The Science of Reading refers to the pedagogy and practices proven by extensive research to effectively teach children how to read (and write) skillfully.
Principles of the Science of Reading
- Reading is not natural; it can and must be taught.
- Background knowledge is as critical to comprehension as decoding skills.
- Foundational skills instruction must be systematic and explicit, beginning with sounds.
- Instruction must be engaging, through multiple modes and senses.
- Science-based reading instruction reduces the need for intervention, and allows children to move forward as capable, confident learners.
- Science-based reading instruction is a matter of equity.
- Science-based reading instruction is urgent, and the most crucial work of the elementary teacher.
Understanding the Complexity of Learning to Read
For many children, learning to read is a challenging undertaking. The Reading Rope, created by Dr. Hollis Scarborough in 2001, captures the essence of this task.
Interpretation of Scarborough's Reading Rope from Really Great Reading. Copyright © 2015 Really Great Reading. July 2022
Scarborough's Reading Rope is a model that conveys how the different “strands” of reading are all interconnected yet independent of one another. It is made up of lower and upper strands. When all these component parts intertwine, it results in skilled, accurate, and fluent reading with strong comprehension.
Word Recognition
The lower strands of Scarborough's Reading Rope work together to promote fluency, accuracy, and speed as children become competent readers:
Phonological Awareness
Phonological awareness refers to the ability to recognize and manipulate the spoken sounds in sentences and individual words. It includes creating and identifying rhyming words, counting syllables, noticing alliteration, and finally, phonemic awareness, or the specific ability to recognize and manipulate the smallest units of sound (phonemes) in spoken words.
Decoding
Decoding is what we do when we use the letters in a word to determine what the word says. Decoding includes readers’ knowledge of the alphabetic principle, which states that sounds are represented by written letters/symbols, and that those letters/symbols are associated with specific sounds. A child’s ability to decode also requires that they have an understanding of sound-symbol correspondence
Sight Recognition
When a child begins to recognize words by sight, it means they no longer have to work to decode the word whenever they come across it. Once a child has seen a word enough times, they begin to store the word visually in long-term memory. This means they can recall it automatically when they come to it.
Language Comprehension
The upper strands of Scarborough's Reading Rope build off of and interact with one another as children practice making meaning of text:
Background Knowledge
Background knowledge is an essential component in learning because it helps us make sense of new ideas and experiences. Readers rely on background knowledge to attend to and make sense of what they are reading. This is especially important for readers who are still relying heavily on word decoding rather than rapid word recognition. Having knowledge about a variety of subjects, topics, and ideas makes it more likely that they will be able to make sense of what they are reading and more likely that they will add to their body of knowledge.
Vocabulary
An extensive and rich vocabulary enables readers to make sense of what they are reading. A reader with rich auditory and oral vocabularies will find it easier to read through texts that contain words they have not seen in print before. If the student can use their growing decoding skills and match their result with a word they already know the meaning of, they will be more confident in their abilities and will spend less overall effort on reading a text.
Language Structures
Language structure refers to the syntax and semantics an author uses in a text. Students should understand basic sentence structure in order to make sense of the order of words in a given sentence. This is called syntax, and it’s an important piece of language structure. Students should also have an age-appropriate understanding of semantics, or the often complex and nuanced meaning different combinations of words can have. In linguistics, semantics is the study of the meanings of morphemes, words, phrases, and sentences.
Verbal Reasoning
This refers to one’s ability to understand what language by using logic and reasoning. This is an important skill in that it helps students think deeply about spoken language or a text, considering not just what is said explicitly, but also what is implied. Learning how to make inferences and interpret figurative language increases students' verbal reasoning.
Literary Knowledge
This last strand is all about a student’s knowledge of print concepts, such as a book’s layout. This includes everything from pre-reading skills like turning pages, to more advanced skills like navigating the text features of a nonfiction book in order to efficiently find information. It also includes concepts like genre and author’s purpose.
Text adapted from Really Great Reading and Braintrust. Accessed July 2022
Word Recognition
The lower strands of Scarborough's Reading Rope work together to promote fluency, accuracy, and speed as children become competent readers:
Phonological Awareness
Phonological awareness refers to the ability to recognize and manipulate the spoken sounds in sentences and individual words. It includes creating and identifying rhyming words, counting syllables, noticing alliteration, and finally, phonemic awareness, or the specific ability to recognize and manipulate the smallest units of sound (phonemes) in spoken words.
Decoding
Decoding is what we do when we use the letters in a word to determine what the word says. Decoding includes readers’ knowledge of the alphabetic principle, which states that sounds are represented by written letters/symbols, and that those letters/symbols are associated with specific sounds. A child’s ability to decode also requires that they have an understanding of sound-symbol correspondence
Sight Recognition
When a child begins to recognize words by sight, it means they no longer have to work to decode the word whenever they come across it. Once a child has seen a word enough times, they begin to store the word visually in long-term memory. This means they can recall it automatically when they come to it.
Language Comprehension
The upper strands of Scarborough's Reading Rope build off of and interact with one another as children practice making meaning of text:
Background Knowledge
Background knowledge is an essential component in learning because it helps us make sense of new ideas and experiences. Readers rely on background knowledge to attend to and make sense of what they are reading. This is especially important for readers who are still relying heavily on word decoding rather than rapid word recognition. Having knowledge about a variety of subjects, topics, and ideas makes it more likely that they will be able to make sense of what they are reading and more likely that they will add to their body of knowledge.
Vocabulary
An extensive and rich vocabulary enables readers to make sense of what they are reading. A reader with rich auditory and oral vocabularies will find it easier to read through texts that contain words they have not seen in print before. If the student can use their growing decoding skills and match their result with a word they already know the meaning of, they will be more confident in their abilities and will spend less overall effort on reading a text.
Language Structures
Language structure refers to the syntax and semantics an author uses in a text. Students should understand basic sentence structure in order to make sense of the order of words in a given sentence. This is called syntax, and it’s an important piece of language structure. Students should also have an age-appropriate understanding of semantics, or the often complex and nuanced meaning different combinations of words can have. In linguistics, semantics is the study of the meanings of morphemes, words, phrases, and sentences.
Verbal Reasoning
This refers to one’s ability to understand what language by using logic and reasoning. This is an important skill in that it helps students think deeply about spoken language or a text, considering not just what is said explicitly, but also what is implied. Learning how to make inferences and interpret figurative language increases students' verbal reasoning.
Literary Knowledge
This last strand is all about a student’s knowledge of print concepts, such as a book’s layout. This includes everything from pre-reading skills like turning pages, to more advanced skills like navigating the text features of a nonfiction book in order to efficiently find information. It also includes concepts like genre and author’s purpose.
Text adapted from Really Great Reading and Braintrust. Accessed July 2022
the Essential Elements of Teaching Reading
In agreement with Science of Reading research, there are five main components that are fundamental to reading: phonics, phonemic awareness, vocabulary, fluency, and comprehension.
Essential Components of Reading Graphic, from Read Naturally. Copyright © 2022 Read Naturally, Inc
- Phonemic Awareness: Phonemes are the smallest units making up spoken language, combined to form syllables and words. Phonemic awareness is the ability to hear, identify and manipulate these individual units of sound. It is one of the most fundamental skills children need to acquire in order to learn how to read. By playing word games, engaging in language play, rhyming, and simply listening to a parent or teacher read to them, your child can develop phonemic awareness from an early age.
- Phonics: Phonics is the relationship between the letters (or letter combinations) in written language and the individual sounds in spoken language. Effective phonics instruction enables children to use these relationships to read and spell words accurately and rapidly.
- Fluency: Fluency is the ability to read as well as we speak and to make sense of the text without having to stop and decode each word. Fluent readers are able to read orally with appropriate speed, accuracy, and proper expression. Guided oral reading and repeated oral reading have a significant and positive impact on word recognition, reading fluency, and comprehension in students of all ages. Fluency is something that comes as a child develops their phonemic awareness, phonics skills, and vocabulary.
- Vocabulary: Vocabulary development is closely connected to comprehension and refers to words we need to know to communicate with others. The larger the reader’s vocabulary (either oral or print), the easier it is to make sense of the text. Students should be actively engaged in instruction that includes learning words before reading, repetition and multiple exposures, learning in rich contexts, incidental learning, and use of computer technology.
- Comprehension: Comprehension involves constructing meaning that is reasonable and accurate by connecting what has been read to what the reader already knows and thinking about all of this information until it is understood. Comprehension is the ultimate goal of reading instruction. Strong comprehenders can generate their own questions and use their background knowledge to identify or make connections among ideas in what they are reading.
Learn More
There is so much to learn regarding the Science of Reading. I hope this page was helpful! I find the Science of Reading Resources page on the website of Heggerty Phonemic Awareness (a foundational literacy curriculum component we use in Reading Public Schools) an excellent launching pad for learning about the science of reading. That list contains most of the books, podcasts, and resources I have read or listened to in order to grow my knowledge, and I'm gradually working my way through it. I started my SoR journey listening to Amplify's Science of Reading: The Podcast with Susan Lambert and it's been life-changing. There are so many experts in both research and practice to learn from.
