Daniel T. Willingham

This book contains an overview of cognitive models of the different tasks involved in reading. The strength of this book is its clarity. Each chapter is focused and well structured to make it easy to understand the key points. Each chapter opens with an agenda for that chapter and ends with a summary and implications. The separation of the summary and implications highlights another strength of the books: Willingham's careful separation of what we know from research and ways that can be applied, e.g., in the classroom.

On the theoretical side, the tasks involved in reading are letter recognition, translating letters to sounds, translating sounds to words, figuring out the meanings of words, connecting the meanings of words to extract the meanings of sentences, of sentences to get the meaning of passages, and extracting ideas to get an overall sense of a text. The common theme among these is that at all levels, reading is a statistical process. We see information and it activates an information network. Identification is accomplished when one option is sufficiently more strongly activated than the rest. This is especially interesting in the context of word meanings. We do not represent words with concrete meanings. Rather words/concepts are connected with each other and the strength of connections define words.

On the practical side, the most important tool for improving all of the tasks involved in reading is to do more reading, especially in ways that encourage positive emotional attitudes. This may make improving reading skills seem like a hopeless, circular task. However, Willingham presents some ways of kickstarting the cycle. We can provide opportunities to read for utility (e.g., if kids are interested in pets or cooking, encourage them to read about the topic). We can also encourage positive associations with reading, e.g., bedtime reading, books as gifts, and reading as a family value.

Overall, this was a good read, despite the occasional flow-impacting meta that comes from reading a book about reading. :-)… (més)

As a novice teacher, reading this book has been cathartic for me in many ways. It cemented ideas I've gained through my extremely short experience as a teacher, and introduced me to concepts I wasn't familiar with.
Judging from the title alone, I expected the book to center around class management or to address the shortcomings of the educational system. None of that is mentioned in the book. The book chiefly deals with cognitive skills and how to nurture them in learners. In fact, it talks in general about how our mind works. So that makes the book accessible to anyone who's interested in learning more about thinking, memory and the necessity of background knowledge when trying to solve any problem or think critically about a given situation. It doesn't get too technical either.

The author's writing style is simple and he tends to use humour, so that made reading this book very enjoyable to me.… (més)

Significance
Through the expertise of a cognitive scientists, this work dispels many of the myths surrounding how we learn (including remembering) and shows practical ways to improve learning. I haven't seen a book quite like it.

Artwork/Writing/Narrative/Organization
* Clear writing with many examples.
* Relevant and clear illustrations.
* Very well organized.
* Easy-going authorial voice organized in a story-like narrative (he practices what he preaches)

Personal Notes
As a parent of an elementary school child, I'm deeply invested in optimizing her learning. In spite of the fact that science is constantly--and rapidly--evolving, this book is a big step towards concrete ways to improve your child's learning--as well as educational systems in general.

Interestingly, the author writes:

"The human mind seems exquisitely tuned to understand and remember stories--so much that psychologists sometimes refer to stories as 'psychologically privileged."

Need I say more?… (més)