for the love of reading (and writing)

ankowski winter 2025

why are jokes beneficial in growing language and cognitive skills?

Understanding that words have multiple meanings is important to understanding jokes AND comprehending text

what is the developmental time course of jokes?

0-2: slapstick comedy that is overt and primarily action-based

2: ridiculous statements as basic jokes

3: beginning to appreciate formulaic jokes (knock-knock)

4 and up: beginning to understand more nuanced aspects of words, like homonyms, synonyms, and words with multiple meanings

what are the benefits of humorous books on memory and learning?

• when reading humorous books together, families engage in higher-quality conversations with more complex ideas and more advanced vocabulary

• people of all ages remember things better when taught with humor

how is music and language related?

processing patterns in music and language have similar demands (learning a symbolic system) and activate overlapping brain regions

Moritz et al. (2013): music training & language skills

compared kindergarteners with intensive and less music training

children with more music exposure had better rhythm abilities, phonological awareness in kindergarten, and reading skills in 2nd grade

how can spelling be used before learning to read?

it can help teach reading because it requires choosing the right letters to represent the phones you hear in the word (strengthens knowledge of letters and letter sounds)

what are morphemes?

prefixes and suffixes

Jones et al. (2004): implicit egotism

the tendency to unconsciously prefer things that remind us of ourselves

benefits of first name talk

since a baby’s first name is the first word they comprehend, using a child’s first initial can be used to attract interest in letters

Treiman et al. (2015): first name talk

observed parents and children (ages 1-4) in conversations about letters

• conversations about letters beginning children’s names were longer than other letters

• parents who talked more about the first letter of their child’s name had children with greater kindergarten readiness

what are some weird words?

synonyms, antonyms, abbreviations, acronyms

Lever & Senechal (2011): dialogic reading & story knowledge

5 year old’s were tested on their ability to create a story from a wordless picture book after being in reading groups

• dialogic reading resulted in better structured stories with more mental state words

what is the development of writing?

drawing as writing: “picture power”

invented spelling: “kindergarten perfect”

what is being learned in early writing practice?

even when kids are scribbling, they are

• involved in the writing process

• learning the relationship between spoken & written language

• learning alphabetic principle

• learning the relationship between writing and reading

Longcamp et al. (2005): handwriting letters

children copied letters by hand or on a typewriter and handwriting showed better letter recognition