This is the third in a series of posts about Maryanne Wolf’s Reader, Come Home. You can read the introductory post and find links to other posts in the series here.
“It takes years for deep reading processes to be formed, and as a society we need to be…vigilant about their development in our young from a very early age. It takes daily vigilance by us, the expert readers of our society to choose to expend the extra milliseconds needed to maintain deep reading over time.”
-maryanne wolf, Reader, come home
Deep reading comes down to time. Do we contribute the time and focus necessary to understand an author’s argument, to be immersed in a story?
In Reader, Come Home, Wolf walks us through some brain research that details differences in deep and shallow reading. My main takeaway is that deep reading is immersive, and potentially transformative. We know what it’s like to be immersed in our reading, and we know what it’s like to read too quickly, without attention and without focus:
“Perhaps you have already noticed how the quality of your attention has changed the more you read on screens and digital devices. Perhaps you have felt a pang of something subtle that is missing when you seek to immerse yourself in a once favorite book.”
–Maryanne Wolf, Reader, Come Home
What is deep reading?
Wolf doesn’t give a succinct definition of deep reading, but says it involves forming images as we read (imagery), passing over into another’s perspective (empathy), integrating newly information into our background knowledge (internalized knowledge), analogical thought, inferential thought and critical analysis.
Deep reading employs all of these processes simultaneously and automatically while the reader is immersed in the text.
Now the question is, what difference does deep reading make for us, both as readers and as people?
Why is Deep Reading Important?
Wolf highlights several benefits of deep reading. Two stood out to me: our ability to build extensive background knowledge, and our ability to empathize.
Reading that is vast and deep allows us to stockpile knowledge. We use these internal “reservoirs of knowledge” (as opposed to external “servers of knowledge”) to understand and evaluate everything around us:
“..those who have read widely and well will have many resources to apply to what they read; those who do not will have less to bring, which, in turn, gives them less basis for inference, deduction and analogical thought…”
–Maryanne Wolf, Reader, Come Home
Background knowledge impacts how (and if) we integrate what we read into our lives:
“Absent the checks and balances provided by both our prior knowledge and our analytical processes, we run the risk of digesting information without questioning whether the quality or prioritization of the information available to us is accurate and free from external motivations and prejudices.”
–Maryanne Wolf, Reader, Come Home
As well as expanding our background knowledge, deep reading also expands our emotional and relational landscape. Deep reading facilitates a passing over into someone else’s mind and experience. This immersive experience can’t be found in shallow reading. Wolf discusses how the empathy we experience while reading is related to the empathy we experience in our everyday lives.
“Perspective taking not only connects our sense of empathy with what we have just read but also expands our internalized knowledge of the world.”
–Maryanne Wolf, Reader, Come Home
So…What Should We Do?
If you agree that deep reading is important for adults and kids alike, what should you do?
My takeaway is that the difference between deep and shallow reading (for adults) primarily comes down to time. Deep reading happens when we devote our attention to a text for a sustained period of time. It’s not about how many books you can speed through, it’s about sitting down with a book and giving it your full attention for as long as you can.
In classrooms, this means students have to be given time to read, and to read actual books (as opposed to testing passages or worksheet instructions). A teacher has little to no control over what students do outside of the classroom, so the first way to prioritize deep reading is to give students time to read at school.
Here’s a final quote from the book, and below I’ve listed resources for giving kids a structured reading time at home and school.
“Only if we continuously work to develop and use our complex analogical and inferential skills will the neural networks underlying them sustain our capacity to be thoughtful, critical analysts of knowledge, rather than passive consumers of information.”
Maryanne wolf, Reader, Come home
Looking to help students read deeply at school?
- Focus Daily Reading with a Prompt
- Build Stamina & Develop a Daily Reading Routine
- Facilitate Deep Reading through Reading Conferences
- A Free Prompt Sheet for Reading Conferences
Want to Help Kids Read at Home?
- Develop Read At Home Routines
- Reading In Quarantine (Routines and Digital Book List)
- At Home Reading Workshop
- 15 Questions to Ask Your Child About Their Reading
