Welcome to Reading Science Insights: Unraveling the Literacy Puzzle. your gateway to local professional learning on the science of reading aligned to Governor DeWine's Read Ohio initiative. Our quarterly newsletter serves as an information hub on upcoming learning opportunities within the State Support Team 6, the latest news from the Department of Education and Work, inspiration aligned to literacy for teachers and leaders, and resources aligned to best practice literacy instruction. In future releases, we would like to address questions you have and highlight partner schools in their work aligned to the Science of Reading. We look forward to navigating this journey with you.

Background knowledge, one component of Scarborough's Rope, is crucial for reading comprehension at all age levels for a few key reasons:

• It provides context and a frame of reference. When reading something new, we naturally try to connect it to what we already know. Background knowledge gives us that prior framework to hook new concepts and ideas onto. Without some pre-existing knowledge, new information can be very hard to interpret and make sense of.
• It aids in making inferences. Often texts do not explicitly state everything. Readers need to read between the lines and make educated guesses or inferences based on implications in the text. Background knowledge enables us to make these inferences by giving us a bank of experience and information to draw from.
• It allows us to visualize descriptions. When texts describe people, places, events, etc. background knowledge allows us to picture and imagine those descriptions more vividly mentally. This visualization, in turn, leads to better comprehension.
• It expands vocabulary understanding. Knowing vocabulary words' meanings is aided tremendously by having experience with those words in context. Background knowledge provides contextual experience to support vocabulary learning.
• It helps relate new ideas to old ideas. As we learn, we build "schema" in our mind, frameworks of associated concepts and ideas related to a topic. Linking new information to old schema helps us integrate and retain the new knowledge.
  

Science of Reading: The Podcast

Hosted by Susan Lambert, this podcast focuses on evidence-based reading instruction and the science behind how children learn to read. Lambert interviews researchers, teachers, authors, and others with expertise in the science of reading. The goal is to bridge the gap between research and practice to improve reading instruction.

Read Alouds for All Learners by Molly Ness.

In Read Alouds for All Learners: A Comprehensive Plan for Every Subject, Every Day, Grades PreK–8, Molly Ness, supported by current research and personal experiences, demonstrates the sobering effect an absence of read-alouds in classrooms has on preK–8 students’ comprehension skills. She provides intentional directions on planning and implementing a read-aloud routine that supports young learners’ literacy development, content-area knowledge, social-emotional learning, and academic achievement. I just heard this text referenced in the Science of Reading Podcast Season 8, Episode 2, and I am looking forward to diving into this text myself.

The Center for Reading Science

The Center for Reading Science includes a plethora of information and resources at all levels. The purpose of the Center for Reading Science is to support educators in implementing the science of reading in their classrooms and communities. You can navigate the center through its three project areas: Higher Education, K-12, and Preschool. This resource is a bit of an iceberg as it includes layers of professional learning and resources.