"Now I have the tools with [this] book to make [my students] more confident and love the language."--Keith Bauman, honors English teacher, The Villages Charter High School, The Villages, Florida.

"Gentry and Ouellette are cannonballing into the reading research pool, they're making waves, and these waves are moving the field of reading forward." --From the foreward by Mark Weakland, Super Spellers The past two decades have brought giant leaps in our understanding of how the brain works. But these discoveries--and all their exciting implications--have yet to make their way into most classrooms. With the concise and readable BrainWords, you will learn how children's brains develop as they become readers and discover ways you can take concrete steps to promote this critical developmental passage. Introducing their original, research-based framework of "brain words"--dictionaries in the brain where students store and automatically access sounds, spellings, and meanings--the authors offer a wealth of information that will transform your thinking and practice: Up-to-date knowledge about reading and neurological circuitry, including evidence that spelling is at the core of the reading brain Tools to recognize what works, what doesn't, and why Practical classroom activities for daily teaching and student assessment Insights about what brain research tells us about whole language and phonics-first movements Deepened understanding of dyslexia through the enhanced lens of brain science With the insights and strategies of BrainWords, you can meet your students where they are and ensure that more of them read well, think well, and write well.

A renowned cognitive neuroscientist?s fascinating and highly informative account of how the brain acquires reading How can a few black marks on a white page evoke an entire universe of sounds and meanings? In this riveting investigation, Stanislas Dehaene provides an accessible account of the brain circuitry of reading and explores what he calls the ?reading paradox?: Our cortex is the product of millions of years of evolution in a world without writing, so how did it adapt to recognize words? Reading in the Brain describes pioneering research on how we process language, revealing the hidden logic of spelling and the existence of powerful unconscious mechanisms for decoding words of any size, case, or font. Dehaene?s research will fascinate not only readers interested in science and culture, but also educators concerned with debates on how we learn to read, and who wrestle with pathologies such as dyslexia. Like Steven Pinker, Dehaene argues that the mind is not a blank slate: Writing systems across all cultures rely on the same brain circuits, and reading is only possible insofar as it fits within the limits of a primate brain. Setting cutting-edge science in the context of cultural debate, Reading in the Brain is an unparalleled guide to a uniquely human ability.

The past two decades have brought giant leaps in our understanding of how the brain works. But these discoveries-;and all their exciting implications-;have yet to make their way into most classrooms.In Brain Words: How the Science of Reading Informs Teaching , authors J. Richard Gentry and Gene Ouellette, bring their original, research-based framework of brain words dictionaries in the brain where students store and automatically access sounds, spellings, and meaning. This book aims to fill the gap between the science of reading and classroom instruction by providing up-to-date knowledge about reading and neurological circuitry, including evidence that spelling is at the core of the reading brain.Brain Words will show how children's brains develop as they become readers and discover ways you can take concrete steps to promote this critical developmental passage, including: Incorporating tools to recognize what works, what doesn't, and whyPractical classroom activities for daily teaching and student assessmentInsights about what brain research tells us about whole language and phonics-first movementsDeepened understanding of dyslexia through the enhanced lens of brain scienceWith the insights and strategies of Brain Words , you can meet your students where they are and ensure they gain confidence as readers, spellers, and writers.

Neuropsychology of Language, Reading, and Spelling explores the many neural systems and subsystems that contribute to the production and comprehension of oral and written language. This book is organized into five parts encompassing 12 chapters that emerged from the 1980 International Conference on the Neuropsychology of Language, Reading, and Spelling, sponsored by the Program in Neurosciences and Education at Teachers College, Columbia University. This conference highlights the neurological and behavioral interrelatedness of language, reading, and spelling. After briefly dealing with the cognitive and language development, as well as learning to read and to spell as instances of acquiring skill, this book goes on discussing the activity of the learner in the development skill, the influence of interacting forces in the developing nervous systems, and the role of peripheral mechanisms in the development of speech and language. A chapter examines the central integrative mechanisms, specifically the electrophysiological research with infants on the dependence of language perception on multidimensional, complexes processes, and not solely as a left- or right-hemisphere task. This chapter also provides evidence of discrete localization of language processes within the dominant hemisphere at both cortical and subcortical levels. The final four chapters are devoted to an analysis of developmental disorders from the varied perspectives of neurology, linguistics, neuropsychology, and education. This book will be of value to neuropsychologists and developmental biologists.

"English is so illogical!" It is generally believed that English is a language of exceptions. For many, learning to spell and read is frustrating. For some, it is impossible... especially for the 29% of Americans who are functionally illiterate. But what if the problem is not the language itself, but the rules we were taught? What if we could see the complexity of English as a powerful tool rather than a hindrance? --Denise Eide Uncovering the Logic of English challenges the notion that English is illogical by systematically explaining English spelling and answering questions like "Why is there a silent final E in have, large, and house?" and "Why is discussion spelled with -sion rather than -tion?" With easy-to-read examples and anecdotes, this book describes: - the phonograms and spelling rules which explain 98% of English words - how English words are formed and how this knowledge can revolutionize vocabulary development - how understanding the reasons behind English spelling prevents students from needing to guess The author's inspiring commentary makes a compelling case that understanding the logic of English could transform literacy education and help solve America's literacy crisis. Thorough and filled with the latest linguistic and reading research, Uncovering the Logic of English demonstrates why this systematic approach should be as foundational to our education as 1+1=2.