WOODBURY- Reading is one of the hardest skills to learn. Over the centuries we have adapted and learned how to read but we are still figuring out how to teach it.
The main part of the brain that’s used to read is the temporal lobe. This portion of the brain is in charge of emotion regulation, sensory information processing, memory storage and retrieval, and language comprehension.
For NHS students, these critical brain functions are constantly being honed despite many students not having time to read for enjoyment.
“I’ve never really liked book reading or assigned reading,” said sophomore Bishop Aldrich. “I read articles and enjoy smaller bursts of micro learning rather than a book.”
At the end of 2024 The Atlantic published an eye opening article featuring Ivy League students who choose not to read books. Connecting to Nonnewaug lots of students can read but most chose not to. This leads to test scores and grades dropping. But this isn’t just a problem in NHS but rather an epidemic that plagues league’s readers nationally.
A lot of students’ challenges for reading started when they were in elementary school all based on how students were taught to read.
“When (NHS students) were in elementary school, you were told by your teachers to read with a partner or by yourselves,” Darcy Lockwood the reading specialist at Nonnewaug adds. “We found that kids weren’t learning and mostly were distracted.”
Other students might find reading not as complicated but run out of time in the day to read.
“I like reading,” sophomore Paloma Koemp said. “I don’t have much time because of sports and school. But I like it because it helps distract you from everything that’s going around you at that time.”
Tara Prescott, a kindergarten teacher at Bethlehem elementary school has been working with students in reading comprehension for the past 26 years. She has learned many different ways to help kids learn and be a better reader.
“I think the hardest thing, with the very young, when teaching them how to read, is helping them gain the confidence to take the risk and try to read,” Prescott said. “So often, the first thing they say to me is, ‘But I don’t know how to read.’ When children feel safe and loved, they will take the risk and try their best in their learning and reading.”
In 2019 Ohio State University performed a study on the effect reading to a child has and how it helps develop overall in their reading levels. The study showed that students who had parents that read to them at least five times a day, will lead to them hearing nearly 1.5 million more words by the time they turn five, than children who were not read to at all. This is known as the “million-word gap.”
“I sat with my kids, one on each side and read to them. We read Harry Potter, and a bunch of other books,” Deborah Flaherty, the Library Media specialist at NHS said. “Then my kids were reading way more on their own. My daughter could go through a book or more a day.”
Children who were read to frequently are also more likely to count to 20, writing their own names, and read on their own all faster than others.
“When we went to a full-day model in Kindergarten under the wonderful guidance of Dr. Robert Cronin,” Prescott said. “It finally gave us the time needed to dedicate to quality reading instruction. It enabled us to meet with students in small groups at the level they are reading at. It was not a “one size fits all” approach.”
Over the years Region 14 has adapted their ways of teaching reading to students with the understanding that reading, and its accompanying critical thinking skills, is critical for NHS students entering the world beyond campus.
“Now, thankfully, Region 14 has been a part of the shift toward “the science of reading.” Lockwood said. “We are making strides to align our teaching practices to what actually is scientifically known to be effective for the student.”
