Reading: The Canary in the Mind

Maryanne Wolf loves words. She has a prestigious background in reading research, but it’s her use of words that betrays her true facination. She’s one of those people I would read no matter what she wrote about–dump trucks, ceiling fans, plastic.

Fortunately for me (and for you reading teacher!), she focuses on a topic that is both dear and relevant: reading. In her book Reader, Come Home, she reminds us how the reading brain works, how it can be altered by digital media, and how we can help our students (and ourselves) develop a reading life in a digital world.

The main premise of the book is this: our ability to read well is connected to our ability to think well, and our ability to think has implications for our personal lives, our children, and our society as a whole. In this way, the reading brain is the “canary in the mind”—when our reading suffers, our thinking suffers too.

While Wolf isn’t an alarmist, she finds reasons to be concerned about our capacity for deep reading in a world that values quick, easily-digested information. Expanding on the above quote, she points out that reading is no given, it’s something that can be lost. I loved the book–it’s led to some scrupulous note taking, soul searching, and conversations about how I can prepare my own children for life in a digital world.

This book isn’t a how-to or a program. Instead, it’s a series of letters meant to give us tools to address our historical moment. Wolf has theories about how to proceed, but it’s up to the reader to apply the principles she addresses in the book.

I thought I’d do a short blog series on some takeaways from the book, things that would be useful to any reading person, but especially useful to reading teachers and parents. Of course, nothing I say will match the scope of the book, so I hope you check it out.

Over the next few weeks, join me as we think through some of the topics in Reader, Come Home:

• Brain Plasticity
• Deep Reading
• Shallow Reading
• The Biliterate Brain
• Implications for Adults & Kids
• Reading as Contemplation

I’d love to hear your thoughts on these topics, and I’d especially love to hear how you’re addressing these topics in your classroom or home.

Keep in touch!