A Map to the Magic of Reading Stop for a moment and wonder: what's happening in your brain right now—as you read this paragraph? How much do you know about the innumerable and amazing connections that your mind is making as you, in a flash, make sense of this request? Why does it matter? The Reading Mind is a brilliant, beautifully crafted, and accessible exploration of arguably life's most important skill: reading. Daniel T. Willingham, the bestselling author of Why Don't Students Like School?, offers a perspective that is rooted in contemporary cognitive research. He deftly describes the incredibly complex and nearly instantaneous series of events that occur from the moment a child sees a single letter to the time they finish reading. The Reading Mind explains the fascinating journey from seeing letters, then words, sentences, and so on, with the author highlighting each step along the way. This resource covers every aspect of reading, starting with two fundamental processes: reading by sight and reading by sound. It also addresses reading comprehension at all levels, from reading for understanding at early levels to inferring deeper meaning from texts and novels in high school. The author also considers the undeniable connection between reading and writing, as well as the important role of motivation as it relates to reading. Finally, as a cutting-edge researcher, Willingham tackles the intersection of our rapidly changing technology and its effects on learning to read and reading. Every teacher, reading specialist, literacy coach, and school administrator will find this book invaluable. Understanding the fascinating science behind the magic of reading is essential for every educator. Indeed, every "reader" will be captivated by the dynamic but invisible workings of their own minds.

Grade Level: 4-5 CCSS Level: 2-5 Fluency is a key component of reading comprehension, and these ready-to-use activities provide plenty of practice in both speed and comprehension. 14 short, high-interest stories will capture students' attention while they race the clock to improve their reading speed. After reading students show their comprehension through short-answer questions and cloze sentences. Turn the stories into timed reading exercises to get students to read at a faster pace! Students can read the story then record the amount of time it took them to read, or set a time limit and track how far they got. End-of-line word counts make it quick and easy to figure the number of words read. A great way to improve reading confidence as well as overall comprehension! 48 pages.

Discover the essential thinking tools you’ve been missing with The Great Mental Models series by Shane Parrish, New York Times bestselling author and the mind behind the acclaimed Farnam Street blog and “The Knowledge Project” podcast. This first book in the series is your guide to learning the crucial thinking tools nobody ever taught you. Time and time again, great thinkers such as Charlie Munger and Warren Buffett have credited their success to mental models–representations of how something works that can scale onto other fields. Mastering a small number of mental models enables you to rapidly grasp new information, identify patterns others miss, and avoid the common mistakes that hold people back. The Great Mental Models: Volume 1, General Thinking Concepts shows you how making a few tiny changes in the way you think can deliver big results. Drawing on examples from history, business, art, and science, this book details nine of the most versatile, all-purpose mental models you can use right away to improve your decision making and productivity. This book will teach you how to: Avoid blind spots when looking at problems. Find non-obvious solutions. Anticipate and achieve desired outcomes. Play to your strengths, avoid your weaknesses, … and more. The Great Mental Models series demystifies once elusive concepts and illuminates rich knowledge that traditional education overlooks. This series is the most comprehensive and accessible guide on using mental models to better understand our world, solve problems, and gain an advantage.

Grade Level: 4-5 CCSS Level: 2-5 Fluency is a key component of reading comprehension, and these ready-to-use activities provide plenty of practice in both speed and comprehension. 14 short, high-interest stories will capture students' attention while they race the clock to improve their reading speed. After reading students show their comprehension through short-answer questions and cloze sentences. Turn the stories into timed reading exercises to get students to read at a faster pace! Students can read the story then record the amount of time it took them to read, or set a time limit and track how far they got. End-of-line word counts make it quick and easy to figure the number of words read. A great way to improve reading confidence as well as overall comprehension! 48 pages.

We’ve been teaching reading wrong—a leading cognitive scientist tells us how we can finally do it right

Devised by the man recorded in Guinness as the world's fastest reader--80 pages per minutes--this is the only program that combines the most up-to-date learning techniques and psychological discoveries with proven speed-reading methods and ancient tools like meditation to significantly improve both reading speed and comprehension.