TREATING A TOXIN TO LEARNING

“Stress may be silently sabotaging success in school. Its effects are especially potent for children in poverty.”

By: Clancy Blair

Published: Scientific American Mind, the September – October 2012 issue
To access the article, copy paste the following:
http://www.readcube.com/articles/10.1038/scientificamericanmind0912-64
Level of Difficulty: ****

BEFORE YOU READ

1.       Why do you think children from more deprived backgrounds do more badly at school? Make a note of the reasons you come up with so that you can use them in the writing task at the end.

QUESTIONS

1.       Read the first paragraph. What does the first sentence have in common with the last one? Why?

2.       What does the word insidious mean in your view?

3.       The writer states that “poverty adversely effects children’s ability to perform well in school”. This is the case because……………………………………………………………………………… Be precise.

4.       To what extent does the writer agree with the current explanation why children from lower income households do worse at school? How do you know?

5.       What are the three broad categories of stressors that negatively affect specific learning abilities in children?

6.       What effect of stress on the brain specifically impacts future academic success?

7.       The kind of effect stress has on the brain is closely linked to ……………………………………………..

8.       The brain’s reaction to stress is a learnt response. True or False? Support your answer with information from the text.

9.       Read the experiment conducted at Pen State carefully. What pattern of cortisol release was observed in children with poor executive function? What further indication of stress was noted during the study?

10.   According to the text, the …………………. The cortisol levels, the ……………………………. the executive function and academic ability.

11.   What misguided parenting style do poor parents practice? Why?

12.   What overall conclusion was reached as a result of the first stage of the study involving 1292 children?

13.   Read the conclusion to the article. How optimistic is the writer? How do you know?

WRITING TASK

Discuss the process through which stressors negatively impact learning abilities in children. Use the points below and any others you feel are relevant.

*The stresses that accompany low income

* Challenging family circumstances

* Learning Disabilities

*Negative parenting

*Chaotic and poorly run classrooms

* An impoverished learning environment at home

 TREATING A TOXIN TO LEARNING KEY AND TEACHER’S NOTES

This brilliant text reaches various conclusions concerning learning ability which I am sure many of you, like myself, have also reached over the years. I was interested to see that what I instinctively believed, in fact, had a scientific basis. The writing task is closely linked to the text and will therefore enable more in depth understanding of the text.

1.       They both summarize the paragraph. The first is the topic sentence and expresses an opinion. What follows is the support where the writer proves her point. So naturally the concluding statement echoes the topic sentence.

2.       Harmful.

3.       Stress, which affects thinking skills, thrives in difficult situations. Best answer! Have a little think why. Alternatively, stress thrives in difficult situations and effects thinking skills.

4.       She partly agrees. This theory is, at best, half the story.

5.       The stresses that accompany low income, challenging family circumstances, learning disabilities.

6.       Its influences on the neural connections in the prefrontal cortex. Minimum.

7.       The dose

8.       True. Overtime, the brain circuits that control stress hormone levels are shaped by experience…

9.       Sustained high level or a blunted response; their teachers also rated them as more aggressive and lacking in self control.

10.   The higher, the lower.

11.   They elicit obedience through discipline; due to the realities of their situation and their own high levels of stress.

12.   Parenting style shapes the developing stress response pattern.

13.   Quite optimistic. We are encouraged by the possibility that…