Decoding “The Simple View of Reading” III
This is the third (and thankfully the last) of my posts on the Simple View of Reading and its relevance to instruction. So far I’ve pointed out that the SVR didn’t address what was in the components, how they are learned, or the role of instruction, and that attempts to extend the SVR run into…
Decoding “The Simple View of Reading” II
This is the second of three posts examining the Simple View of Reading, one of the pillars of the “science of reading” (SoR) approach to reading instruction. In the previous post I noted that the SVR makes an important point–that reading involves the child learning how print represents words in the spoken language they already…
Decoding “The Simple View of Reading”
This is one in a series of intermittent posts about issues that arise in trying to use research in cognitive science and neuroscience about reading, language, learning, development and related topics to improve literacy outcomes. This “post” is more like an article, with footnotes and references. I’m going to post it in three bite-sized pieces,…
Recent talks
Here are the slides from a few recent talks about the challenges facing the “science of reading,” and related topics. I’ve also included links to the talks that are available, and links to websites for the events. Montag Lecture, Atlanta, March 2022, “Efficacy, Efficiency, and Equity: The Goals of Early Reading Instruction”. Slides. Video. Path…
Best symposium ever?
Here’s a link to the recording of a symposium that I highly recommend. The speakers were Kymyona Burk, Emily Hanford, Donna Hejtmanek, and me. It was organized by a center here at UW-Madison because the state legislature seems to be getting serious about legislation related to reading. Heretofore there hasn’t been any forward movement here…
About the science in “The Science of Reading”
I was recently in a group zoom meeting (a groom? a zoup?) with some educators who meet to expand their knowledge of reading research. A guest speaker gave a rambling talk about “science of reading” (SoR) issues. Then an experienced educator whose work includes teaching other teachers, asked: “if a student is a good reader,…
Studying “Units of Study”
Lucy Calkins and her team have published the much-anticipated revisions to her popular K-2 reading curriculum. An EdWeek article asks, are the changes to the materials sufficient? A better question is, sufficient for what? 1. Are the revisions sufficient to get the curriculum approved for adoption in states with “science of reading” laws that require…
Back in the saddle again
Hi there. We are back. Did we miss anything? Molly and I have been recharging ourselves and the website, which is now focused on blog posts and a few other resources (talks, articles, our Reading Meetings). We have a lot of issues on our minds and hope to discuss them here. Consider this a (re)start.…
Coming soon to a screen near you
Some of you know that I gave a talk in Atlanta last week that created some, um, friction. It presented under poor conditions and wasn’t recorded properly. I have re-recorded it. It should be available via the Atlanta Speech School soon. Here are the slides. Update: talk is here. I took advantage of the opportunity…
Don’t Stop Believin’
Recently people on the Internet have asked whether I “believe in the science of reading”. Funnily, I’ve never been asked this before. I’ve devoted my professional career to using scientific methods to investigate reading, language, learning, and other questions. I made a conscious decision to use this approach to address questions that interest me. I…