Components of the Reading Rope: Verbal Reasoning
Verbal reasoning is one of the eight strands of Scarborough’s reading rope. It refers to a student’s ability to make sense of spoken and written words. Within the reading rope, it is part of the larger strand of comprehension and contributes, along with the other strands, to a student’s growth into a skilled reader. What […]
Components of the Reading Rope: Language Structure
Language structure, one of the eight “strands“ of Scarborough’s reading rope, consists of a complex set of rules and conventions. These conventions allow us to communicate with one another verbally and in writing. Put simply, students need to develop an understanding of the structure of the English language as they are learning how to read. […]
Components of the Reading Rope: Background Knowledge
Hollis Scarborough’s “Reading Rope” theory has been a hot topic in the world of literacy. If you listen to the Science of Reading podcast, you’re probably already familiar with Scarborough’s reading rope: a visual representation of all of the skills involved in reading. One of these skills is background knowledge. Background knowledge is everything a child […]
Strategies for Tackling Complex Text
Kids often have a hard time navigating the difficult texts they have to tackle in middle school and high school. Between complex ideas and challenging language, these readings can feel impenetrable. That’s why Braintrust CEO and Co-Founder, Mara Koffmann, was so excited to speak with Alexis Ulaj about strategies for supporting students through these types […]
How to Improve Reading Comprehension
Are you familiar with the struggle of reading the same page over and over again without making sense of it? So are lots of kids. Even those who are easily able to decode words sometimes struggle with reading comprehension. And while there isn’t any systematic, skill–based curriculum out there that focuses exclusively on comprehension, there […]
How to Talk to Your Kids About the Books They Read
Many parents have a go-to list of questions to ask their kids after they’ve finished a book. “What was your favorite part?” and “Who was your favorite character?” are some of the most popular. And while engaging kids in this type of reflection after they read is great, there are so many more ways to […]
How Kids Learn How to Read
As children learn to read, the world around them takes on a whole new dimension; signs become meaningful, directions become clearer, and stories and books offer an entirely new world of fantasy, adventure, and discovery. While your child will receive great instruction in school, there are fun, simple ways to reinforce those lessons at home […]
Chunking Text to Develop Reading Fluency
Many students face obstacles when developing reading fluency. Once they’ve mastered phonics rules and spelling patterns, they often become stuck. They have been in the habit of reading single words at a time, and habits are hard to break. They are able to read longer sentences, but they do so in a way that is […]
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