Get to Know the Science of Reading
At Zaner-Bloser we recognize that each educator is at a different point in their journey to understand—and practice—the science of reading. The resources we have collected here in our Science of Reading Hub are meant to help you get to know the research and the concepts on your own terms.
They are also meant to be shared and discussed. If you are championing the science of reading in your professional learning community, school, or district, we encourage you to use these videos, white papers, and other resources and to contact us for more information.
Begin With the Basics
A vast body of research evidence collected over the past 40+ years—the science of reading—is both overwhelming and compelling. We know what it takes for reading development to occur.
This research reveals what happens in the brain during reading and what needs to take place instructionally to enable skillful reading. Two prominent theoretical models help us start to make sense of how children learn to read: The Simple View of Reading and Scarborough’s Reading Rope.
The Science of Reading Basics, Part 1: The Reading Brain
Reading is not hard-wired in the brain, and the neural pathways involved must be developed through successful instructional experiences.
The Science of Reading Basics, Part 2: The Simple View of Reading
Gough and Tunmer’s model explains that reading comprehension is a product of decoding and language comprehension, both of which are necessary.
The Science of Reading Basics, Part 3: Scarborough’s Reading Rope
This model illustrates that as decoding subskills become increasingly automatic and language comprehension subskills become increasingly strategic, skilled reading occurs.
Following the Research Promotes Equity and Increases Academic Success
Reading is the single most important skill—the foundation—for all future learning. Failure to read on level by third grade impacts negatively on future academic success as well as on social and emotional development.
Watch Emily Hanford, senior correspondent at American Public Media, describe her reporting on issues of equity, reading achievement, and phonics at our Literacy for All Symposium in Denver, Colorado.
Why Phonics Instruction Matters
In her audio documentary Hard Words, Hanford addresses why systematic phonics is necessary in early reading instruction.
The Matthew Effect
In early reading, the Matthew effect holds true: The rich get richer and the poor get poorer. Learning to decode is the edge disadvantaged students need.
Adding Phonics Is Not Enough
Hanford describes the premise of her At a Loss for Words audio documentary: To be equitable, adding phonics instruction is not enough if cueing instruction remains.
Scientific research in the fields of education and neuroscience supports that teaching reading in the primary grades is the most urgent task in education today. Here are our top 10 reasons why, along with the best way to support teachers and students in this effort.
Learning Resources
Use our free resources and videos to deepen your knowledge of the scientific research on reading and explore the organizations and content we recommend for further learning. Share these resources with colleagues, leaders in your school or district, and families looking to support their young readers.
Watch Dr. Deb Glaser, president of The Reading Teacher’s Top Ten Tools, present the conceptual and procedural knowledge reading educators need at our Literacy for All Symposium in Denver, Colorado.
Introduction to Conceptual and Procedural Knowledge
Dr. Glaser defines conceptual and procedural knowledge and introduces four conceptual models of how children learn to read, which inform teaching procedure.
The Simple View of Reading Model
See how the five components of reading—phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension—map onto the Simple View of Reading and how this model informs instruction.
Scarborough’s Reading Rope Model
Scarborough’s Reading Rope elaborates on the Simple View and illustrates the complexity of learning to read, which can be applied to procedures in the classroom.
Seidenberg and McClelland’s Four-Part Processor Model
See how the orthographic, phonological, meaning, and context processors activate in the brain during reading and what this model means for intervention.
Ehri’s Phases of Word-Reading Development
How do children develop reading through the pre-alphabetic, partial alphabetic, full alphabetic, and consolidated phases of word recognition during reading?
The Best Ways to Teach: Explicit and Systematic Instruction
When teaching the foundational skills for reading, the best way to teach them is explicitly and systematically. Dr. Glaser shares seven practices to look for in reading classrooms.
The Science of Reading: Evidence for a New Era of Reading Instruction
With evidence-based instruction, nearly everyone can learn to read. We must rely on the vast body of research—the science of reading—to determine what to teach and how.
Phonological Awareness Practice
Help children understand that spoken language is made up of meaningful units of sounds with these activities. Appropriate for grades K–2.
Hard Words Audio Documentary
Emily Hanford made waves with her 2018 report about many educators’ lack of knowledge of the science of reading, balanced literacy, and the reading wars.
The Science of Reading
This three-part Zaner-Bloser webinar series examines the “why,” “what,” and “how” of the science of reading.
Building a Strong Foundation for Learning to Read
The roadmap for teaching children to read begins with the foundational skills: oral language, vocabulary, print concepts/letter knowledge, phonological and phonemic awareness, phonics, and fluency.
What Is Structured Literacy?
The International Dyslexia Association created an infographic to make the six elements and three principles of structured literacy easier to understand.
Phonemic Awareness Practice
Provide practice to build children’s phonemic awareness—the understanding that a word is made up of a sequence of small units of sounds. Appropriate for grades K–2.
What the Words Say Audio Documentary
With her fourth audio documentary for APM Reports, Emily Hanford tackles false assumptions about reading that have created inequities for U.S. students.
Building the Reading Brain
As studies from the fields of neuroscience and neuropsychology have accelerated, significant evidence has mounted underscoring the importance of reading basics for all students.
Phonics Practice with Letter-Sounds
These activities reinforce the correspondence between individual sounds in words (phonemes) and the letter(s) that stand for each sound. Appropriate for grades K–2.
The Reading Teacher’s Top Ten Tools
Led by Dr. Deb Glaser, The Reading Teacher’s Top Ten Tools provides an online reading professional development course accredited by the International Dyslexia Association.
The Reading League
The Reading League’s mission is to advance awareness, understanding, and use of evidence-based reading instruction.
At a Loss for Words Audio Documentary
Emily Hanford reports how teaching children to use cueing strategies to read persists in the U.S., despite their lack of basis in research.
Preventing Reading Failure: The Right Instruction at the Right Time
What steps can educational leaders take to get ahead of reading failure? The answer lies in prevention.
Consortium on Reading Excellence in Education (CORE)
CORE is a professional development provider committed to educational equity and reducing the achievement gap.
The “Big Five” Components and the Science of Reading: A Fresh Look
In this five-part Zaner-Bloser webinar series, presenter Laura Stewart deconstructs Scarborough’s Reading Rope to explore how to effectively and joyfully teach phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension.
TX Reads
An authorized provider of Texas Reading Academies, TX Reads is a project by Literacy San Antonio, Inc. to increase the number of children reading on grade level by empowering teachers to align instruction with the science of reading.
Beyond Word Recognition: Invigorating Language Comprehension in the Science of Reading
In this five-part webinar series, we take a closer look at the essential subskills of the language comprehension side of the Simple View of Reading—background knowledge, vocabulary knowledge, language structures, verbal reasoning, and literacy knowledge.
Zaner-Bloser can help to bring the science of reading to your school through our literacy programs and professional development services.
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