The main speaker at our September 21 meeting was Starla Dixen, who shared her knowledge of the science of reading along with her passion for teaching. In addition to introducing Starla, Kari Owens told us about the wide range of reading capability in primary grade students and the resulting challenges.
While a paragraph or two can’t do justice to the talk, the basic message is that reading is a skill that must be taught; pathways in the brain must be established. Sounds that we hear or speak are represented by symbols – letters or letter combinations – that represent those sounds.
The “ladder of reading” summarizes how easily students learn: five percent learn without effort, 35 percent learn relatively easily, 40-50 percent require more intensive code-based instruction, and 10-15 percent need the same instruction but with more repetition.
Watch a video about the Simple View of Reading to learn more.