Ep. 1 What is the science of reading?
What is truly meant by the term “Science of Reading”? This page will provide a starting overview.
The Science of Reading (SoR) actually encompasses research in literacy education that covers 40+ years!
Here is a very general, beginning look at the definition of SoR, as well as the graphic below.
We move from oral language as infants and toddlers to recognition of graphemes (letters) and the sounds they make (phonemes). Once a sound can be matched to a letter or series of letters (a code), readers are able to decode, or read the words on a page. With further explicit and systematic instruction, comprehension of these words recognized in larger collections of print (books, etc.) begins to happen and can be recreated on paper (the writing process as summaries, essays, etc.).
Image Credit: The image, courtesy of the author, originally appeared in the following publication: Scarborough, H. S. (2001). Connecting early language and literacy to later reading (dis)abilities: Evidence, theory, and practice. In S. Neuman & D. Dickinson (Eds.), Handbook for research in early literacy (pp. 97–110). New York, NY: Guilford Press.
