Teaching Today the Readers of Tomorrow

Abstract

The purpose of this chapter is to provide valuable instructional approaches to meet the different learning needs of boys and girls in reading. The effective literacy instructional approaches addressed here are the result of the strategic combination of relevant research contributions from diverse fields in education such as neuroscience, cognitive psychology and well-known literacy organizations. Neuroscience has shed light to understand how the brain learns so that we can develop teaching practices aligned to brain-based learning. Cognitive psychology allows us to explain gender differences that explain why boys and girls think, communicate, and behave differently. Significant studies completed by the Early Literacy Reading Panel, the National Research Council, and the National Reading Panel, inform us about the essential components of literacy instruction and when these should be taught. The compilation of these solid research-findings inform the how, why, what, and when of effective literacy instruction so that we can design early intervention programs and a variety of instructional approaches that can successfully address reading motivation and literacy achievement in boys and girls. Therefore, using this research-based information to teach today the readers of tomorrow certainly becomes an educational challenge.