The Reading Mind: A Cognitive Approach to Understanding How the Mind Reads

I ordered this book after reading 'Why Don't Students Like School'. I was not disappointed. This is a highly readable and informative review of how we read. At the start of the book, Willingham suggests that this is not a book about how children learn to read but as an English teacher and I found it impossible to read this without thinking about the implications for my own classroom practice. It would, in fact, be an excellent book for someone training to teach English.

I found this book fascinating. Probably most of use to those in education, especially those responsible for the teaching of reading, but I think this would appeal to anyone who loves reading and is interested in knowing why and how their passion came to be. A psychologist perspective but very accessible to a layperson. Well worth a read. I loved it.

An interesting books for the general reader, this is perhaps of more use and relevance to the professional literacy teacher. I recognised a number of my own traits and gained an insight into the cognitive processes (and misfires) that affect the pleasure of reading and one's capability..

I have learnt so much from this book. Fascinating.

This is a brilliant book for making anyone think about the cognitive process of reading. As a teacher it reminded me of so many things that I take for granted but that students may be struggling with. Great book

Dan Willingham is the consummate research / writer. He makes complex topics, such as cognition and psychology accessible. The Reading Mind is no different. Scrupulously research, Willingham walks the reader through all the building blocks of reading. He relates what everyone in education knows: reading is simply vital for success and perhaps the master skill of all learning. The chapter structure is helpful and adds to the readability.

Have just started to read this and it seems very interesting. As a teacher for children with additional needs it is going to be useful to understand the cognitive science behind reading skills. The 3 stars are given because there are pencil notes written throughout the book and when I contacted the seller (We Buy Books) they said it was now too late to investigate according to their policy.

Extremely well written book that has greatly expanded my understanding of what reading is all about. It also seems to have helped me take reading more seriously and be more persistent when it comes to getting through a book. I'm very thankful for this book and I'd recommend it to anyone who needs to understand the mechanics of reading skills. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED! AAA+++

O conteúdo do livro atendeu às expectativas.

Simple enough to follow, scientific enough that you actually learn new things. Read this book in two days and highlighted the hell out of it! I strongly recommend this book to anyone who has basic knowledge of the processes behind reading and would want to learn more about it.

Unbelievable piece of work! The book really opens up ones eyes to the the exact breakdown of how reading actually occurs in the brain, how we read, the comprehension of those words, why it is we use words for our language and not other methods (such as drawling's), how we piece such words together to make sentiences that we are able to understand, distinguish the difference between what makes a sophisticated reader vs a challenged reader, learn how one is able to become a better reader and discover the breakdown for exactly how ones brain is able to accomplish such an amazing feat. The takeaway from the reading of this book is a very comprehensive grasp of all needed to know information on such a topic, there also deserves to be a mention of appreciation to the author for the fact that what could, to some people seem like a dry read, is of actually complete opposite nature. The book is heavy with insightful knowledge that'll, from time to time make you go "Wow, i had no idea" and successfully, was able to pack a more than reasonably sized book with newly learned knowledge on almost every other page. Its a refreshing subject to learn and one that can really bring a new demotion of understanding and appreciation to just truly how sophisticated the process of reading and our comprehension on the subject matter really is.

First, I must commend the author and publisher for a superbly well-organized book. The seven chapters, introduction, and conclusion clearly present a variety of topics related to reading. Willingham uses a multitude of examples and simple diagrams to support his arguments, along with many references and an index. Each chapter is followed by a summary of the points made, the implications of those points, and questions to ponder and discuss. The text is nicely laid out on the page, with chapter headings and captions in red, a nice touch. The book is easy to read (as one would hope!). Academic jargon is avoided, and when used it's clearly explained. My only issue with this book is an apparent conflict between what it promises and what it delivers. Willingham opens the book with an anecdote about reading E.L. Doctorow's novel Billy Bathgate on an airplane. He quotes a paragraph from that novel and refers to it several times in the course of this book to illustrate how a reader's mind processes text. In the introduction, he states: "I aim to describe how an experienced reader reads, not how a novice learns." That is exactly what I was hoping to learn about by reading this book, but unfortunately it's not entirely true. Much of the material is in fact about how people, mainly children, learn to read, and how that may be improved. The chapter titled "Reading Comprehension" does discuss reading by experienced readers. I learned some interesting things about how readers comprehend text at the sentence and paragraph level. This chapter whetted my appetite for more: for example, are some words more or less effective for comprehension? How does reading fiction differ from reading nonfiction? Unfortunately, the final two chapters and conclusion focus largely on reading in the educational milieu. It's unfair to complain that an author omits topics they never intended to include in a book, but given Willingham's statement of intention in the introduction, I was somewhat disappointed. I'm sure this book would be of use to educators and others interested in how the mind learns to read.

Of all the thinkers out there working to improve how education gets done, none is more important than Dan Willingham. There are all kinds of these thinkers/writers, of course, covering all kinds of publishing territory: ed-reform experts frothing over things like accountability systems and school choice, 'teacher voices elevating' from classrooms to say...erm...not all that much (beyond, of course, that teaching is hard), reporters--often without experience in ed (just sayin')--jumping up to point out this year's Thing That Will Change Everything, and the like. Through all these characters and the various axes they're grinding, Willingham remains trained on the single matter all in education should be most concerned about: how people learn--and REALLY how people learn, not what some 19th-century philosopher theorized about how people learn or what some tech provider would love for u$ to believe about how learning i$ evolving or whatever. And as how people really learn will always be at the center of the educational pursuit (would you take your car to a mechanic, for instance, who wasn't real clear about how cars work?), I'm always thankful when Willingham throws another book into the world. 'The Reading Mind' is yet another Willingham triumph. (Alongside Mark Seidenberg's 'Language at the Speed of Sight' and Doug Lemov's 'Reading Reconsidered' of the past year or so, in fact, 2016-17 may have produced a perfect evidence-supported resource set for your school team's re-education around reading.) Though Willingham kicks off the book by saying its foremost purpose is not to be about how people learn to read (but, rather, to describe the processes behind how experienced readers read), there's more important content here for teachers than can be found in most teacher-training programs, NCTE publications, or district-level professional departments put together. Having read Willingham's books and other writings for close to 10 years now, I was familiar with several principles and references shared in 'The Reading Mind' already but still found many useful and applicable pieces. I appreciated especially the details about vocabulary learning ('Words, Words, Words', ch 4), the ideas about reading and one's self-concept ('Becoming a Reader', ch 6), and all the measured (and myth-shattering) responses to the ed-technophiles ('Reading After the Digital Revolution', ch 7). Though far from a how-to manual for classrooms, the types of insights Willingham packages here would be a useful filter through which to send teachers' current practices/assignments/expectations/messages to check for evidence-alignment. I can only imagine that such professional learning would have profound impacts on kids' outcomes and teachers' satisfaction. Oh, and bonus? It's funny. Try it, I know you'll agree.