Teaching a child how to read is a delicate and complex process involving many different parts. For as long as reading has been taught, there’s been much debate on what approach is best. Recently, research from cognitive scientists surrounding the science of reading shows how most kids need an explicit and systematic approach to learn how to read. Although there’s been some pushback, even balanced literacy proponents like Lucy Calkins now recognize that the science of reading’s systematic approach can greatly help students not only identify a word but comprehend it in their minds as well.
When it comes to teaching students how to read at Springboard, we focus on students’ ability to decode words so they can comprehend complex texts.
What does that mean?
The human brain is not hardwired to read, but it is hardwired to speak. The science of reading recognizes this and establishes a foundation for students to bond and memorize sounds, spellings, and meanings to words, called orthographic mapping. Orthographic mapping is one of the last steps of successful reading, and is made possible by the following earlier steps:
By following this approach, students are able to actually learn how to read words before committing them to memory, not just using rote memorization. Over time, this systematic approach allows them to build up their vocabulary and be able to comprehend increasingly complex texts.
How does this connect to the bigger picture?
According to the research done by the National Reading Panel (NRP), an effective reading program should address five major areas of reading: phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. Because of Springboard’s mission to support early readers, our curriculum primarily focuses on NRP’s recommendations aligned with the science of reading.
More specifically, Springboard’s curriculum includes phonemic awareness, alphabet knowledge, and letter-sound association (all of which leads to code-based reading). We also focus on meaning-based aspects of reading including fluency in word recognition, vocabulary, background knowledge, and comprehension. Both aspects work together to help inform student reading comprehension as a whole. Combining code-based and meaning-based aspects of reading provides a structured literacy approach for all students that directly aligns with the science of reading.
Stay tuned over the next few weeks as we dig deeper into both the code-based and meaning-based aspects of reading that are interwoven throughout our curriculum–and how they can positively impact student learning!
Be sure to also check out our Youtube page to see how our curriculum translates to the classroom!