The Science of Reading for Educators

Phonological Awareness and Phonemic Awareness What are they, and why are they important? What is it? All humans inherently have the ability to see, speak, hear, feel, and taste. We are born with the body parts needed for each of these in conjunction with specific areas of our brain dedicated to processing the information from each of these senses. However, reading and writing are artificial tasks created by humans that create the need for multiple parts of the brain to work together.                 Reading is dependent upon there being a written form of language. There are three broad categories of written language: logographic, syllabic, and alphabetic, and each of these can then be further broken down into subcategories (Schwanenflugel & Knapp 2017). In logographic writing systems, each character or symbol represents one word, and this is one of the oldest writing systems. Chinese is an example of a logographic language. Attuning to the differences in the sounds of

The Science of Reading             There has been a century long debate over how to best teach children to read proficiently. The term “Science of Reading” has been popping up in educational forums and has recently taken center stage in the national debate on literacy. Mississippi and Florida, who have recently led the nation in gains in literacy based on the most recent NAEP results, have invested a lot of resources in having their teachers and administrators trained in the Science of Reading. Based on the minutes of the North Carolina State Board of Education as well as the mission and vision of the NCDPI K-3 Literacy Division, North Carolina is committed to investing in training and resources for educators related to the Science of Reading. Image Credit: North Carolina Department of Public Instruction. (2020). Mission, Vision, Guiding Principles. K-3 Literacy Division. Retrieved from https://www.dpi.nc.gov/districts-schools/classroom-resources/early-learning-read-achieve/