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Discusses how visual tracking, neural bases of reading, and effective illustration-based storage support retrieval and language acquisition.",{"@graph":14,"@context":73},[15,34,56],{"@type":16,"itemListElement":17},"BreadcrumbList",[18,23,27,31],{"item":19,"name":20,"@type":21,"position":22},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",1,{"item":24,"name":25,"@type":21,"position":26},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":28,"name":29,"@type":21,"position":30},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/","Research & Report",3,{"item":32,"name":10,"@type":21,"position":33},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/the-power-of-secret-stories-constructing-mental-patterns-during-the-reading-writing-process/600812/",4,{"url":32,"name":10,"@type":35,"image":36,"author":41,"headline":10,"publisher":44,"fileFormat":47,"inLanguage":8,"description":12,"dateModified":48,"datePublished":49,"encodingFormat":47,"isAccessibleForFree":50,"interactionStatistic":51},"DigitalDocument",{"url":37,"@type":38,"width":39,"height":40},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/the-power-of-secret-stories-constructing-mental-patterns-during-the-reading-writing-process/600812.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":42,"@type":43},"dhado","Person",{"url":19,"name":45,"@type":46},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-11-02","2026-10-15",true,{"@type":52,"interactionType":53,"userInteractionCount":55},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":54},"ViewAction",6,{"@type":57,"mainEntity":58},"FAQPage",[59,65,69],{"name":60,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":62},"What role do mental patterns play in children’s literacy development?","Question",{"text":63,"@type":64},"Children use mental patterns to organize information, supporting higher-order tasks such as reading comprehension and efficient storing and accessing of knowledge.","Answer",{"name":66,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":67},"Why is brain plasticity important for early readers?",{"text":68,"@type":64},"Brain plasticity means young brains are malleable and change through learning; understanding that mistakes and correction are part of learning helps children engage effectively.",{"name":70,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":71},"How does visual tracking relate to early learning?",{"text":72,"@type":64},"Visual processing strongly influences early learning and development; illustrations and visual cues can be easier to recall, and understanding the neural basis of reading helps teachers choose effective strategies.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":32,"og:type":75,"og:title":10,"og:site_name":45,"og:description":12},"article",{"robots":77,"canonical":32},"index,follow",{"doc_id":79,"site_id":7},600812,1793121186,{"code":4,"msg":82,"data":83},"success",[84,88,92,96,101,105,110,114,119,122,126],{"id":22,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":85,"show_sort_weight":86,"slug":87},"Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":26,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":89,"show_sort_weight":90,"slug":91},"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":33,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":93,"show_sort_weight":94,"slug":95},"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":97,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":98,"show_sort_weight":99,"slug":100},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":55,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":102,"show_sort_weight":103,"slug":104},"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":106,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":107,"show_sort_weight":108,"slug":109},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":111,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":29,"show_sort_weight":112,"slug":113},8,30,"research-report",{"id":115,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":116,"show_sort_weight":117,"slug":118},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":117,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":120,"show_sort_weight":117,"slug":121},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":123,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":124,"show_sort_weight":123,"slug":125},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":127,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":128,"show_sort_weight":97,"slug":129},19,"General","general",{"code":4,"msg":82,"data":131},{"doc_id":79,"user_id":132,"nickname":42,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":111,"category_name":29,"doc_title":10,"doc_description":12,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":55,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":22,"is_downloadable":22,"audit_status":22,"page_count":55,"language":139,"language_code":8,"site_id":7,"html_lang":8,"table_of_contents":140,"faqs":141,"seo_title":142,"seo_description":12,"update_tm":143,"read_time":144},5909893218464,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_085a072bc5b1113ac321206ff7593b45","The Power of Secret Stories: Constructing Mental Patterns During the Reading-Writing Process  \nChildren’syoung brains take in information in a totally different way than adult brains. Secret Stories are a new, innovative way to teach children the grammar rules of English in a way that is tailored to their growing minds.  \nMeredith Krisell & Shelly Counsell  \nThe brain is a complex organ with an intellectual capacity that is unique to humans. As educators, we would be wise to study the brain’s many attributes and how it functions to help guide, inform, and improve teaching practice. Learners’ brains are particularly sensitive to certain kinds of stimuli-that is social, physical, cognitive, and emotional stimuli (Jensen, 2005). Brain development and cognition is further enhanced with continuous exposure to high quality learning activities and methods, particularly those that help children use mental patterns to make sense of their learning. Secret Stories (Garner, 2012) is a program that calls on brain research to help emerging readers make sense of the English language.  \nBrain Development and Literacy Acquisition  \nGarner (2012) specified that the ongoing constructing and reconstructing of certain activities/methods is at the heart of children’s knowledge progression. As the human brain grows and develops, children become very adept at using mental patterns to organize information, which enables the brain to complete higher order mental tasks and activities such as reading comprehension. Organizing data using in this way offers children the significant, pertinent, and reasonable networks needed to efficiently store and access data as needed. After all, there are no universal letter-sound relationships that apply across all languages. Hence, children must learn the letter-sound rules specific to their native languages.  \nBrain Plasticity  \nSparks (2012) demonstrated that even beginning readers can comprehend and appreciate basic concepts  \nrelated to brain plasticity. According to Sparks, young children’s “brains are malleable and will change as they practice something”(p. 17). Helping young children to understand how their brain works encourages them to appreciate the role that mistakes (and learning to correct them) play within the learning process. Teachers can use brain exercises to relay the importance of getting ready to learn a new concept or preparing to take an assessment. Crossing the midline is one such activity that stimulates both the left and right hemispheres of the brain and as such they use both sides of the body together. Most people have one hemisphere that is more dominant than the other and it is essential that lateralization (localization of function or activity on one side of the body in preference to the other) is established. If it is not established, a person may have difficulties in various areas that include writing, reading, language development, and organization skills.  \nHuman brains, according to Willis (2008), are considered “plastic” in the sense that brains can “change in both growth and reduction of the nerve fibers that connect neurons to one another (dendrites) in response to learning and conscious manipulation of information or from neglect of stimulation”(p. 35) . By definition, young children’s brains are flexible and will alter as they learn and use new information. The need for appropriate repetition and continuous practice are key components when educating young children. Ensuring that children receive the necessary allowance of time to learn according their individual rates of development has long been a central tenet in early childhood education (as the term developmentally appropriate practice indicates) and the unchallenged assumption that adequate time is always guaranteed, cannot be taken for granted.  \n24  Vol 45, No 1, 2017 Dimensions of Early Childhood  \nThe Power of Secret Stories: Constructing Mental Patterns During the Reading-Writing Process  \n|  |  |  |\n| --- | --- | ---","cbCaibrNXIyEpBHw","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaibrNXIyEpBHw","pdf",417751,"English","# Brain Development and Literacy Acquisition\n# Brain Plasticity\n# The Brain and Visual Tracking\n## Visual information storage and retrieval","[{\"question\":\"What role do mental patterns play in children’s literacy development?\",\"answer\":\"Children use mental patterns to organize information, supporting higher-order tasks such as reading comprehension and efficient storing and accessing of knowledge.\"},{\"question\":\"Why is brain plasticity important for early readers?\",\"answer\":\"Brain plasticity means young brains are malleable and change through learning; understanding that mistakes and correction are part of learning helps children engage effectively.\"},{\"question\":\"How does visual tracking relate to early learning?\",\"answer\":\"Visual processing strongly influences early learning and development; illustrations and visual cues can be easier to recall, and understanding the neural basis of reading helps teachers choose effective strategies.\"}]","The Power of Secret Stories - Constructing Mental Patterns During the Reading-Writing Process | PDF",1792091431,15]