Stronger early reading skills predict higher intelligence later 24-Jul-2014 [ Print | E-mail ] Share [ Close Window ] Contact: Hannah Kleinhklein@srcd.org 202-289-0320Society for Research in Child Development A new study of identical twins has found that early reading skill might positively affect later intellectual abilities. "Since reading is an ability that can be improved, our findings have implications for reading instruction," according to Stuart J. Researchers looked at 1,890 identical twins who were part of the Twins Early Development Study, an ongoing longitudinal study in the United Kingdom whose participants were representative of the population as a whole. The researchers found that earlier differences in reading between the twins were linked to later differences in intelligence. "If, as our results imply, reading causally influences intelligence, the implications for educators are clear," suggests Ritchie. Summarized from Child Development, Does Learning to Read Improve Intelligence? [ Print | E-mail Share ] [ Close Window ]
PodOmatic | Podcast - my American friend stronger early reading predicts later intelligence Jon Scieszka on How to Get Kids to Love Reading (Tip: Stop Telling Them How Important Reading Is) « musing Jon Scieszka on How to Get Kids to Love Reading (Tip: Stop Telling Them How Important Reading Is) Posted on Updated on Before we jump into this interview with bestselling children’s and middle-grade author Jon Scieszka about how and why kids read, let’s establish his cred on the matter: Scieszka (rhymes with Fresca) is a former teacher, having taught every grade from 1st through 8th. Together with illustrator Lane Smith, he created bestselling picture books including The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales, which won a Caldecott Honor Award. For this discussion, we had just a single question — one we hear all the time from customers: What advice do you have for parents and teachers of kids who don’t (yet) like to read? JS: As a parent, teacher, and author, I have assembled a great list, from actual live experience, of what not to do to engage a kid in reading: - Find out what the kid really loves, and help them find a book, magazine, or any kind of text about that love.
EQAO finds reading for pleasure boosts test results Even just one hour a week of reading for pleasure boosts test results — but when it comes to math, it’s kids’ attitudes that count, says a new tracking report by the province’s standardized testing body. “Students who met the standard in reading in Grades 3 and 6 and were successful in Grade 10 were two and a half times more likely to be engaged in reading outside of school,” said Debra Rantz, chief assessment officer for Ontario’s Education Quality and Accountability Office (EQAO). “This is not homework — it’s reading outside of school for enjoyment. What kids read does not matter — anything from novels to graphic novels to poetry — “as long as you read … it’s something for enjoyment that makes a difference at school.” In its tracking of students from Grades 3 to Grade 10 on tests in reading, writing and math, the EQAO found that kids who have trouble early will continue to struggle. Of those, 46 per cent who made the grade were reading three hours or more.
Reading for pleasure puts children ahead in the classroom, study finds 11 September 2013 Children who read for pleasure are likely to do significantly better at school than their peers, according to new research from the Institute of Education (IOE). The IOE study, which is believed to be the first to examine the effect of reading for pleasure on cognitive development over time, found that children who read for pleasure made more progress in maths, vocabulary and spelling between the ages of 10 and 16 than those who rarely read. The research was conducted by Dr Alice Sullivan and Matt Brown, who analysed the reading behaviour of approximately 6,000 young people being followed by the 1970 British Cohort Study, which is funded by the Economic and Social Research Council. They looked at how often the teenagers read during childhood and their test results in maths, vocabulary and spelling at ages 5, 10 and 16. Children who were read to regularly by their parents at age 5 performed better in all three tests at age 16 than those who were not helped in this way. 1.
Study: Reading a Novel Changes Your Brain - Julia Ryan College students experienced heightened connectivity in their left temporal cortexes after reading fiction. Scientists have proven in the past that reading stimulates many different parts of the brain. In a 2006 study, for example, research subjects read the words “perfume” and “coffee,” and the part of their brains devoted to the sense of smell lit up. While these studies have focused on brain activity while a person is reading, a new study suggests that reading doesn’t just make a fleeting impression. It may make long-term changes to to the brain. The new study out of Emory University looks at how the brain changes function and structure over the course of reading a novel. Past studies of the intersection between reading and brain structure have focused on brain activity while reading: Participants would read short stories while researchers took fMRIs of their brains.
Don't Judge a Book by its Cover: Tech-Savvy Teens Remain Fans of Print Books With today's rapidly evolving technology and ever-present social media changing the way consumers are connecting with the written word, it should come as no surprise that today's teens are finding and consuming content differently from previous generations. But while we typically associate these youthful consumers with being early adopters of new technology and digital content platforms, the reading habits of those aged 13-17 are a mix of old and new. Despite teens' tech-savvy reputation, this group continues to lag behind adults when it comes to reading e-books, even with the young adult genre's digital growth relative to the total e-book market. Several factors may play a role in teens' tendency toward printed publications. While teens might prefer reading traditional print, their paths to discovery are more dependent on word of mouth—and for today's connected teens, this often means social media. Series especially benefit from the bandwagon effect social media can create. Methodology
How My Library Doubled Its Circulation Students at the Shawnee Mission (KS) Northwest High School library with their selected reads. Modern life tends toward snippets of attention: push notifications and buzzing phones; multitasking and productivity hacks. Sustained focus can feel impossible, for high school students and adults. A year ago, the English language arts (ELA) teachers at Shawnee Mission (KS) Northwest High School, where I am a librarian, were dispirited by the difficulty they were experiencing in motivating students to read the longer narratives on the curricular lists. In his book Deep Work (Grand Central, 2016), computer scientist Cal Newport argues that sustained focus on a challenging cognitive task is the most valuable skill in our economy. Our classroom observations confirmed the research. the model A handful of motivated ELA teachers and I met several times during the fall of 2016. Teachers brought their classes to the library for instruction on how to find books of interest. the result Five tips for success