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Introduction
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Attention
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Mathematics
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Reading
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Writing
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Resources
The seemingly simple task of reading is anything but simple. The moment our
eyes fall on a word, a complex set of processes - physical, neurological, and
cognitive - is set in motion, enabling us to convert print into meaning. Nerve
impulses from the eyes stimulate an area near the back of the brain that allows
us to see the light and dark areas on a page that define each letter. A region
of the brain further forward allows us to convert the letters we see into
sounds and those sounds into language. Finally, another part of the brain
converts the jumble of words in any given sentence into something meaningful
that we can interpret.
When a child starts school, reading becomes a primary way of learning.
Reading is a means to understanding the world and a fundamental skill required
to succeed. But it is a skill that takes years to fully develop. And for some
children, those years can be arduous and frustrating.
Helping a student who is struggling with reading begins with understanding the
difficulties. In general, a reading difficulty represents a breakdown somewhere
in the process of learning to read. However, individual difficulties are as
individual as the child, and other factors may be related. Since there are so
many interrelated neurodevelopmental and physical tasks involved in reading,
finding the problem may not be easy. Testing for the student and consultation
with teachers, reading specialists, and others may help significantly in
understanding what is going on with a specific child.
Learning to read is a sequential process; each new skill builds on the mastery
of previously learned skills. Each step in the process relates to one of three
components of reading: decoding, comprehension,
or retention. These are component tasks of reading and also in
a general view, the progressive steps in learning to read, which move from
sounds, to words, to sentences and paragraphs.
At a basic level, children recognize that letters represent the sounds of
spoken words. As children master each letter of the alphabet, they map these
letters to the sounds they represent. This mapping enables children to begin to
decipher whole words. By breaking up words into their component sounds -
phonemes - children can sound out words. For example, the word "bag" is made up
of three phonemes, /b/, /a/, and /g/. Children who decode easily hear these
three sounds, not because the ear hears them that way - the ear hears one pulse
of sound - but because the brain automatically separates them. With practice,
decoding becomes automatic for the normally progressing reader. Children see
words and read them without struggling, even if they don't know the meaning of
every word. Decoding is a foundation that children need to read quickly and
fluently.
The second task in reading is understanding the written word. Comprehension
ultimately depends on the ability to decode and master sight words. When that
word recognition becomes automatic, young readers are better able to
concentrate on the meaning of whole sentences and paragraphs while they read.
As they read, children also learn to simultaneously connect information within
the context of a selection, relate what they are reading to what they already
know, and stay focused.
The final task in reading is retaining, or remembering, what has been read.
Children must be able to organize and summarize the content and readily connect
it to what they already know. Reading retention enables students to keep
information in their long-term memories and to call upon and apply it in the
future.
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