Spark PILOT 2017 [Kumon Oak Bay Victoria] Spark PILOT 2017 [Kumon Oak Bay Victoria] | Page 24

S PA R K M a g a z i n e | P I L O T 2 0 1 7
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KUM O N ST U DI E S
INSTRUCTION
(Phonemic Awareness), these students have difficulty decoding
(reading) words; and without being able to decode, they can-
not access the parts of the language system used for compre-
hension even though that component of their brain is intact.
As Shaywitz explained at the conference, as well as clearly stat-
ing in her book, educators need to recognize the signs of Dys-
lexia in order to identify children who need help.
In addition to a family history of Dyslexia, some of the obvious clues
to look for in young children (approximately 3 to 6) include the fol-
lowing:
o Mild or moderate delayed speech
o Difficulty learning simple nursery rhymes
o Lack of Phonemic Awareness
o Difficulty associating letters of the alphabet with their sounds
o Inability to sound out simple consonant-vowel-consonant
words
Shaywitz notes that this idea is best represented by a Sea of
Strengths model where the lower order deficit of processing the
sounds of language is often surrounded by significant strengths
such as comprehension, problem solving and critical thinking.
Maximizing these strengths is what accounts for the extraordi-
nary accomplishments of some individuals with Dyslexia. The
list of extremely successful and well-respected persons who
have Dyslexia is long and includes prominent novelists, screen-
writers, physicists, cardiothoracic surgeons, CEOs, lawyers, fi-
nancial wizards, actors, inventors, etc.
For children in Kindergarten and First Grade, look for the following
clues:
o Lack of Phonemic Awareness
o Difficulty learning phonics
o Difficulty decoding words
o Complaining about how hard reading is
o Avoiding reading aloud
o Reading slowly and lacking fluency
o Messy handwriting
• A fascinating piece of scientific information presented by Ben-
nett Shaywitz, M.D. at the conference concerns the amazing sci-
entific discoveries which have been made in the past ten years
with respect to how the brain learns to read. Three specific neu-
ral sites for reading have been identified: two slower neural
pathways (the Parieto-temporal area in the back and Broca’s
area in the front of the brain) used primarily by beginning read-
ers who slowly sound out words, analyze them, and link the
sounds to letters; and a third speedier pathway (Occipito-tempo-
ral area in the back of the brain) which skilled readers, who read
with instantaneous recognition of words (automaticity), take.
For students in and above Second Grade, some clues to look for
include the following:
o Problems speaking: mispronunciation of words, pausing,
using imprecise language
o Problems reading: trouble decoding, difficulty with new and
unfamiliar words, misreading high frequency words, omis-
sions or substitutions, lack of fluency
o Fear of reading aloud
o Disastrous spelling
o Inability to finish timed tests
o Poor rote memory
o Poor self-esteem
o Difficulty with math word problems
Bennett Shaywitz described the research that he and other neu-
roscientists conducted by looking inside the brains of skilled
and dyslexic readers while they were engaged in the mental ac-
tivity of reading during an fMRI. They were literally able to
see which areas of the brain were actually activated by reading.
When the subject was engaged in reading, the blood flow in-
creased in the parts of the brain that were activated by reading.
Mapping the pathways of skilled readers led to the discovery that
the brain activation patterns of those with and without Dyslexia
differed. In skilled readers, the brain activation was in the back
region of the brain and there was less activation in the front area. Obviously, this is an inordinate amount of information to process
without having been at the conference. However, an invaluable
resource for all educators is the book Overcoming Dyslexia men-
tioned above, as well as reports of the National Reading Panel
(www.nationalreadingpanel.org) of which Dr. Sally Shaywitz
was also a member.
Individuals with Dyslexia showed a glitch in their brain circuit-
ry. Dyslexic readers use different, less efficient pathways than
the ones used by good readers. Due to dyslexic readers’ dif-
ficulty with the phonological system, their fMRIs demonstrate
underactivation in the back area of the brain and overactivation
in the front of the brain—the opposite of skilled readers. This is
a much slower, less efficient pathway for reading and it accounts
for dyslexics being able to learn to read accurately, but slowly. It is interesting to note that other studies of the brain while read-
ing have been conducted in Japan by Ryuta Kawashima, M.D.
Although he did not study the brains of dyslexic readers, using
fMRIs, he demonstrated that reading aloud generates activation
in several parts of the brain including the prefrontal cortex. The
brain is a muscle and to grow into a well-developed brain, it needs
to be stimulated and exercised daily, which is one reason why
reading aloud each day is a healthy brain activity.
• The most pragmatic presentation of the conference was Sally
Shaywitz’s explanation of how the science of reading has been
translated into practice so that All children can potentially learn to
read and read well. To accomplish this, All children need a scien-
tifically-based reading program which includes the following el-
ements: systematic and explicit instruction in Phonemic Aware-
ness, Alphabetics, P