Brain-Based Literacy Instruction: Partnering Research with Practice

1. Kansas Reading Association October 16, 2009 Topeka, Kansas Laurie J. Curtis, Ph.D. Brain-Based Literacy Instruction: Partnering Research with Practice

2. Quote of the Day “An intimate acquaintance with some of the structural features of the human brain is thus seen to be not only necessary to the physician, but also to the psychologist, the educationalist, and the social worker. “ R.J.A. Berry (from Brain and Mind or The Nervous System of Man, 1928)

3. Purpose of this session • Discuss basic information regarding the brain and how it is studied and what parts of the brain are activated during literacy learning. • Discuss how this information may be integrated in into literacy instruction to increase student learning.

4. One definition… • The brain is a complex biological organ of great computational capability that constructs our sensory experiences, regulates our thoughts and emotions, and controls our actions. Eric R. Kandel (from "The new science of mind" in Best of the Brain from Scientific American, New York: Dana Press, 2007)

5. Let’s see what we already know? Your Brain….A – Z With a partner, identify any word you may know that is related to the brain or what you would consider “brain-based literacy instruction” Discussion…

6. Brain Imaging Techniques • Computerized Axial Tomography (CAT) Scans • Electroencephalography (EEG) • Positron Emission Tomography (PET) Scans • Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) • Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI)

7. Brain Anatomy and Functions • Brain weighs about 3 pounds • Size of grapefruit • 78% water, 10% fat, 8% protein • Processes up to 8 gallons of blood per hour • Left brain/right brain distinction simplistic- the two hemispheres work in tandem • Learning is encoded/organized during sleep

8. Brain Anatomy 101 • 2 Cerebral Hemispheres (The Cortex) • Frontal lobes- includes Broca’s area. • Parietal lobes- process sensory information (X) • Temporal lobes- include Wernicke’s area • Occipital lobes- process visual sensory information Connected by Corpus Callosum- it is a good marriage!

9. A word about the frontal lobe… • The frontal lobe provides for the management of “executive functions”. Executive function refers to the role of organizing, controlling impulses, learning from mistakes, assessing risks, and planning. A child with poor executive function will struggle in keeping track of assignments, transitioning between activities, recalling rules, and staying safe. Although they may occasionally appear capable, they will not be able to show consistent competence in those areas by themselves.

10. 4 lobes of the brain Let’s review…

11. Brain Anatomy and Functions • Brain’s 100 billion cells comprised of neurons and glial cells. • Neurons (10% of brain’s cells) send and receive information • Glial cells (90% of brain’s cells) produce myelin that coats and protects neurons and transports nutrients and wastes

12. Dendrites Axon Nerve Impulse Axon Direction of Impulse Neurotransmitters Dendrites of Receiving Neurons

13. How the Brain Learns • Human brain (for the most part) has all its cells at birth. However, we now know that neurogenesis occurs. Exercise is being studied as a source of neurogenesis. We don’t gain that many neurons- but connections increase and prune away. • Learning is about making connections. Our brain is “wired” to mimic or imitate what we see. • Listening and speaking are “naturally” occurring systems- reading and writing are not! There is NO gene responsible for reading ability.

14. To learn –think about something • Information comes in through the senses or is drawn up from the neocortex as a memory.

15. Processing incoming information • Information is sent to the thalamus for processing- is this important enough to attend to this? Thalamus Hypothalamus

16. Information may be routed to cortical structures for processing- to amygdala if strong emotional content (and this occurs faster than to other structures) Amygdala

17. Information sent to hippocampus for evaluation (in working memory). It is then processed or released. Hippocampus

18. To best retain information information must: • Have strong emotional content/ low stress • Multi-model input • Encoded into long-term memory through various pathways • Relevant so it is retrievable

19. Strong Emotional Content/ Low Stress • Brainstorm attributes of a positive emotional literacy learning environment- you may also include concepts broader than literacy. What does a positive emotional climate look like, feel like, sound like?

20. Avoid “cognitive downshifting” • When a child responds to fear- the amygdala sends a call for hormones, mainly cortisol. These remain in the system for hours. As the heart rate increases, blood is sent from the cognitive areas of the brain to the muscles for quick movement. At this time- reasoning and comprehension suffers. Students make increased errors, are easily distracted, and working memory is affected.

21. It is not easy to return to a relaxed state once a threat has been perceived. • Emotions influence thinking much easier than thinking influences emotions. • Prolonged stress changes the hippocampus structurally.

22. Things which inhibit learning- • Using grades and tests as punishers- posting high/low grade on tests • Allowing students to threaten each other- no sense of community • Failing to differentiate for learning disabilities, learning styles, cultural differences • Basic needs not being met at school or home- NOTE the brain does not store glucose

23. Effective Practices to Enhance Learning • Humor and Celebrations • Visual arts, drama • Clear directions • Time needed to complete work with expected quality • Predictability (routine, fun rituals, consistency ) • Personal connection with students- sense of community • Control and choice

24. Self-Check of your classroom... • Do students choose to work in groups based on area of interest or friends? • Do they volunteer to share ideas? • Do they help someone who has been absent? • Do they give or accept feedback from peers? • Do they search out teacher feedback and advice? • Do they take work home voluntarily for fun?

25. Multi-Modal Input VISUAL AUDITORY Students are told directions in steps small enough that they can remember them Class discussions Students given the opportunity to listen to books on tape, audio recordings, partners reading/discussing Songs, oral recitation, chants are used • Use of graphics or video clips • Use of written objectives in plain sight of student • Students provided with example/model • Students able to watch a demonstration • Students can read own directions

26. What might we do to cause a child to struggle? • Asking students to copy from a board or model while providing additional auditory information is a stressful and non-productive activity—yet we see it often in content literacy work. The short-term and working memories of children are not as developed as adults and do not allow for this exchange without loss of information.

27. When working with young readers: • Help provide visual or kinesthetic clues for phonemes- difference between /p/ and /b/- the difference between /n/ and /m/. • Slowing down the rate of phoneme blending if possible to allow children to process individual phonemes.

28. Helping in auditory processing- Work by Tallal & Piercy found: • ba/da the difference is found in only 40 ms • Struggling readers often had time processing quickly the differences in phonemes • Computers can slow down processing to 90 ms Example : say stay

29. What do you remember from school…That smell “takes me back”… KINESTHETIC SMELL/TASTE Students provided opportunity to be immersed in the environment…home-baked cookies, smell of the ocean, the smell of the wood-burning fire when learning about the settlers… Students provided with cooking activities to support literature events- “book cooks” • Students attach gestures with content • Students role play or act out learning of content • Students sort cards, sequence events, complete puzzles, stamp spelling words • Students paint, draw, build with clay, use puppets…

30. Our memory pathways: • Short-term memory • Working memory • Long-term memory

31. Short-term memory • 7 +/- 2 pieces of information • Information is held for approximately 30 seconds unless continually rehearsed- or it is determined to be very important to the learner

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33. Washington D.C. is the capatal of the United States.

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35. To help your students: • Help them see connections and provide them with ways to “chunk” information • Within a song • Within a chant • Seeing a pattern • With a quick story- shortcut

36. Bacon and eggs, ice cream and cake.

37. Working Memory • Working memory takes place with direction from the hippocampus. If strong emotional content it moves quickly to long term memory • If you “do something” with the information it can remain in working memory longer- if not, it often just “evaporates” In reading—what might we “do” with it? Don’t be “Miss Mention”.

38. What we know about memory: • Activating one memory element will often activate other elements of memory—connections are vital! • We do not store information we see as unnecessary, thus avoiding cognitive overload. Consider the levels of questions you ask your readers. We must be clear for our students as to why they need to learn what we are teaching them.

39. Long Term Memory • Sprenger (1995) identified 5 types of long-term memory • Semantic • Episodic • Procedural • Automatic • Emotional

40. Semantic- encoded through words (oral recall) • Episodic- encoded through location or experience such as a field trip (visualization) • Procedural- encoded through an action (experiments/ role playing/ dramatizing) • Automatic- encoded through repetition (high frequency words) • Emotional- encoded through extreme emotion (all types)

41. You may want to incorporate: • Humor • Revisiting / spaced rehearsal • “Chunk” information in meaningful ways- novice learners are not as efficient at this as experts • Set a purpose prior to the lesson • Attend to stress levels during the learning experience “relaxed alert stage”

42. So… • “Researchers have found that early knowledge of nursery rhymes is strongly and specifically related to the development of more abstract word processing skills and future reading ability” (Wolfe, 2004) Why might this be so?

43. How do you read differently than a novice or struggling reader? • Aoccdrnig to rseerach at an Elingsh uinervtisy, it deosn’t mttaer in what order the ltteers in a word are, the olny iprmoetnt tihnh is that the frist and lsat ltteer is in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a total mses and you can still raed it outhit a porbelm. This is bcuseae we do not raed ervey letetr by itslef, but the word as a wlohe.

44. Novice readers: • Bring in visual information to the occipital lobe and process that information phoneme by phoneme until automaticity is reached. They decode with the occipital-parietal area of the brain. • As novice readers become more fluent in their reading they process the words in the occipital- temporal area of the brain (word form) area in larger chunks utilizing Wernekes area and move away from individual phoneme processing.

45. Struggling readers: • Struggling readers do not make that transition and begin to engage other areas of the brain, especially the frontal lobes where memory is located to try to “remember” what that word was from the last viewing of it. They often rely on Brocas area and subvocalize. fMRIs and other imaging shows they clearly work harder and engage more areas of their brain- producing lactic acid as a result of the burning of glucose- and end up exhausted as we ask them to “try harder” or to “look carefully”. This is referred to as a neurobiological signature of reading disability (Shaywitz & Shaywitz, 2004).

46. So- what will help them? • Repetitive, explicit phonologically based instruction • High interest/ engagement • Opportunities for processing of information to avoid information overload- breaks. (These are the last children who should ever miss a recess!) • Use of appropriately leveled text • Songs, acronyms, graphic and visual support,

47. Relevant and Retreivable • Students need to be shown clearly the answer to “why do I have to learn this stuff”. Due to cognitive overload we dismiss enormous information based on whether we think it is relevant to our lives or not. Do you remember movies you have watched- books you have read?

48. Attend to the engage part of lesson to access prior knowledge • The brain seeks out patterns- seeks meaning in what is being done. It is our job as educators to help students make sense of the work we have them do and explicitly show them how it connects to what they are learning- If not…we will lose them. “Busy work” has no place in our educational day.

49. Brain-Based Strategy for Review and Processing • List, Sort, Label • Write 20 terms that you have identified with brain-based literacy learning (2 minutes) • Write them on the cards • Sort them into categories (2-3 minutes) • Label them (1 minute) Roles: writer, time keeper, labeler, mover of cards (all may give directions), presenter, materials manager

50. What did you just do? • Recalled • Read • Processed • Talked • Thought Critically • Processed • Processed • Processed---we don’t do that when we fill in blanks “worksheets don’t grow dendrites”.