A Reading Strategy from Neuroscience

What is the best way to teach reading?

Ask any 20 educators this question, and you may receive 20 different answers.  The controversy over how to teach reading has been around for decades and continues to be relevant today. 

As the field of Educational Neuroscience (the blending of brain research and educational research into a new scientific field) continues to grow, our knowledge of how our brain learn becomes better understood.

A study co-authored by Professor Bruce McCandliss published in Brain and Language from Stanford Neuroscience Institute provides some of the first neurological-reading evidence. Learning specific neurological teaching strategies is of great importance to students and teachers.

The Study

In this study, researchers devised a new written language and divided several students into two groups for instruction.  In one group, the students were taught to read using a letter-to-sound instruction (/c/ …. /a/ …. /t/) method.  The other group was instructed to read using a whole-word association (‘cat’) method.  After learning multiple words under both approaches, these words were presented in a reading test while brainwaves were monitored.

The Results

The visual brain mapping techniques used in this study showed various parts of the brain activated while reading.  Students in both instructional groups learned to read words, but the brain map showed students’ learning took place in different areas.  It was determined that newly learned words were influenced by how they were taught; not just what students were taught.

The Significance

Students in the letter-to-sound instructional group showed activity on the left side of the brain, which activates the visual and language regions.  During early word recognition, the left side of the brain is activated for skilled readers.  According to McCandless, “Ideally, this is the brain circuitry we are hoping to activate in beginner readers.”

Students in the whole word instructional group learned sufficiently to recognize particular words on the reading test, but the underlying brain circuitry was impaired.  Instead of using the left hemisphere, these students engaged the right side of the brain - which is characteristic of children and adults who struggle with reading.

The Conclusion

According to McCandliss, “It’s like shifting the gears of the mind – when you focus your attention of different information associated with a word, you amplify different brain circuits.”

McCandliss also stated, “If children are struggling, even if they’re receiving phonics instruction, perhaps it’s because of the way they are being asked to focus their attention on the sounds within spoken words and links between those sounds and the letter within visual words.”

The Application

When applying the results of the study, the best strategy to insure students are “focusing attention on the sounds” is to implement Phonemic Awareness instruction, the ability to detect sounds in words.  Focusing on the sounds within each word will help students activate the visual and language areas of the brain needed for reading success.

Carleen M. Paul owns Skills for Success Learning, an online educational company providing students with the latest services in Educational Neuroscience. She can be reached at 951.858.1643 or www.SkillsForSuccessLearning.com

Wong, May. (2015, May 20). Standford study on brain waves shows how different teaching methods affect reading development. Retrieved from https://news.stanford.edu/2015/05/28/reading-brain-phonics-052815/

Three Cognitive Skills Needed for Reading

Three Cognitive Skills Needed for Reading

It has been well documented that Phonemic Awareness, the ability to detect sounds in words, is the foundation for learning to read.  

But what if the student can’t “hear” the sounds or remember the sounds long enough to blend them together?

A closer look into the student’s cognitive skills may provide the answer.

There are three cognitive skills that must be adequately developed, if reading skills are going to improve:  Attention, Working Memory and Processing Speed skills.

Attention

Our Attention allows us to choose which stimulus (thought) to focus on.  If a student has the ability and energy for sustained focus, learning can take place.   However, if a student cannot sustain focus, learning is disrupted.  For many students, sustained focus during learning can be painful.  It is quite easy to understand why students often choose an alternative stimulus (thought) to focus on.

Working Memory

Our Working Memory allows us to hold language and visual stimuli (information) in our minds long enough for us to “work” on the stimulus (thought).   Blending sounds together depend on an effective Working Memory; the sounds (stimuli) are held in working memory long enough to “work” on them. Blending sounds can be challenging when the Working Memory becomes overloaded.

Processing Speed

Processing Speed is the pace at which a student takes in a stimuli (information), tries to make sense of the stimuli and then begins to produce a response.  A student with Slow Processing Speed may see the word ‘cat’ and then slowly begins to “sound-out” the word (/c/…../a/…../t/).  The student must then figure out how to blend the sounds together and then say the word (cat).  If the Processing Speed is slow, it will reflect in the lack of automaticity needed for independent reading.

Training Cognitive Skills

Neurologists have long known that Attention, Working Memory and Processing Speed skills can be improved through “neuro-plasticity,” or making new connections in our brain.  Educators begin looking into recent neurological research to explain learning challenges and soon Educational Neuroscience was born.  As a relatively new science, Educational Neuroscience bridges the gap between neuroscience and education by applying what has been learned in neuroscience to education.

Results

Educational Neuroscience is changing the way teachers are instructing and students are learning.  Just this morning, I re-assessed a 7-year-old student. It was only a few weeks ago, he could not blend two syllables into a word.  Today after training his Attention, Working Memory and Processing skills, he had better focus and was able to blend multiple sounds together with 90% accuracy.  Simply Amazing!

Carleen M. Paul owns Skills for Success Learning, an online educational company providing students with the latest services in Educational Neuroscience. She can be reached at 951.858.1643 or SkillsForSuccessLearning.com

No More Long-Sleeves for Julia!

I just got off the phone with the teacher of one of my Cogmed students enrolled in a in-school pilot program using Cogmed Working Memory Training in Northern California.  This student, I will call  her 'Julia,' was recommended for the training due to her low academic performance and emotional issues.  

With 5 more training sessions remaining, I noticed a positive shift in Julia's demeanor and a difference in her choice of clothing.  Until my conversation with Julia's teacher today, I had no idea of the extent of the positive changes for Julia. 

Apparently, Julia had been cutting herself at home and only wore long-sleeved shirts to school.  Since the participation in the Cogmed training, Julia has stopped cutting herself and is wearing short-sleeves shirts to school. I had noticed that she was wearing different clothes, but I had no idea why!

I have not assessed Julia's academic performance to determine if there is a positive change in her learning skills, but I am elated that the Cogmed training has already helped her emotionally!!

Can Brain Training Help Struggling Students?

This morning I read another blog post attempting to debunk the efficacy of brain training.  Although some of the author's points were valid, the article's main mission was to criticize all brain training methods and label them as a fallacy.

I am passionate about the effectiveness of brain training for struggling students, as I have personally coached over 130 students using Cogmed Working Memory Training. Still to my amazement, the Cogmed training has radically changed student's abilities to focus, self-regulate and connect-the-dots for improved learning.  

One of the opposing points in the article stated that brain training doesn't work because the effects of the training don't stand the test of time.

My response to this claim can be answered in an analogy:

If a person were to train for a marathon and compete in marathon shortly after the training - the person would do well in the race. If that same person were to stop training for multiple months...he/she would not be in physical shape to run another marathon.

It is the same type of  training situation with brain training.  After the initial brain training has been completed, maintenance training is needed to keep keep the skills gained.  Just like the runner needs to continue to train for the next marathon, so our brains need to continual training for optimal results. 

Cogmed Working Memory Training offers 100 additional training sessions after the completion of the original 25 training sessions to maintain those new neural pathways.   

I am excited to say that "Yes! Brain training can assist struggling readers and learners."

Learn more today. 

http://www.cogmed.com/carleen-paul

Meet Josh, a Non-Reader

My favorite series of books for non-readers are called “Brand New Readers” published by Candlewick Press.  Each story is only 8 pages long with one sentence per page.  The stories are humorous and easily memorized…becoming the perfect tool to use with non-readers.

During my first lesson with Josh, a first grader with a language learning challenges, I read to him “Mouse Camps” from the Brand New Readers series.  After reading the story multiple times to Josh, I asked him to help me read the story.  I discovered that he had some memory challenges and did not understand the concept of a word.

My attention was drawn to Josh’s lack of memory, a critical skill for reading.  I recommended that Josh’s mother begin searching for memory game apps to improve his memory skills.  “Simon” is a good one.

To work on left to right orientation (the way we read from left to right) and to understand the concept of a word, I placed one sentence from the story on a sentence strip (purchased at teacher supplies stores) and had Josh practice reading the sentence while pointing to each word.

Then I cut up the sentence (one word for each card) and had him read it.  Once he was proficient at reading the sentence, I had him mix up the cards and put them in the correct order and read the sentence.

This is activity practices:

·       Memory development

·       Left to right orientation

·       One-to-one matching of a vocalized word to a written word

·       Word recognition

Coming…More ideas to help Non-Readers

Something New...

While working on updating my website this week, I pull up my Solutions for Struggling Readers blog for fun.  I was shocked to find that I am receiving over 50 hits a day from blog posts written over a year ago.

I was surprised and encouraged. 

Having poured most of my energy into the reading center lately, I have neglected my writing and posting.  

I have come to realize over the last year that Struggling Readers and their families are very complex.  As an educational therapist, I find myself using more and more of a therapy model to help readers and the families.

It is my hope to address some of these issues and provide additional help for families of Struggling Readers by breathing life into this dormant blog.

I’m excited to share what I have been learning.

Carleen