Step #1 First Understand the Big Picture

Estimated time to complete this step: 22 minutes

The Science of Reading

Teachers and tutors are working hard but must have the best tools to be most effective. If you look around and are trying to understand why so many children and adults can’t read, please take 10 minutes, and watch/listen/drive the car/do the dishes/weed the garden to this:

Video:
Can We Afford to Ignore the Science of Reading?
Melissa Hostetter for TEDx U of I Springfield (March 31, 2021)

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Ten Maxims

Dr. Reid Lyon, neuroscientist and former Chief of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, was in charge of a committee of researchers that published the seminal National Reading Panel Report in 2000. He created this list of ten maxims for the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) in 2023. If you want to explore important research and learn the names of many greats, scan his references under each maxim. If not, contemplate the ten maxims.

Article:
Ten Maxims: What We’ve Learned So Far About How Children Learn to Read (May 25, 2023)

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The Ladder of Reading & Writing

Nancy Young created an infographic called The Ladder of Reading & Writing which nicely shows the percentages of children who need different levels of explicit instruction to make sense of the code. The percentages seem to match up with the disappointing American NAEP scores of reading proficiency. Hmmmm…why could that be? You can copy this with permission from Nancy Young by filling out a form at her website. It is good to use for literacy advocacy efforts. Please see the explanation of the changes to the Ladder made in 2023 by reading Nancy Young’s blog post below.

Infographic:
The Ladder of Reading & Writing
Nancy Young (2012/revised in 2023)

View Infographic

Blog Post:
The Ladder of Reading & Writing 2023 Update
Nancy Young Ed.D. (August 3, 2023)
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Step #1: The Big Picture

Step #2: Understand How Reading Works

Step #3: Toddlers and Reading

Step #4: Learning About Speech to Print

Step #5: Decodable Text

Step #6: What NOT to Do for Initial Reading Instruction

Step #7: Handwriting & Reading

Step #8: How English Works

Step #9: English Language Varieties

Step #10: For Extra Credit

Go to Step 2