Word Reading, Reading Comprehension, and Working Memory
This workshop is part of the four-day literacy institute, The Strategic Classroom: Bridging Literacy and Executive Function. Join us for this individual workshop — or mix and match days and half-days — to build a personalized experience, or join the full institute.
Building on Day 1’s executive functioning framework, this session takes a deeper look at how working memory impacts word reading and comprehension — and how cognitive load can mask true reading difficulty. You’ll gain a toolkit of before, during, and after reading scaffolds, including graphic organizers, annotation strategies, and discussion protocols, and questioning techniques to support students in managing complex texts while strengthening decoding and meaning-making. Leave with an understanding of digital tools like Google NotebookLM, MindMeister, Immersive Reader, Quizlet, and SchoolAi to support every learner. In the afternoon, in-person attendees use a grade-level text to design and create classroom-ready graphic organizers and templates that maintain rigor while reducing cognitive overload.
Key Learning Objectives:
- understand the role of working memory in reading and how it affects both decoding and comprehension
- identify the cognitive load demands of complex texts
- learn and apply scaffolds that reduce cognitive overload before, during, and after reading tasks
- strengthen instructional approaches that support automaticity in word reading
- explore virtual tools like Google NotebookLM, MindMeister, Immersive Reader, Quizlet, and SchoolAi to support planning and increase student independence
- utilize templates to design reading experiences that support students’ cognitive capacity while maintaining rigor
