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Reading
Upon Mrs. Browslowski's request we took out our
specially selected library book and began to read. I chose The Babe Ruth Story, turned to the first page, and glanced at the
words in chapter one. The room was very
quiet with the only sounds an occasional cough and page-turning. It was an
age-appropriate book but the printed words for some reason did not register in
my mind that day, and I was panic-struck because everyone was immersed in
reading.
Mrs. Browslowski maneuvered around the room to
check on our progress and asked how we were doing. When she came to my desk, my
lips quivered and barely eked out a response. She leaned close to my face and
asked what was wrong. "I see the words, but they don't make sense – what
am I doing wrong?" Hopefully nobody
saw the tears flow down my cheeks as she said: "Dear, you have to allow
the words to make a picture in your mind." She had me re-read the first
paragraph and explain what I "saw". I am not sure if it was her
compassion or the comment, but the words gradually began to produce a picture
in my mind as I finished the page and then the chapter. That important moment
in third grade served as a catalyst to transform symbols on a page into images
in my brain, and I finished the book that evening.
The school emphasized reading and took us to
the neighborhood library to explain the card catalogue system, how to check out
books, and the many selections available. In the following years in elementary
school, I would secure unabridged classics and read: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Moby-Dick, 20,000 Leagues
Under the Sea, The Adventures of Tom
Sawyer, Treasure Island, Robinson Crusoe, and more, and found
that the images in my mind were vivid and reading was engaging. The more I
read, the more lucid the images became.
Reading draws on an attentive mind. It is not
the vocal, interactive activity discussed in previous chapters but
rather an act of the will to keep the eyes fixed on a page and the mind
cognitively primed to receive information for comprehension. You must be
disciplined to read at various levels: for pleasure, grasping themes, and character analysis and those
classics were read for pleasure, but required patience to concentrate for
extended periods, scrutinize small font, and follow the story line. The
inspired reading perpetuated the dopaminergic effect through the
page-turning but I was also drawn in by the exceptional writing skills of Mark
Twain, Herman Melville, Jules Verne, Robert Louis Stevenson, and Daniel Defoe.
I empathized with the characters and was transformed while internalizing human
values, frailties, triumph, good, and evil. It was more profound than
television because the words
embraced ideas with much greater depth and analysis. These were phenomenal
writers that knew how to capture the imagination of an audience through
exceptional language and identification with the human condition. I was a
better person for reading their books.
The curriculum in junior and senior high
schools went a step further than the reading in elementary school and required
analysis of poems, novels, and plays from traditional British and American
writers. We evaluated characters, themes, literary devices, setting, and
narrative. Not only was this sustained reading, but in-depth scrutiny, too. We
had to understand the literal and interpretive meaning of the passages and then
categorize our thoughts in the context of characters, themes, literary devices,
setting, and narrative. Furthermore, it was not only performed in the context
of classroom discussion but in written form and our English teachers maintained
the same depth of problem solving as our mathematics teachers, but was
right-brain centric (metaphorical, aesthetic, contextual) as described by
Daniel Pink earlier. The
research studies below reveal the regions targeted in the brain during assorted
reading and writing activities.
Reading stays in your mind
Scientists have learned that reading is not
just the literal scanning of words but an analytical cognitive exercise. In a
study conducted by Gregory Berns, director of Emory University's Center for Neuropolicy,
twelve female and nine male students volunteered to read one chapter a day of Pompeii, by Richard Harris, the 2003 fictionalized account of the destruction of the
city after the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 A.D.
They were scanned for thirty minutes a day
before reading, the morning after reading a chapter, and then for five days
after completion of the novel and given a quiz on the previous evening's
reading to assure that the assignments were done. Berns found spikes in two
regions after chapters were read: left temporal cortex, a region associated
with language comprehension, and the central sulcus, area of sensation and
movement, but also identified spikes in participants five days after the novel
was completed.
Based on the fMRI data, Berns concluded,
particularly the data from the sensation and movement regions, that stories
linger in our minds as we become empathetic with the main characters, projecting ourselves
into their being, a "shadow activity", not unlike a muscle memory to
perform a task. The more profound the narrative, the stronger the effect. He
adds:
Stories shape our lives, and, in some cases, help define a
person, reconfiguring brain networks for at least a few days. It shows how
stories can stay with us. This may have profound implications for children and
the role of reading in shaping their brains.1
I found the imagery and mental exercise of
reading in my English and history classes in high school and college to be as
challenging as solving problems in science and math courses. In that context, a
study conducted by Noreen O'Sullivan at England's
University of Liverpool, examined the intricacy of reading complex literature,
particularly poetry, recruiting twenty-four first or second year undergraduate
students (sixteen female) enrolled in English classes. Her experiment included
two parts, the first used fMRI, like Berns, but had the participants read forty-eight four-line
stanzas ranging in complexity from simple prose to poetry. They were not
scanned in the second part, but rather reflected on the passages, rating them
on "poetic quality", and
reappraised their original interpretation.
Literary Awareness
How is her data relevant to the engaged child themes of this
book?
1. Purposeful understanding of poetic or complex prose
requires focused attention of
"multiple meaning threads" in the brain.
2. The novelty of processing a
piece of literature requires pondering and not only uses the brain's memory
apparatus but regions that perform deeper
analysis.
3. Evaluating complex literature improves
literary competency. The dopaminergic
effect increases during such appraisal because
individuals find the task fulfilling, resulting in enhanced concentration,
mental flexibility, and awareness.2
Whereas Berns' volunteers were scanned the morning after they read
increments from Pompeii, O'Sullivan's team went steps further by scanning the reading act and
later accumulated subjective opinions about the complexity of their poetry and
prose. Both groups showed brain enhancements because of reading, but O'Sullivan revealed interplay
between sectors in the brain as 'poetic' complexity was interpreted and comments:
In complex
texts, the meaning behind events travels through subtle shifts, sometimes
leading to an internal state where multiple possibilities are compatible. It is
in this complexity that serious literature has a greater capacity to emulate
what it is really like to be human: the thoughts, feelings, and behaviors of
imperfect characters become understood in relation to their sociocultural
context. This will have intrinsic therapeutic benefits that should include
improved, adaptive social functioning. We argue that active reading of complex
literary pieces may benefit wellbeing by encouraging a more responsive and
flexible information processing style that mimics reasoning in everyday life.2
Curriculum specialists recognize the value of liberal
arts education because courses outside the area of concentration, a major, make
you 'well-rounded', value scholarship, and become sensitive to the broad
academic world of content areas. O'Sullivan is showing that more
complicated reading forces the brain to work in varied regions to
simultaneously couple multiple ideas with interpretation to bolster memory for
future analysis. Furthermore, she and Berns are saying that
focused reading gives meaning to characters and words, producing more
empathetic beings. The idea is that students have
sufficient opportunities to nurture those cognitive processes as they examine
complex texts, becoming not only proficient in their area of concentration, but
higher levels of social reasoning. The consequence of attentive reading is
verified by cellular changes in the brain in both information and emotion
centers.
Parents are performing a great service by
reading to their children during the preschool years since it manifests in
advanced vocabulary, word recognition, adaptation of written words to spoken
vocabulary, reading comprehension, and fluent and accurate word recognition.3,4
Writing
One of the most important samples of penmanship
is the stylish signature of John Hancock, the first signer of the United States Declaration of
Independence August 2, 1776. In
fact, by the mid-1700's handwriting and penmanship schools were established.
People enrolled in these institutions to become professional copiers of land
deeds, birth and marriage certificates, and other legal documents. Not only was
Hancock's signature visible at
the bottom, but Timothy Matlock was commissioned to write the final copy of
this historic text.
Archeological evidence reveals that Samaria,
Egypt, and China had codified systems
of standard symbols that recorded events and documented discoveries in the
areas of medicine, mathematics, science, literature, and music thousands of
years ago. Whether it was carved into stone or neatly scripted with a pen,
writing has been a significant element in human culture to transmit information
to contemporary and future communities. It remains a significant part of the
education of our children and is crucial for transmitting creative and
pragmatic information to the world.
Writing couples fine motor and other brain circuits
In recent years, cursive has evolved to typing
on keyboards, and human documentation is thriving more than ever. The
handwritten document has evolved to a digitized format that is easily
replicable by publishers for preview and editing. You no longer must use an
eraser or ink-removal liquid to correct a document but can delete or move
highlighted letters or entire passages to record information anew.
The human brain apparently has the capacity to
manipulate words and derive meaningful statements that are either vocalized or
recorded on paper or a computer in sentences that are comprehended by others.
In recent years, scientists have scanned the brains of subjects as they
performed the writing act and discovered that a host of regions are
appropriated.
For one, learning cursive integrates regions of
the brain associated with sensation, controlled movement, and thinking. The
child uses fine motor skills as the fingers grasp
and manipulate the implement, an extension of the thinking process as ideas are
formulated, and then decides how it will be recorded on paper. Karin James, professor of psychological and brain sciences at Indiana
University, had preliterate, five-year old children print, type, and trace
letters and shapes, and scanned with fMRI when they were later shown images of the items. Though their clumsy replications were
what you would expect of first trials, the writing circuit in both hemispheres
of their brains was significantly activated when the children performed
handwriting and not typing or tracing. It was the same "reading network"
observed when adults write, particularly the fusiform gyrus and posterior
parietal regions of the brain. The authors concluded:
Their brains
don’t distinguish letters; they respond to letters the same as to a triangle.
Handwriting is important for the early recruitment in
letter processing of brain regions known to underlie successful reading.
Handwriting therefore may facilitate reading acquisition
in young children.5
This myth that
handwriting is just a motor skill is just plain wrong. We use motor parts of
our brain, motor planning, motor control, but what’s very critical is a region
of our brain where the visual and language come together, the fusiform gyrus,
where visual stimuli actually become letters and written words. You have to see
letters in the mind’s eye in order to produce them on the page.
Berninger also noted in her
research that students should be "hybrid writers", learning manuscript first for reading and word
recognition, then cursive development with its connecting strokes in
formulating words to improve spelling and stream of conscious during composing,
and eventually touch-typing.
Using a
keyboard, and especially learning the positions of the letters without looking
at the keys might well take advantage of the fibers that cross-communicate in
the brain, since unlike with handwriting, children will use both hands to type.6,7
Writing embraces creative centers
Martin Lotze, of the University of Greifswald in Germany, used fMRI while adults recorded stories. To get a
baseline reading he asked the twenty-eight volunteers to copy some text from a
book. At that point, they were instructed to read sentences from a short story,
brainstorm for a minute, and then write a continuation with their own words for
over two minutes. The scans revealed processing in the visual cortex during the
brainstorming minute but noted activation in the hippocampus, the memory
retrieval center during the creative writing phase as well as in the frontal
cortex area as the brain was simultaneously processing character and plot.
…increased
cognitive control and skill automatization processing reflecting on their
proficiency as readers. Furthermore, they executed many decisions, strategies,
relevant and well-learned skills (e.g., writing performance, language skills,
sentence construction), and attaining domain specific goals (e.g.,
characteristics of literary genres, engaging the readers' interest) in an
automatic, unconscious and intuitive way. The left caudate nucleus is used for
deep analysis like that of a scientist, or individuals who specialize in tasks,
like board games.8
Conclusion
Reading and writing allow students to manage
their thought processes, building confidence as competent literary beings.
Recent research has examined the activated regions in the brain and
substantiates the significance of these activities in the literacy education of
children. Furthermore, more practice incorporates memory, analysis, creativity,
and social awareness.
1
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The processes associated with reading or writing affect the
brain in many regions encompassing synchronized cognition in the areas of
memory, comprehension, sensation, literary awareness, wellbeing, social awareness, speech, and visual acuity.
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2
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The analytical and reflective elements become more
operative with practice.
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3
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Teachers and parents should motivate children to enjoy
reading and writing to nurture those habits for extended periods during their
free hours. The Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling has stimulated throngs
of children (and adults) to read for many continuous hours. Like me, when I
was drawn in with the likes of The
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Moby-Dick,
and 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea,
it was "impossible to put the books down" because the images and
plots created by the authors were vivid and addicting. Endurance reading and
writing strengthen attentiveness, and as Berns stated:
"reconfigures brain networks for at least a few days. It shows how
stories can stay with us"1 as well as O'Sullivan's comment: "has intrinsic therapeutic benefits that
should include improved, adaptive social functioning."2
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4
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Reading and writing assignments that designate specific
goals and objectives promote focus, serving to intensify the dopaminergic
effect, thus sustaining concentration to complete tasks. It is
analogous to word search puzzles where the mind is focused and couple diverse
cognitive skills to find the letters. Carefully constructing prompts will
enable students to incorporate "multiple meaning threads"2
during the assignment.
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5
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Annotating text amplifies concentration because the
individual is examining content to find relevant and interesting facts and
ideas as underlining and jotting notes in the margins serve to organize the
script for later analysis as noted in the article, I'll Have Mine Annotated, Please: Helping Students Make Connections
with Texts.9
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6
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 Requiring students to write summaries, answer questions, or
do further analysis
after a reading assignment intensifies understanding and uses higher level
cognitive processing such as analysis, application, and synthesis, what
O'Sullivan calls "multiple
meaning threads"2. |
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7
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Encourage students to read newspaper and magazine editorial
sections to examine the evidence and look for arguments from all
perspectives.10
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8
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Recognize the needs of the broad range of reading aptitudes
because many students are slow readers and assign accordingly. The leisurely
pace while reading a novel for pleasure has a different
perspective than reading a document for history class or a Shakespearean play
for English. A set of objectives and questions will clarify what is to be
emphasized, stimulating the dopaminergic effect because the
assignment is goal-structured and manageable. They are likely to highlight
sections relevant to your objectives.11
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9
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Students must be instructed on how to find answers to their
questions and perform searches through the various engines on the Internet.
Fortunately, the world-wide web is replete with information, though some is
biased or inaccurate. Learning how to sort through the many articles is
daunting but when done in a purposeful manner provides a wealth of knowledge
and insight.12
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10
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Students benefit greatly from teacher editing because
feedback, suggestions, and praise refines the evaluative process
and furthers the student's path toward more advanced writing in terms of
punctuation, spelling, organization, relevance, and clarity. Colin Monaghan gives many valuable
tips on how feedback can improve writing by your students. 13
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11
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Encourage young people to maintain a journal to generate a
stream of consciousness for sustained periods, process daily events and
emotions, and document aspirations as part of Jenifer Fox's creative dreaming, an emphasis that departs from the
facts-only school perspective so that they can investigate their strengths
and likes.14
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The art of doing twice as
much in half the time
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I recently visited a school in the
Netherlands where the kids have been trained to self-learn. The bell would
ring, and they would come running into the room; teams of four run to the
wall and put up their scrub boards on the wall; have a short meeting. What
did we do yesterday? What will we do today? They run to the desk and start to
work. The teacher is just standing there saying nothing. The enthusiasm of
these kids was so overwhelming. I'm standing there with other teachers who
are crying. The kids say it's faster learning, better grades, they finish
weeks early, they have more fun; the motivation problems go away; the
disciplinary problems go away; the team executes self-discipline.
Jeff Sutherland, software developer and author
TED Talks
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References
1. Berns GS,
Blaine K, Preitula MJ, and Pye B., (2016). Short- and Long-Term Effects of a
Novel on Connectivity in the Brain. Brain
Connectivity.
2. O'Sullivan,
N., Davis, P., Billington, J., Gonzalez-Diaz, V., Corcoran, R., (December 2015)
“Shall I compare thee”: The neural basis of literary awareness, and its
benefits to cognition, Cortex, Volume 73,
144–157.
3. Worland, J.,
(April 27, 2015). This Is What Happens
When You Read to a Child, 2017 Time Inc.,
Retrieved
from:
http://time.com/3836428/reading-to-children-brain/
4. Brown, J.,
(June 24, 2014). I is for infant:
Reading aloud to young children benefits brain development, PBS NewsHour,
Retrieved
from:
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/infant-reading-aloud-young-children-benefits-brain-development/
5. James, K.H.
and Engelhardt, L. (2013). The effects
of handwriting experience on functional brain development in pre-literate
children. Trends in Neuroscience and
Education.
6. Berninger, V.
(January 23, 2012). Evidence-Based, Developmentally Appropriate Writing Skills K–5:
Teaching the Orthographic Loop of Working Memory to Write Letters So Developing
Writers Can Spell Words and Express Ideas. Presented at Handwriting in the
21st Century? An Educational Summit, Washington, D.C.,
7. Klass, P.
(June 20, 2016). Why Handwriting Is
Still Essential in the Keyboard Age, New York Times,
Retrieved
from:
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2016/06/20/why-handwriting-is-still-essential-in-the-keyboard-age/
8. Erharda, K.,
Kesslerb, F., Neumanna, N., Ortheilb, H., Lotzea, M., (October 2014). Professional training in creative writing is
associated with enhanced fronto-striatal activity in a literary text
continuation task, NeuroImage, Volume
100, 15, 15–23.
9. Brown, M.,
(March 2007). I'll Have Mine Annotated,
Please: Helping Students Make Connections with Texts, The English Journal 96(4):73.
10. Newspaper
Association of America Foundation, (2007).
Newspapers Maintain the Brain. A Teacher's Guide for Using the Newspaper
to Enhance Basic Skills, 5-11. Vienna, VA
Retrieved
from:
http://www.readingrockets.org/article/teachers-guide-using-newspapers-enhance-language-arts-skills
11. Creating Study
Guides for Reading Assignments, (2010). Academy of Art University. Faculty
Development
Retrieved
from:
http://faculty.academyart.edu/content/dam/faculty/assets/pdf/planning-your-class/assignments/StudyGuidesReadAssgmts.pdf
12. MacDonald, W.,
Research Using the Internet, Academic Skills Centre, UTM Library
Retrieved
from:
http://www.writing.utoronto.ca/advice/reading-and-researching/research-using-internet
13. Monaghan, C.,
Give your students better writing feedback. A practical guide for instructors.,
Retrieved
from:
http://www.betterwritingfeedback.com/
14. Fox, J., (2007)
Your Child's Strengths: Discover Them, Develop
Them, Use Them, Viking Press.
