Teaching the Brain to Read

Strategies for Improving Fluency, Vocabulary, and Comprehension

Judy Willis, M.D.

Narrated by Rosemary Benson

Available from Audible

Book published by ASCD

Reading comes easily to some students, but many struggle with some part of this complex process that requires many areas of the brain to operate together through an intricate network of neurons.

As a classroom teacher who has also worked as a neurologist, Judy Willis offers a unique perspective on how to help students not only learn the mechanics of reading and comprehension, but also develop a love of reading. She shows the importance of establishing a nonthreatening environment and provides teaching strategies that truly engage students and help them Build phonemic awareness; Manipulate patterns to improve reading skills; Improve reading fluency; Combat the stress and anxiety that can inhibit reading fluency; Increase vocabulary; Overcome reading difficulties that can interfere with comprehension.

By enriching your understanding of how the brain processes language, emotion, and other stimuli, this book will change the way you understand and teach reading skills, and help all your students become successful readers.

Judy Willis, M.D. is a board-certified neurologist and middle school teacher in Santa Barbara, California. Her first book, Research Based Strategies to Ignite Student Learning, was published by ASCD in 2006, and her second book, Brain-Friendly Strategies for the Inclusion Classroom, followed in 2007.