9. Unraveling Scarborough’s Reading Rope: Language Comprehension

Literacy in Color: A Science of Reading Aligned Podcast for Educators

Join me as we explore the Language Comprehension side of Scarborough’s Reading Rope, a critical yet often under-discussed component in the Science of Reading. While Word Recognition gets much of the spotlight, Language Comprehension is equally vital for developing skilled readers. We’ll unpack the five strands of this half of the rope—Background Knowledge, Vocabulary, Language Structures, Verbal Reasoning, and Literacy Knowledge—and discuss how they work together to foster deep reading comprehension.

Five Strands of Language Comprehension:

• Background Knowledge
• Vocabulary
• Language Structures
• Verbal Reasoning
• Literacy Knowledge

Related Episodes:

• Episode 7: Unraveling Scarborough’s Rope: Word Recognition

Resources Mentioned:

• The Simple View of Reading (from Reading Rockets)
• Scarborough’s Reading Rope (from Really Great Reading)
• The Reading Comprehension Blueprint by Nancy Hennessy
• Shifting the Balance for Grades 3-5 by Katie Egan Cunningham, Jan Burkins and Kari Yates

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