Engage their Brains!

1. Engage their Brains! • Multisensory Activities toPromote Reading Success

2. Education The only profession whose job is to change the human brain EVERY DAY.

3. Neuroscience & Learning In the News

4. Brain Facts True or False?

5. True or False? The average adult brain weighs 10 pounds and uses 40% of the body’s oxygen. FALSE The average adult human brain weighs 3 pounds and uses 20% of the body’s oxygen.

6. True or False? • The brain needs 8 – 12 glasses of water • a day foroptimal functioning. TRUE The brain needs 8 – 12 glasses of water a day for optimal functioning. The brain consists of 78% water and it needs to keep hydrated. Dehydration is a common problem in school classrooms leading to lethargy and impaired learning. (Hannaford, 1995)

7. True or False? • The brain is “hard wired” – • what you were bornwith is what you have until you die. FALSE The reason we can learn new habits and skills that are not innate is the brain is “plastic” throughout life. Neuroplasticity is a characteristic of the brain that allows it to be shaped by experience. (Merzenich, et. al.)

8. Are kids today biologically different than 30 years ago? Consuming more additives

9. More exposure to drugs and use of medication Restricted movement due to hours spent strapped in a car seat More sedentary entertainment with video games and television

10. Unhealthy living conditions due to limited resources of families and single parent households (lead paint) Less early motor stimulation from swings, see-saws, etc. due to safety concerns

11. The Brain Comes Wired for Sound! • Learning language is an early “test” of our brain’s learning system • At birth, we have equal potential to learn any language • By 6 months, we begin to build the phonemes specific to our native language based on experience

12. Language Experiences

13. Language Experiences by Group Meaningful Differences in the Everyday Experience of Young American Children by Betty Hart & Todd R. Risley. Paul H. Brookes Publishing Co. (1995).

14. Language Experiences by Group Meaningful Differences in the Everyday Experience of Young American Children by Betty Hart & Todd R. Risley. Paul H. Brookes Publishing Co. (1995). Professional 45 Million Words Working-class 26 Million Words Estimated Cumulative Words Addressed to Child (In Millions) Low SES 13 Million Words 12 24 36 48 (Age Child in Months)

15. 90% of a young child’s knowledge is gained from hearing background conversation.

16. The Effects of Weaknesses in Oral Language on Reading Growth 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 High Oral Language in Kindergarten 5.2 years difference Reading Age Level Low Oral Language in Kindergarten 5678910111213141516 Hirsch, 1996 Chronological Age

17. Growth of the Brain Occurs from the Inside Out and the Bottom Up • You are born with~100 billion brain cells • There are ~ 15,000 synaptic connections for each cell

18. Reading is Not Innate Language is natural….Reading is NOT • The human brain is not born with the insight to make sound-to-letter connections • Only through practice can the learning challenges of a written system be resolved

19. Reading: Mastering an Invented System Many Cognitive Skills Needed Text Comprehension Word memory Word identification Processing rate Short term memory Decoding Phonological processing Visual processing Text cat

20. A few statistics Fifteen percent of the U.S. population, or one in sevenAmericans, has some type of learning disability. (National Institutes of Health)

21. Children with learning disabilities are as smart or smarter than their peers. But they may have difficulty reading, writing, spelling, reasoning, recalling and/or organizing information if left to figure things out by themselves or if taught in conventional ways. • Learning disabilities often run in families (genetically-based).

24. The Learning Brain (Brain Plasticity) How are memories formed? • Conditions in the brain are dynamic. They change and “rewire” at any age • The brain’s ability to change, or be trained, is known as brain plasticity • The brain can learn at any age, and certain conditions encourage learning Neurons and Synaptic Connections

26. Not all great minds think alike! • Did you know that Albert Einstein couldn't read until he was nine? • Walt Disney, General George Patton, and Vice President Nelson Rockefeller struggled with reading into adulthood. • Richard Branson, Paul Orfalea (Kinko’s), Charles Schwab, Henry Winkler, Agatha Christie and many others have not let their learning difficulties affect their ultimate success.

27. ABC letter sequence

28. a b cd e f g h i j klmnop q r s t u v w x y nz

29. Phonetic processing • Decoding • Phonemic awareness • Word attack skills Independent Reader Comprehension • Vocabulary and use of context • Understanding words in isolation • Using syntax (grammar) and semantics (meaning) within the context of reading • Sight word recognition • Able to quickly read/recall these words

30. What Can go Wrong? Phonological Awareness Decoding Fluency Vocabulary Comprehension

31. PHONOLOGICAL AWARENESS

32. STUDY BY SUSAN CUNNINGHAM IN 2004 “EDUCATORS’ KNOWLEDGE OF PHONOLOGICAL AWARENESS” Entire Sample (N = 722)

33. Decoding Automatic recall of letters and sounds (phonics)

34. Fluency Decoding smoothly and accurately

35. Vocabulary

36. Comprehension Putting it all together to understand

37. FOUR MODALITIES (PATHWAYS) FOR LEARNING visual auditory Kinesthetic (muscle movement) tactile

38. How can you help? Explore the senses: Try teaching the information visually, verbally, and kinesthetically (with movement) and find pathway works best for your student. The more senses, the more likely it is to be remembered consistently!

39. Make learning and studyinga rich experience involving all five senses • Hair gel • Shaving cream • Pudding • Whipped cream • Finger paints • Chocolate syrup • Rice • Sand paper • Play doh • Sand • Cornmeal • Carpet • Kool-Aid (dry)

40. The Gel Bag is a favorite!

41. Make it physical: Adding a physical activity such as pacing, jumping, throwing a ball, or writing enhances the memory for many people. Typing or rewriting notes is a very effective memory device for people who need to learn kinesthetically.

42. What’s in The Bag? • Write a letter on the front of a bag • Place objects in the bag that begin with that letter. Have each child reach in the bag and pull out an object. • Talk about each item and see if we all hear the same sound at the beginning of each word.

43. Blending sounds together

44. Word Family Paint Chips

45. Tap light for each sound they hear in word...phoneme segmentation

46. The brain can literally grow new connections with enriched environmental situations. You can develop their pre-reading skills by continuing to read in order to develop vocabulary, print awareness, narrative skills, letter knowledge, interest in reading and the understanding that words are made of a number of sounds. Every thing you do can be essential “brain food” for the next generation to succeed!

47. DON’T STOP IN 3rdGRADE!

48. ALL Areas Continue to Develop

49. Copy these sentences with your non-dominant hand My dog has fleas. Perhaps some peppers would perk you up. Theodore was flabbergasted at such a peculiar sight! Motor simulation

50. Once, many years ago, a rellifed came to the village. He stood in the village spuared and pleday and nags Until the podleo came to listen and to bance. A jolly duchuer danced with the niikniad. A small doy skipqed through the crowd with his bod nibbing at his heels and yabbing loudly. After the rellifed stopped, the popleo, tossed conis Into his hat and brought him milk and cookies for his trouble. It had been a long, weary, bay and the rellifed was gald of a rets in this pleasat villaqe.