Can we Afford to Ignore the Science of Reading? | Melissa Hostetter | TEDxUofISpringfield

[@mishnelson]

"we are not hard wired to read" - thank you Melissa for sharing your expertise and advocating for literacy for all

[@vm4890]

Most are hard wired to try to comprehend communications. It is part of language processing.

[@Senriam]

@@vm4890no, not a single human is hardwired for anything beyond symbolic conveyance through language and nonverbals. We have to hack out brains to be able to read. Some are just more receptive to programming.

[@CharlottaSisco]

“Why do we ignore the data?” The ten million (trillion) dollar question about why the system fails for any middle or lower class individual. And even then - One should question the data and from where it is sourced. Beautiful delivery and confidence in presentation. ❤️

[@tamarabilly5299]

Sound Walls, not Word Walls, education is always evolving! Thank you for your inspiring words!

[@stephaniemalcolm3801]

Thank you for this! Wonderfully said! Clear, concise, and a call to action! I will be using this video in our local parent advocacy work!

[@peggyprice3993]

As an Orton-Gillingham Fellow and parent of a child with dyslexia, I so appreciate the clarity and passion of your talk! Bravo, bravo! I will share this widely with the teachers who are dedicated to learning the science of reading.

[@debbiemeyer4997]

You hit all the points I hit - economic security, health and public health, and democracy! Ballot initiatives written at 15th grade level. Thanks!

[@susannah1066]

We had guess the word introduced in Australia in the early 80's-my nephew used to stare at the page looking for a clue. He didn't read properly until he was 8 after I taught him to sound out the words. That was 1986-later my daughter had mild dyslexia and she was being taught guess the word. The teacher even lied to us & said they were doing phonetics-but my daughter told me what they did [a volunteer would just tell her the word] that is not reading. So again I had to teach her phonetically-she loves reading now. I [1970] was taught phonetics in grade one and was reading by age 5.

[@juliafraa6419]

There are so many stories just like yours. Did you hear the sold a story podcast? It reminds me of your story about your nephew.

[@DazzlingKiwi30]

Love this TED Talk. Phenomenal information, which I wish more parents and educators knew. I’m currently writing my personal statement for my doctorate to directly address this issue.

[@debbiemeyer4997]

Why don't we teach teachers how to teach reading?

[@SAMSONWALLS]

Great question! I wish you ran the school of education at my university!

[@imsorrybut]

They literally do.

[@tmgh9961]

@@imsorrybut Some universities teaching programs do include instruction on how to teach phonics, but it has been my experience that a lot don’t include this, but rather focus on theory(also important). So many of the student teachers I have encountered do not know how to teach phonics, much less even know the basic rules. Our early childhood educators need this to be a part of their training at the university level.

[@KyleHohn]

Why don’t we teach the teachers who teach teachers how to teach reading? And why don’t we teach those teachers who teach teachers how to teach teachers how to teach teachers how to teach reading!?

[@DSharonSmith]

@@imsorrybut Exactly!!! As a professor of reading education, I know I do…

[@mattrenwick7548]

The science of reading (SoR) is not phonics instruction. SoR is an accumulated body of knowledge about what we know right now regarding effective reading instruction; phonics is one part of foundational reading skills, which is a part of teaching and learning how to read. It does not help to conflate the two.

[@melissahostetter6921]

TED talks are for the general public, not experts.

[@harperdarrington4462]

@Matt Renwick This comment right here! My sentiments exactly.

[@linnealyding8446]

Exactly - I was hoping to share this video, but unfortunately it did not provide the whole story.

[@coach_hsoini]

Great clarification. Fear mongering and throwing correlation data into the decision-making processes make us educators look gullible and little naïve. Phonics yes, but hey let’s not simplify the complexity of education.

[@limlisuang8509]

Agree. The educator should be provided training to know the science of reading in teaching students to be skilled readers.

[@harmonyln7]

A lot of this seems to be referring to the 1980s and 90s. How did people before then learn to read so well and what changed?

[@vbeall8796]

So then what are the best research-based programs out there that incorporate all reading essentials? What trainings should we be asking our admin to send us to that incorporate all 5 portions of SOR?

[@vag0224]

As a teacher of young learners in Taiwan, I teach phonics. I teach it slowly and clearly and always review. My students' progress in reading is amazing. My own children learned reading in a different way. I taught them some phonics but I think the real reason they learned was because we read and read. They loved reading so much and eventually it was obvious that there was no need for all the phonics so I dropped it.

[@melissahostetter6921]

Yes @vag0224, some children do pick up reading more easily than others. Research by Nancy Young shows that 40% of children will learn to read regardless of instructional method. My concern is about the other 60%. Plus, phonics has never hurt anyone. Thanks for your reply.

[@vag0224]

@@melissahostetter6921 I think if we go overboard with phonics instruction which is commonly the case in Taiwan, we will deprive the students of more comprehensible input which is also very necessary for the students. I have seen classes where students were very discouraged as their classes over emphasized phonics instead of spending more time on other activities.

[@josephbergs7814]

Hi! Where are originally from? I think one day I want to teach English in Taiwan. I am from the United States. How did you get to do that?

[@vag0224]

@@josephbergs7814 I married a Taiwanese woman. Are you gonna go that route?

[@TeacherJoey123]

@@vag0224 I think I'd like that but I like many different kinds of women. I'm assuming you met her in Taiwan? Or you met her in another place? Are you from the US like me? I definitely can't imagine raising my family outside of America but before a family I want to go many places. Also, ni xihuan denglijun ma (Do you like Teresa Teng?). I would surely marry her but she is too old for me :(

[@willmpet]

My aunt taught first grade in the sixties and she wanted everyone to teach phonics.

[@peterduckett742]

How do the deaf learn to read if they do not hear phonemes? What relationships exist between spoken dialects and phonics instruction?

[@ishathakor]

can't speak for other languages, but asl has a signed alphabet too. i imagine deaf students are taught to associate a letter with a sign rather than with a phoneme. all hearing people don't subvocalize (read in their head) either. i don't subvocalize for example and neither do a few of my friends who are very fast readers. i know a woman who taught herself to read when she was 3 and never subvocalized at all.

[@cherimcmanus8137]

Superbly done Melissa! Your efforts do inspire-

[@kellybarbarich1560]

Nobody in my board will listen to me about this. It's so frustrating!

[@ereid964]

I feel your pain. I'm in the same boat. I'm at a BL school and it's very clear in the data that this approach is NOT working. We need a structured literacy approach based on the science of reading. No one listens to me either.

[@chinasacasmir]

Great talk, I'm venturing into understanding phonics more, because this made me see a new light of reading, or better still - how to read!

[@anothercitizen4867]

I must have been doing balanced literacy all wrong because one of the components of my practice was structured and systematic phonics. When I taught third grade this became more word study that looked at word chunks and chunk meanings. After the decoding children need to make meaning of the connected text to label it an act of reading and not word calling. For example I can teach you German phonics. You’ll be able to decode over 95% of the words. You won’t be able to comprehend a great majority of it. Unfortunately, some people, maybe too many, possibly because they didn’t like teaching phonics, called their practice “balanced” when it was anything but balanced. If you don’t teach phonics you can’t call it balanced.

[@sylviagung1007]

The deeper problem is in the system itself that is controlled by profit oriented politicians and businesses, and teachers' degrading mentality as teacher (themselves coming- suffering through the education they have received that does not support budding teachers to grow into real teachers with full of teacher spirit). There aren't too many real teachers, nowadays, and most of the teachers' mentality is no more than glorified tutors or subject technicians. As every area of human society has been going down the road into corruption, teachers' way has left the post of being the lantern of the society, too ... long ago ... most unfortunately, for humanity. The new beginning point is that the teachers must see this fact by themselves and wake up to regain the original teacher spirit, and unlearn and relearn what it means by being a teacher, individually. Not only no one can help in this way, but rather, whomever or whatever comes forth as helper is/ are traitor or pester, most likely. Nothing good trying to help them do better. They must wake up to themselves. Only way ...

[@eshamerita5970]

May we find, as societies all over the world, a way out of the hyper information mess and to restore the much needed compassionate mentor figures that we have lost. May teacher's hearts be liberated from all the humiliation of the systems and become endless sources of innovation, fun and permanent solutions for children's and adult's needs 🙌♥️🙏

[@markgalpin4256]

'teachers need to be taught' / "teachers are not educated on..." WELL after people say these things it is usually followed by is nothing Showing people how to teach it OR for teachers to teach themselves. What do we need to learn? How do we teach it? How about the nuts and bolts of the instructions.

[@octavianr526]

So in the end what is that structured phonics she is talking about over and over again?

[@melissahostetter6921]

Hi Octavian. Here is a great definition (and comparison to our current method) from Reading Rockets: "The hallmark of a systematic phonics approach or program is that a sequential set of phonics elements is delineated and these elements are taught along a dimension of explicitness depending on the type of phonics method employed. Conversely, with incidental phonics instruction, the teacher does not follow a planned sequence of phonics elements to guide instruction but highlights particular elements opportunistically when they appear in text."

[@ReadingHorizons]

Let's get some reading momentum! 🙌

[@that_gurl_with_theipad2347]

Thank you, thank you!

[@briandonovan9091]

I have dyslexia, I don't read by sounds or letters, I see whole words and phrases. I have been tested at 5000 words per minute. I was failing using phonics and letters. It was comic books that taught me how to read.

[@ammihernandez71]

500 words per minute?

[@GragonOhare]

What do you do when you come across a word you don't know? Like perflipisclump?

[@ethio1931]

You really had to choose a very specific word where you can’t find the definition for.

[@GragonOhare]

@ethio1931 it's a made-up word. It's definition isn't the point. The question is: what do you do?

[@ethio1931]

@@GragonOhare what exactly? I had trouble sounding it out because I’m a moron. Yet I figured it out.

[@stephanieb7604]

Notice the mention of great gains in “reading accuracy.” Why wasn’t reading comprehension mentioned? Because reading first era overemphasis on phonics failed students in the area of reading comprehension. What happens when students ability to sound out words exceeds their oral language comprehension? Students, especially those who come from poor or linguistically diverse backgrounds, habituate sounding out words without connecting meaning.

[@tamiadkison9700]

Phonic isn't the only thing needed for proficient reading, but if a student can't lift those words off the page, how can they begin to comprehend? Students need to be taught the big 5 of reading (phonological awareness, phonics, vocabulary, comprehension and fluency) EVERY DAY in a systematic and explicit way. Language skills are absolutely needed as well.. We are born to speak, not read. The SOR does not focus on phonics exclusively. Look up Scarborough's reading rope to see all the skills needed for proficient reading. This is what teachers need to know and how to teach reading effectively.

[@markglenn9936]

@@tamiadkison9700 Students learn to read by reading. Phonics slows down the process of reading. Reading without comprehension is worthless. Phonics teaches "Barking at Print".

[@tamiadkison9700]

@@markglenn9936 If you can’t read the words, you can’t comprehend text. Reading is not a natural process like speaking. It has to be explicitly and systematically taught. There are kids that can learn to read whole words, but a majority have to be taught to decode. If reading was as easy as you say, we wouldn’t have the reading crisis we have in this country!

[@juliafraa6419]

@Mark Glenn comprehension can't happen until you can actually read the words which for most does not happen without explicit phonics instruction. You need to decode the words, eventually get faster with that and have enough vocabulary and understanding of language to understand what the words mean. Then you have comprehension.

[@nidhishshivashankar4885]

@@markglenn9936 your argument is basically that because a car can’t go without wheels a go kart engine must be just as good as a Ferrari engine as long as it’s connected to tires

[@rc-r104]

A good teacher will always use ALL useful strategies to individualize for each child. Don't get me started on the negative impacts of NCLB...

[@melissahostetter6921]

No...unfortunately cognitive science tells us that our brains do not read by pictures or context. We are always decoding. "All" strategies do not lead to reading. Check out Dr. Mark Seidenberg's book, Language at the Speed of Sight for more information. Best, Melissa

[@ishathakor]

yeah, but "pictures and context" are not useful strategies. if i write some nonsense like cake baton grackle dermabrasion you can still read that even though there are no pictures and no context. good readers are able to decode words. eventually you get so good at decoding words that they are committed to memory and it becomes instantaneous. but the thing you're doing is still decoding. if i write a nonsense word like sparglebork, you would have to decode it first to sound it out. there is no context nor picture that can tell you what word that is. proponents of whole language, reading recovery, and other blended approaches always talk about the idea that people can learn words they didn't know by reading them in context. but this is completely different to learning to read. to be able to read, you need to be able to decode. learning new words is a natural part of learning a language that our brains are hardwired for. if you see a new word in context enough times, you will learn it eventually. this is just not true for reading. you have to learn phonics and that's it. there can be ways to make that phonics instruction more fun and manageable for students, and there should be a good amount of practice where they actually use the phonics rules they've learnt to read whatever is available at that level. but it's still all phonics.

[@kimhartwig7253]

Where can teachers get the SOR training?

[@BrainWorksOR]

Look up the LETRS training by Voyager Sopris West. It was written by Dr. Luisa Moats

[@renzcruzmabalatan2225]

factual and informational thank you

[@vishalshah9785]

Any phonix website or stuff available?

[@juliashayto322]

There's the website Phonics and Stuff.

[@Lokeshgowda2023]

🎉🎉🎉

[@gorillashop337]

Balanced Literacy if it’s not broken, let’s break it 😂

[@ashleyching5786]

15% cannot read well enough to fill out a job application

[@ashleyching5786]

Structured phonics

[@ashleyching5786]

(Not balanced literacy)

[@charcieply3392]

Before committing to a "structured" phonics program encouraged by Melissa Hostetter, please read about her educational and professional background. She is currently a trainee in the MSLE (Multisensory Structured Language Education) Practioner program through the Children's Dyslexia Center of Springfield. While "structured" phonics programs are beneficial for children with an identified learning disability, do we really want all students taught phonics as if they have a reading disability? Instead, I would encourage educators to consider a "systematic" word study approach for phonics, vocabulary, and spelling instruction using the resource, "Words Their Way" by Donald R. Bear, Marcia Invernizzi, Shane Templeton, and Francine Johnston. Simply put, "Words Their Way" provides "systematic" phonics instruction through Word Sort activities. Word Sort is a hands-on categorization task in which students decode, recognize, and spell words. Word Sorting takes phonics instruction and spelling to a "thinking level," rather than just a memorization task. Here is just one example of why I value Word Sort as an instructional practice for phonics: 90% of 3rd grade students made at least one year's growth on the Schlagal Spelling Inventory. Of those 90%, 25% made two years' growth, and 10% made three years' growth. Those students not making a whole year's growth, moved from a Frustration Level to an Instructional Level on the Schlagal Spelling Inventory. The last thing we need is our politicians mandating that students be taught phonics through a "structured" approach.

[@melissahostetter6921]

Hi there. I have used Words their Way to teach. So much work for the teacher. The sorts…. At the end of the day, the data tells the story. We need to change something, right? Last I checked, no child was ever hurt by the teaching of phonics. 😀

[@tamiadkison9700]

Why not teach in a way that benefits ALL students? Yes, some students will learn to read regardless of how you teach it, but if there's a way to benefit your entire class, why would you not use it? You then differentiate your instruction in your small groups. The point is, teachers are not taught how to effectively teach reading in college and that is an issue. What we're doing now is obviously not working, so something has to change!

[@vm4890]

I agree! Thank you for explaining the background of this speaker. I feel that too often students are diagnosed with dyslexia and autism by those who test in house and use the term loosely. A disability needs to be diagnosed by a licensed medical provider.

[@melissahostetter6921]

@@vm4890 Yes, a stranger truly knows my background. I do not diagnose dyslexia nor does anyone that is not a licensed psychologist. I love it when people who are not in the field become experts.

[@juliafraa6419]

There are many programs for systematic phonics instruction.

[@dariuswilson4409]

I wonder how that phonics instruction those 4th graders were missing was handled? I feel like Science Of Reading is a movement being pushed down teachers throats, not as a result of insufficient scores or adequate research but as a way to corner the market on early literacy. There indeed is not one silver bullet that guarantees a child to be literate and I don’t think any former ideology on early literacy instruction presented itself as such, let alone ignored teaching phonics with a structured and systematic approach. I do not teach my students to remember sight words. I don’t think anyone should. You have to begin with teaching phonemes, manipulating, segmenting, and blending. That’s quality structured and systematic phonics instruction, isn’t it? Assuming that I child will remember is in realistic and if they don’t know, teach them. At some point they will have to learn those words, but I have yet to understand what makes the science of reading vastly different and effective from similar approaches to early literacy that aren’t shaming other educators for using a more comprehensive approach that includes phonics but is not making it the end all be all.

[@nidhishshivashankar4885]

Uh, teaching somebody how to actually read (by translating characters into sound) would in fact be the definition of a silver bullet for illiteracy

[@masnomas2020]

Gracias, Thank you, Merci, ... who follow me?

[@josephbergs7814]

What languages do you speak?

[@DJSTOEK]

😷🖤💀

[@funkdrunk]

1:45 "we are not hardwired to read"? No wonder the idea is slow to take off! Thousands of kids learn to read on their own every year. The only difference between speech and reading is motivation. If kids just really wanted, they would need no teachers, no phonics, no classes, no school and no boredom of it all! This TED talk starts with pseudoscience!

[@redclayscholar620]

If that were true then illiteracy wouldn't exist. It isn't a problem of motivation. Toddlers can mimic words and use them to communicate things like "blanket" or "toy" but they are not hardwired to read even the most simple words. Reading is a learned skill and children that do not learn it will avoid being put in the uncomfortable position of trying to read without the ability to understand and avoid it altogether. What you suggested is nonsense and isn't backed up by anything.

[@funkdrunk]

@@redclayscholar620 If there is no motivation to read, there will be no natural learning to read. That motivation never shows up in toddlers (unlike the motivation to speak). "Thousands of kids learn to read on their own every year". That's proof enough.

[@WhhhhhhjuuuuuH]

Reading is associating meaning with things you see and hear in world it is just as natural as learning what your parents look like or what chocolate cake is. none of these are unnatural ​@@redclayscholar620

[@ishathakor]

we AREN'T hardwired to read. reading is a skill that requires explicit instruction for MOST children. it's like saying we aren't hardwired to drive a car. the human brain is wonderfully adaptable and we're able to pick up new skills and become so good at them that it feels like second nature to us. to anyone who is a fluent reader, reading is as natural as talking and breathing. but it's still a skill you have to learn. try learning a foreign language like this. one you don't already know the script for. if you try to learn to talk this way it'll be frustrating but you'll figure it out after a few months. if i dropped you in rural japan where no one spoke english, you would be able to learn to speak japanese. but you would not be able to learn to read it unless someone taught you.

[@funkdrunk]

@@ishathakor "We are not hardwire to read" was supposed to mean, we have no neural circuitry to learn to read on our own. This is patently false. All healthy people have it, and all healthy people will learn on their own as long as they have (1) need and (2) access to printed matter. Your interpretation seems to be "we are not born with reading skills imprinted", which should rather be obvious. Implicit instruction in 2024 does more damage than good. It discourages kids.

[@prosodiclearning]

woddfaloaddacoddswallop ! Let me teach you ABOUT LANGUAGE AND LITERACY

[@sharinaross1865]

Go talk to someone..go act it out. Drive to school zone.

[@robinphilbrick7655]

WHEN? Yes, WHEN will the educational "experts" acknowlege that there is no SINGLE way to teach reading. We ALL know about phonics. Not just you, Melissa! And we all know that a "sight vocab" so-called is an integral part of the learning to read process. And context is quite important, don't you think? And how about the development of a "Love for reading"? Not much sign of enthusiasm for reading in this TED talk, to be sure! This Ted Talk should never have been presented! What's needed is a "balanced" approach to the teaching of reading, using the HUGE STRENGTHS of each of the above techniques and areas! And more! And, for heaven's sake, please . . . PLEASE sound a whole lot more ENTHUSIASTIC about the importance of reading in life yesterday, today, tomorrow than this presentation by Melissa suggests. And, PLEASE don't do what Melissa is talking about here. It'll put too many children off reading! Just a thought!

[@melissahostetter24]

@Molly Woodworth Thank you, Molly!

[@kelso365]

I'd rather my children be in a class with a teacher that keeps up to date with current research about how the brain acquires the skill of reading and how best to help children acquire that skill than a teacher who thinks their personal experience with teaching reading the way they were taught to teach reading 30 years ago (or teaches the way a commercial program their school bought 30 years ago taught them to teach) works better than what the research tells us. Teaching reading is brain surgery - teachers are literally facilitating changes to a child's brain so that the connections between the parts of the brain humans have co-opted to use for reading are formed robustly. Imagine choosing between a well-read brain surgeon who has kept abreast of what advances in technology and research have to say on the matter and a brain surgeon who refuses to pay attention to research and insists that the way she has been performing brain surgery all these years is correct, despite it being proved to cause lifelong damage to her patients' brains. I know which surgeon I'd choose - it's science and research for me every time.

[@tamiadkison9700]

​@Molly Woodworth YES..to everything you said!! There are ways for teachers to share the beauty of reading while students are learning the critical skills they need. Teachers should read aloud every day. They should read text that is rich in content and help students make the connection that the skills they are learning today will help them read and understand those text on their own.

[@victoriap6836]

@Molly Woodworth Do you know what balanced literacy is? It's teaching the 5 pillars of reading (Phonics, Fluency, vocabulary, comprehension, phonemic awareness). Phonics is taught in a systematic way, but before that occurs students strengthen their phonetic awareness so when they finally attach the sound to a letter, it is easy or them to decode.

[@catcatcatcathellocat]

Not being able to read puts students off of reading. Your toxic positivity leads to iliteracy.

[@cpnlsn88]

Phonics is a strange cult