Week, 2009)23Providing children with an abundance of language exposure within their environment will benefit them tremendously.The website for WordWorld also has a page with helpful tips for parents to use with their children while watching television!

24Strategy 2: Read with Your Child!Listen to Reading- We hear examples of good literature and fluent reading. We learn more words, thus expanding our vocabulary and becoming better readers (Boushey & Moser, 2006, p. 11). Read alouds are beneficial to all children to help provide rich language experiences (Cobb & Kallus, 2011). Read to Someone- Reading to someone allows for more time to practice strategies, helping you work on fluency and expression, check for understanding, hear your own voice, and share in the learning community (Boushey & Moser, 2006, p. 11). 24Again, it is so important to read with your child! According to Sousa (2005), reading improves with practice (Sousa, p. 60).Establish a regular time and place for daily read-aloud sessions, such as before bed or during bath time (Providing a literacy rich home environment, n.d.).

25Strategy 3: Sing Songs, Lullabies or Poems Twinkle, Twinkle Little StarTwinkle, twinkle little star How I wonder what you areUp above the world so highLike a diamond in the skyTwinkle, twinkle little starHow I wonder what you are (Lullabies, 1997)25This allows for students to practice phonemic awareness and phonics. When the foundation is built, fluency comes more natural and comprehension is then able to occur.

26ReferencesBoushey, G. & Moser, J. (2006) the daily 5: Fostering Literacy Independence in the Elementary Grades. Portland: Stenhouse Publishers, 2006. Clipart For Free. Retrieved from http://clipart-for-free.blogspot.com/2008/08/dora-explorer-clipart.html

2627ReferencesCobb, J. B. and Kallus, M. K. (2011). Historical, Theoretical, and Sociological Foundations of Reading in the United States. Boston: Pearson. [Electronic version]

Education Week. (2009). Retrieved from http://www.wordworld.com/02_25_09_EducationWeek.pdf

27ReferencesReading is Fundamental, Inc. (n.d.). Providing a literacy rich home environment. http://www.rif.org/us/literacy-resources/articles/providing-a-literacy-rich-home-environment.htm Reading is Fundamental, Inc. (1997). Leading to Reading. http://www.rif.org/kids/leadingtoreading/en/babies-toddlers/lullabies/twinkle-twinkle-little-star.htm

2828ReferencesSousa, D. A. (2005). How the brain learns to read. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin. [Electronic version] 2929