Back in 2014, when I started this blog, I was a primary school teacher with a special interest in science education. I thought that reading scientific texts would help pupils learn more science – that’s why I called this blog “readingforlearning”. But maybe I got that the wrong way around: does knowing more scientific knowledge help you become a better reader? Or is it both? We’ve got a chicken or the egg situation!
What we need is a longitudinal study – one that measures scientific knowledge and reading comprehension over several years. It should be able to answer the question: is early science knowledge a better predictor of later reading ability or is early reading comprehension skill a better predictor of later scientific knowledge?
Here is that study: Hwang, McMaster and Kendeou: A Longitudinal Investigation of Directional Relations Between Domain Knowledge and Reading in the Elementary Years
The authors cleverly show that early science knowledge is a better predictor later reading ability than the other way around.
In other words, when you teach scientific knowledge in the Early Years and Key Stage 1 you are also teaching reading.
Ben
Reading for Learning 