The five pillars of effective reading instruction, also referred to as the Big Ideas of the National Reading Panel, include:

What is the difference between phonological awareness and phonemic awareness?

The cortical surface of the brain (cortex) can be divided into two hemispheres: left and right. The left hemisphere is primarily responsible for ________________ processing, while the right hemisphere is primarily responsible for ________________ processing.

The three lobes of the brain wired for input/reception are: the occipital lobe, the parietal lobe, and the temporal lobe. The ________________ lobe processes auditory information. The ________________ lobe processes visual information. The ________________ lobe processes propriosensory information (perception of movement and orientation) and spatial information.

The prefrontal cortex (frontal lobe) is programmed for output. If this area of the brain is strong, then an individual will typically have skills in the following areas:

At the back of the brain, where the occipital (visual) lobe meets the temporal (auditory) lobe, is the ventral occipital-temporal region. This is where whole word forms are stored. This part of the brain is often referred to as the brain’s ________________ or ________________.

________________ is located in the superior temporal cortex (where the temporal lobe meets the parietal lobe). It is involved in understanding letter-sound association. This is the most important part of the brain for the acquisition of phonemic and phonological processing skills.

Toward the back of the frontal lobe is ________________. This area of the brain is involved with processing expressive language.

Learning to speak and to understand oral language is a natural process. Learning to read is NOT a natural process because…

“Dyslexic brains can repair themselves!” True or False?