Grade Children Research Articles

Even worse for Black girls: the longitudinal association of racial bullying with the initiation of alcohol and tobacco use.

We used Poisson's linear regression to examine the association between racial bullying (RB) and the initiation of alcohol and tobacco uses after 9 months. Two cluster-randomized controlled trials were conducted in 2019 with children in grades five (girls: 50.0%; 10 years old: 82.0%; White: 36.8%; Black: 58.7%; others: 4.5%) and seven (girls: 49.5%; 12 years old: 78.1%; White: 33.2%; Black: 60.4%; others: 6.4%) from 30 public schools in the municipality of São Paulo, Brazil. We restricted our analyses to 2 subsets of students in each grade: those who reported no lifetime alcohol use at baseline and those who reported no lifetime baseline tobacco use. At baseline, 16.2% of fifth and 10.7% of seventh graders reported suffering from RB in the 30 days before data collection. After 9 months, 14.9% of fifth graders started using alcohol and 2.5%, tobacco. Among seventh graders, the figures were 31.2% and 7.7%, respectively. RB predicted the initiation of use of alcohol (risk ratio [RR]= 1.36; 95% CI, 1.07-1.70) and tobacco (RR= 1.81; 95% CI, 1.14-2.76) among seventh graders, with race-gender differences, particularly in Black girls (alcohol: RR= 1.45; 95% CI, 1.07-1.93; tobacco: RR= 2.34; 95% CI, 1.31-3.99). School-based programs and policies must explicitly address issues related to racism and gender in alcohol and tobacco prevention strategies.

A Longitudinal Examination of Direct and Indirect Influences of Parental Behaviors on Child Physical Activity

Many children do not realize the physical health, mental health, cognitive, and academic benefits of physical activity because they are insufficiently active. Effectively promoting physical activity in children requires understanding the determinants of physical activity. Parent physical activity and support for physical activity have emerged as central influences, but few studies have applied longitudinal designs and device-based measures of child physical activity. The purposes of this cohort study were to examine direct associations between parent physical activity and child physical activity, parent physical activity and parent support for physical activity, and parent support and child physical activity; and to examine indirect associations between parent physical activity and child physical activity, mediated through parent support behaviors. We used structural equation modeling with panel analysis to examine direct and indirect influences of parent physical activity and support on 7th grade children’s physical activity, adjusted for 5th grade levels. Parent surveys were administered at the 5th grade time-point. Parent physical activity indirectly affected child physical activity, mediated through the parent support behavior of providing transportation for physical activity. Parent physical activity was also directly related to four parent support behaviors. Increasing parent support for child physical activity, and possibly parent physical activity, may be effective approaches to increasing child physical activity.

Narrative Skills in Mandarin–English Dual Language Immersion Learners

Abstract This article investigated the development of narrative production skills among Mandarin-English dual language immersion (DLI) students. A total of 60 children in first (N = 20), third (N = 21), and fifth-sixth (N = 19) grades generated oral narratives from wordless picture books in Mandarin and English. We examined variability in children’s macrostructure and microstructure production by language and grade level. We also examined within-language associations and cross-language transfer in narrative skills. Children in higher grades incorporated more macrostructure and microstructure elements in their narratives than children in lower grades. Within each language, microstructure skills were correlated with macrostructure skills. Evidence for development of shared skills across languages and language-specific patterns of narrative skills were also identified. Results contribute to the growing body of evidence for facilitative transfer in immersion contexts and highlight the importance of measuring outcomes in both the societal and the partner language.

Mindfulness Through Storytelling for Mental Health of Primary School Children: Impact on Acceptability and Its Associations with Personality.

Acceptability of mindfulness-based programs (MBPs) in primary school settings seems to represent a critical factor influencing the intervention effects on children's mental health. This study aims at assessing the acceptability of an MBP delivered through the technique of storytelling, as well as identifying which participants' personality characteristics can influence it. Italian children in grades 3-to-5 (n = 147, 47.6% girls) participated in a 24-session MBP, which included 225 minutes of formal mindfulness practices and was delivered by the pupils' school teachers. Children's personality traits were assessed with the junior Temperament and Character Inventory (jTCI), while their subjective experiences and acceptability of the program were investigated using a survey containing open-ended and closed-ended questions. Program acceptability was 2.9 ± 0.7 on a 0-4 scale. Higher jTCI scores of persistence, cooperativeness, and self-transcendence were related to higher ratings in liking the program, finding it useful and engaging themselves in it. Moreover, 57.8% of the children generalized the mindfulness practices in daily life and 93.9% of them declared they would recommend the program to their friends/parents. Five main themes emerged from children's answers on what they learned: "help for difficulties (emotional, mental, and physical)", "calm, relax, tranquility", "resilience, positiveness, personal growth", "self-exploration, interoception", and "attention, concentration, and here-and-now". Program acceptability was generally higher than in similar programs in the literature, and children reported personal gains in various areas related to psychological well-being. The study also suggests which children's personality traits should be considered when proposing an MBP in order to improve its acceptability and utility.

Evaluation of a pilot food education program delivered for children in grade four attending a school located in a disadvantaged area in greater Melbourne

Primary school aged children (aged 4-12 years) in Australia consume approximately 40% of daily energy from energy-dense, nutrient poor foods and fewer than 5% meet the recommended guidelines for vegetables and fruit (ABS 2018). Poor eating habits in children can track into adulthood increasing the risk of non-communicable diseases later in life (Nicklaus 2013). Children spend a large amount of time at school where they are provided with social contexts which influence behaviour development (FAO, 2022) and thus are ideal settings for teaching children about food and nutrition (FAO, 2022; WHO 2017). This pilot study was designed in response to a call to action from a local primary school in southeast Melbourne facing disadvantage. Anecdotally, the school reported poor food literacy with many students bringing unhealthy lunches. The school asked us to design, pilot, and evaluate a student education program enabling healthier lunches among these children. The aim of the study was to explore the effectiveness of a 4-week food and nutrition education program delivered to grade 4 students within a disadvantaged area targeting, children’s food-related knowledge, behaviours and self-efficacy (confidence) to pack a healthy lunch. The program delivered weekly 1-hour interactive sessions over four weeks (October-November 2022). Topics included healthy eating, designing healthy lunches and food safety and were delivered using interactive games, activities, quizzes and food tasting. Students completed an online survey measuring their knowledge, self-efficacy and behaviour (e.g. foods packed in their lunchbox) pre- and post- program. A comparative analysis of the pre- and post-survey responses was performed using McNemar Tests in SPSS version 29.0. Sixty students completed both the pre- and post-surveys. A significant increase (p<0.001) in knowledge of recommended daily serves of fruit (pre 43%, post 80%) and vegetables (pre 17%, post 54%) was observed. There was also a significant (p<0.001) increase in student’s ability to identify ‘sometimes food’. No changes were observed in identification of ‘everyday food’, sources of protein and sources of dairy food or safety knowledge. Children’s confidence to make healthy food swaps significantly increased from pre- to post- program (27%45%, p = 0.035). We observed significant increases in children’s food and nutrition related knowledge for some topics and confidence to make healthy food swaps following completion of the program. A program of longer duration may be beneficial to observe additional improvements in knowledge as well as behaviour change, including foods packed in school lunches.

Is asthma in children still increasing? 20-year prevalence trends in northern Sweden.

In the present study, we describe prevalence trends of asthma and investigate the association with asthma symptoms, use of asthma medication, and asthma severity among 8-year-old children in Norrbotten, Sweden in 1996, 2006, and 2017. Within the Obstructive Lung Disease in Northern Sweden (OLIN) studies, three pediatric cohorts were recruited in 1996, 2006, and 2017 respectively. Identical methods were used; all children in first and second grade (median age 8 years) in three municipalities were invited to a parental questionnaire survey, completed by n = 3430 in 1996 (97% participation), n = 2585 in 2006 (96%), and n = 2785 in 2017 (91%). The questionnaire included questions about respiratory symptoms and diagnosis, treatment, and severity of asthma. The prevalence of wheezing was stable during the study, 10.1% in 1996; 10.8% in 2006; and 10.3% in 2017, p = .621, while physician-diagnosed asthma increased: 5.7%, 7.4%, and 12.2%, p < .001. The use of asthma medication in the last 12 months increased: 7.1%, 8.7%, and 11.5%, p < .001. Among children diagnosed with asthma, the prevalence of asthma symptoms, the impact on daily life, and severe asthma decreased, while the use of inhaled corticosteroids increased from 1996 until 2017. The prevalence of wheezing was stable among 8-year-old in this area from 1996 to 2017, while the prevalence of physician-diagnosed asthma doubled but without an increase in asthma morbidity. The increase of physician-diagnosed asthma without a coincident increase in asthma morbidity can partly be explained by more and earlier diagnosis among those with mild asthma.

어머니의 심리적 통제와 아동의 분노표현방식 간의 관계: 기본심리욕구 만족 및 좌절의 매개효과

Objective: This study examined the dual mediating effect of satisfaction and frustration of basic psychological need in the relationship between the mother’s psychological control and the children’s anger expression modes.&#x0D; Methods: The subjects of the study were 352 fourth to sixth grade children. For the collected data, Pearson correlation analysis and Process macro (Model 4) mediation analysis of the SPSS program 23.0 were performed.&#x0D; Results: First all major variables showed significant correlations with each other. Second, The mother’s psychological control indirectly affected the children’s anger–out and anger-in through the frustration of the child’s basic psychological need. On the other hand, it was confirmed that the mother’s psychological control indirectly affects children’s anger control through the children’s basic psychological need satisfaction.&#x0D; Conclusions: It is meaningful in that it revealed different paths of need satisfaction and need frustration in the relationship between mother’s psychological control and anger expression.

Fatherless Representation of Children's Empathy and Creativity Development in Selected Cartoon Series on Youtube

This study aims to examine the issue of fatherlessness in three selected cartoon series on YouTube, including the Upin and Ipin, Masha and The Bear and Pada Zaman Dahulu cartoon series to develop children's empathy and creativity. The study of fatherless cartoon series is important because the issue of fatherless in the last five years has surfaced because it is alleged that some Indonesian children have lost a father figure. So this research is important to provide an in-depth understanding of the fatherless issue. This research is included in descriptive qualitative research. The research data used is in the form of transcribed dialogues from the three cartoon series and interview dialogues. The data sources in this study are three fatherless cartoon series entitled Upin and Ipin, Masha and The Bear and Pada Zaman Dahulu, the storylines of the three fatherlees cartoon series, characterisation and high and low grade children. The data collection techniques used by researchers are listening techniques, note-taking techniques and interviews. Data analysis techniques used by researchers are observing three cartoon series on YouTube, interpreting, identifying, classifying, analysing and concluding. The results of this study show that there is creativity and empathy from the three fatherless-themed cartoon series. The main character is described as having social sensitivity, independence, and resilience in facing problems without the presence of a father figure. The three fatherless-themed cartoon series are able to form characters with high creativity and empathy, so as to inspire the audience to develop creativity and empathy in everyday life. This research can also be a foundation for further research on fatherlees-themed cartoons.

Food insecurity in books for children

Issues of class and poverty are largely absent from children’s fiction and from elementary school curricula, even though, in Canada, one in every five children live in food insecure households. This paper examines the limited number of middle grade children’s books that feature depictions of food insecurity published in North America in English in the past forty years and interrogates their assumptions about children, poverty, food, and hunger. While the primary cause of food insecurity for children is inadequate household income, often due to systemic inequities, most children’s fiction suggests individual choices or life circumstances are to blame and charity, kind strangers, and simple luck are the solutions, giving children, at best, an incomplete understanding of the social and political issues that produce food insecurity.

A Study on“Physical and Mental Anxiety”,And “Parent-child Interaction” in Primary School during the “Suspension without Suspension” Period———Taking Changzhou City as An Example

This study explores the physical and psychological anxiety degree of primary school parents and the interactions between parents and their children in different regions and grades of the same city during the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. The questionnaire method was used and convenient sampling method was adopted to investigate the primary school parents in Changzhou city, Jiangsu Province. 2756 questionnaires were issued, and 2501 valid samples were recovered for analysis and research. The results of this study shows that there were significant differences in “physical and mental anxiety” and “parent-child interaction” in primary school in different regions during the period of “school suspension”. Grade level has positive influence on “somatization” and “parent-child interaction” of primary school parents. The findings are as follows: 1. The location of the school has an impact on the “physical anxiety” of primary school parents; 2. The location of the school has an impact on the “psychological anxiety” of primary school parents; 3. Grade level has influence on “physical anxiety” of primary school parents; 4. Grade level has influence on “psychological anxiety” of primary school parents; 5. School location has influence on “parent-child interaction” of primary school parents and children; 6. Grade level has influence on parent-child interaction between primary school parents and children. The recommendations of the study are as follows: 1. Strengthen home-school cooperation during the epidemic; 2. Changes in the concept of family education are needed.

Development and validation of a test instrument for the assessment of perceived basic motor competencies in first and second graders: the SEMOK-1-2 instrument.

Both actual motor competencies (AMC) and perceived motor competencies (PMC) play an important role in motor development research and children's physical and psychological development. PMC refer to children's perceptions of their motor competencies. To assess the PMC of first and second grade children (aged 6-9 years), the SEMOK-1-2 instrument was developed. The instrument is aligned to the validated MOBAK-1-2 instrument which assesses AMC in the competence areas "object movement" and "self-movement" Accounting for possible reading difficulties in younger children, the motor tasks and answer options were illustrated and explained verbally. The purpose of this study was to test and validate the SEMOK-1-2 instrument and investigate the associations between the constructs AMC, PMC and physical activity (PA), whereby PA was measured by the participation in team and individual sports. Data from N = 404 pupils in the German-speaking part of Switzerland from first and second grades (M = 7.8 years, SD = 0.69, 49% boys) were analyzed. Confirmatory factor analyses were conducted to test the factorial validity of the SEMOK-1-2 instrument. Structural equation models were used to investigate the association between the constructs. The analyses confirmed a two-factor structure with the factors PMC "object movement" and PMC "self-movement", corresponding to the factors existing in the MOBAK-1-2 instrument. Latent correlations between AMC factors and the corresponding PMC factors were r = 0.79 for "object movement" and r = 0.76 for "self-movement". Associations with external criteria and covariates, such as sex, were associated with both AMC and PMC. Analyses also revealed that children who participated more often in individual and team sports showed higher levels in both AMC and PMC. The confirmation of the two-factorial structure of the SEMOK-1-2 instrument and the associations between AMC and PMC as well as external criteria indicate construct and criterion validity. The SEMOK-1-2 instrument can be economically utilized for assessing PMC and is also suitable for the monitoring of PMC in the context of Physical Education.

Does Any AI-Based Activity Contribute to Develop AI Conception? A Case Study with Italian Fifth and Sixth Grade Classes

Artificial Intelligence is undoubtedly becoming pervasive in everyday life of everyone. In this setting, developing correct AI conception since childhood is not only a need to be addressed in educational curricula, but is also a children right. Accordingly, several initiatives at national and international levels aim at promoting AI and emerging technology literacy, supported also by a proliferation in the literature of learning courses covering a variety of topics, learning objectives and targeted ages. Schools are therefore pushed to introduce innovative activities for children in their curricula. In this paper, we report the results of a case study where we tested the contribution of an AI block-based course in developing computational thinking, and human and AI minds understanding in fifth and sixth grade children.

The Effect of Jump Rope Training Program on the Agility in Deaf Children SLB-B Yayasan Pendidikan Tunas Bangsa (YPTB) Malang City

Deaf children are those who have lost or suffered from hearing impairment since birth or before the age when their language development is fully formed. One aspect of physical fitness is agility. Through appropriate agility exercises, deaf children can enhance their ability to feel more confident in engaging in physical activities. Jump rope exercises involve coordinated body movements that can help deaf children develop agility, muscle strength, and motor coordination. A pre-experimental approach is used in this quantitative research, and the research design employed is a one-group pretest-posttest. The sample studied consisted of 30 deaf children in grades 3-6 in elementary school. The research indicates that jump rope exercises have a positive impact, leading to an increase in agility in deaf students at SLB-B Yayasan Pendidikan Tunas Bangsa , Malang City. The paired sample t-test results show a significance value of 0.001. The conclusion is that jump rope training has an impact on the agility of deaf students at SLB-B YPTB Malang City, as evidenced by the increase in scores in the post-test.

Impact assessment of onchocerciasis through lymphatic filariasis transmission assessment surveys using Ov-16 rapid diagnostic tests in Sierra Leone.

Onchocerciasis is endemic in 14 of Sierra Leone's 16 districts with high prevalence (47-88.5%) according to skin snips at baseline. After 11 rounds of mass treatment with ivermectin with good coverage, an impact assessment was conducted in 2017 to assess the progress towards eliminating onchocerciasis in the country. A cluster survey was conducted, either integrated with lymphatic filariasis (LF) transmission assessment survey (TAS) or standalone with the LF TAS sampling strategy in 12 (now 14) endemic districts. Finger prick blood samples of randomly selected children in Grades 1-4 were tested in the field using SD Bioline Onchocerciasis IgG4 rapid tests. In total, 17,402 children aged 4-19years in 177 schools were tested, and data from 17,364 children aged 4-14years (14,230 children aged 5-9years) were analyzed. Three hundred forty-six children were confirmed positive for Ov-16 IgG4 antibodies, a prevalence of 2.0% (95% CI 1.8-2.2%) in children aged 4-14years with prevalence increasing with age. Prevalence in boys (2.4%; 95% CI 2.1-2.7%) was higher than in girls (1.6%; 95% CI 1.4-1.9%). There was a trend of continued reduction from baseline to 2010. Using data from children aged 5-9years, overall prevalence was 1.7% (95% CI 1.5-1.9%). The site prevalence ranged from 0 to 33.3% (median prevalence = 0.0%): < 2% in 127 schools, 2 to < 5% in 34 schools and ≥ 5% in 16 schools. There was a significant difference in average prevalence between districts. Using spatial analysis, the Ov-16 IgG4 antibody prevalence was predicted to be < 2% in coastal areas and in large parts of Koinadugu, Bombali and Tonkolili Districts, while high prevalence (> 5%) was predicted in some focal areas, centered in Karene, Kailahun and Moyamba/Tonkolili. Low Ov-16 IgG4 antibody prevalence was shown in most areas across Sierra Leone. In particular, low seroprevalence in children aged 5-9years suggests that the infection was reduced to a low level after 11 rounds of treatment intervention. Sierra Leone has made major progress towards elimination of onchocerciasis. However, attention must be paid to those high prevalence focal areas.

Validation of a computerized version of the MNREAD chart for children.

We aimed the develop and validate a computerized version of the MNREAD for the assessment of reading speed for children. A computerized version of the MNREAD was built in Psykinematix software using the same parameters as the physical chart. We measured the reading velocity of 104 children (n = 44 of the 3rd grade; n = 60 of the 5th grade). Bland-Altaman analysis was used to quantify agreement between two chart measurements. Comparison between the 3rd and 5th-grade children for physical and computerized MNREAD versions showed statistical differences in Maximum Reading Speed (F = 2669.6; p < 0.001), Critical Print Size (F = 17.49; p < 0.001), and Reading Acuity (F = 14.19; p = 0.002) with huge effect size (η2 = 0.930). No differences were found between the versions within grades. Bland-Altman analysis showed 95% of the data points within ± 2s of the mean difference, suggesting a similarity between versions of the MNREAD parameters. Our reading speed values for children in the 5th grade were higher than previous studies, suggesting a better quality of the assessment in the computerized version. Tolerance Limits were calculated as normality references for clinical purposes.

Understanding Children’s Accuracy in Recognizing Facial Expressions of Pain

Facial expressions of pain have an adaptive function in informing others of the need of attention and care. The detection of these nonverbal cues is particularly important in children since they are not always capable of expressing their needs verbally. Nevertheless, research recurrently shows that distinguishing between genuine, suppressed, and simulated pain expressions produced by children is a difficult task for adults; even when their professions require such a skill (e.g. doctors or nurses). Only a few studies have explored the development of this specific ability amongst children’s peers. The current study aims to fill this literature gap by exploring children’s ability to recognize and judge genuine, simulated, and suppressed expressions of pain produced by other children their age. Seventy-nine children from kindergarten to fourth grade viewed videos in which children encoders expressed the three aforementioned types of pain while plunging their hand in cold or warm water. Participants were asked to select the type of pain that was expressed. They were also asked their level of confidence in their answer and the level of pain they thought the children were experiencing. Despite having a high level of confidence in their answers, kindergarteners had a significantly lower proportion of correct answers compared to children in third and fourth grade. Furthermore, regardless of their grade level, children were better at recognizing suppressed pain expressions and had lower performance rates for genuine pain recognition. Our overall findings revealed an improvement in children’s performance with aging.

Internet Use Behavior and Adolescent Mental Health: The Mediating Effects of Self-Education Expectations and Parental Support.

This study focuses on how Internet use behavior affects adolescents' mental health and whether self-education expectations and parental support mediate the relationship between Internet use behavior and adolescents' mental health. The data for this paper came from the results of the student questionnaire of the 2018 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA 2018), which was a structured questionnaire that asked students about their family situation, school life, studies, internet use, and mental health, among other things. A sample of 336,600 children in grades 7-13 was selected for this study. The data were analyzed using STATA version 16 and the theoretical framework was tested using a mediated effects model. The results of the study showed that Internet use behavior made a positive contribution to mental health and the mediating effects of self-education expectations and parental support on the relationship between Internet use behavior and adolescent mental health were all significant. It is recommended that appropriate policies should be formulated to help adolescents use the Internet rationally, and the positive effects of parental support and self-education expectations should be utilized.

Impact and process evaluation of a primary-school Food Education and Sustainability Training (FEAST) program in 10-12-year-old children in Australia: pragmatic cluster non-randomized controlled trial

BackgroundEnvironmentally sustainable food initiatives accompanying nutrition education, such as the Food Education and Sustainability Training (FEAST) program, have gained traction in school settings. The aim of this trial was to conduct an impact and process evaluation of FEAST, to evaluate its effect on children’s fruit and vegetable (F&V) intakes, and secondary outcomes: F&V variety consumed, nutrition knowledge, food preparation/cooking skills, self-efficacy and behaviours, food waste knowledge and behaviours, and food production knowledge.MethodsFEAST was a 10-week curriculum-aligned program, designed to educate children about healthy eating, food waste, and sustainability, while teaching cooking skills. It was implemented by classroom teachers, face-to-face and online, during COVID-19 school closures, in Australia in 2021. A custom designed survey was used to collect baseline and post-intervention data from students. Generalised linear mixed models (GLMM) estimated group differences in pre-post changes for primary and secondary outcomes. Surveys were also administered to students and teachers to evaluate intervention implementation.ResultsTwenty schools participated and self-selected to be either intervention schools (n = 10) or wait-list control (WLC) schools (n = 10). A total of 977, 5th and 6th grade children participated in the trial with a mean age of 11.1 years (SD ± 0.7). The FEAST intervention, compared to WLC, did not result in significant increases in primary outcomes nor secondary outcomes. The process evaluation revealed FEAST was well-received by students and teachers, but COVID-19 school closures hindered implementation fidelity with a less intense program delivered under the constraints of pandemic lockdowns.ConclusionsThis is the first cluster non-randomized controlled trial designed to independently evaluate FEAST in the primary-school setting. No evidence was found for improved F&V intakes in children, nor secondary outcomes. However, the positive process evaluation results suggest that further trials of the program are warranted. If implemented as originally designed (pre-pandemic), with increased duration and complemented by supporting school policies, such programs have the potential to improve children’s daily F&V intakes, cooking skills and food waste behaviours. This would support the Australian curriculum and contribute to: health promotion within schools and sustainable schools initiatives, the national agenda to reduce food waste and sustainable development goals.Australian and New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry[ACTRN12620001347954]- Registered prospectively on 14/12/2020.

Analogical thinking modifiability and math processing strategy.

A sample of 48 children in Grade 2 was randomly assigned to an experimental (n = 24) and a control group (n = 24). Both groups were administered the Analogical Modifiability Puzzle Test (AMPT) and Math Accuracy and Processing Strategy (MAPS) test before and after a teaching phase of the AMPT. The MAPS test includes scores for Accuracy, Processing Strategy, and a Math-Total. The findings reveal significant treatment x time interactions for AMPT (near-transfer) and MAPS (far-transfer) scores. Hierarchical regression analysis showed that AMPT post-teaching score added significantly to Math Total. The findings indicate that Math Accuracy and Math Processing Strategies are affected by mediation for analogical thinking and that modifiability of analogical thinking significantly predicts Math-Total.

Ortho-semantic learning of novel words: an event-related potential study of grade 3 children

IntroductionAs children become independent readers, they regularly encounter new words whose meanings they must infer from context, and whose spellings must be learned for future recognition. The self-teaching hypothesis proposes orthographic learning skills are critical in the transition to fluent reading, while the lexical quality hypothesis further emphasizes the importance of semantics. Event-related potential (ERP) studies of reading development have focused on effects related to the N170 component—print tuning (letters vs. symbols) and lexical tuning (real words vs. consonant strings)—as well as the N400 reflecting semantic processing, but have not investigated the relationship of these components to word learning during independent reading.MethodsIn this study, children in grade 3 independently read short stories that introduced novel words, then completed a lexical decision task from which ERPs were derived.ResultsLike real words, newly-learned novel words evoked a lexical tuning effect, indicating rapid establishment of orthographic representations. Both real and novel words elicited significantly smaller N400s than pseudowords, suggesting that semantic representations of the novel words were established. Further, N170 print tuning predicted accuracy on identifying the spellings of the novel words, while the N400 effect for novel words was associated with reading comprehension.DiscussionExposure to novel words during self-directed reading rapidly establishes neural markers of orthographic and semantic processing. Furthermore, the ability to rapidly filter letter strings from symbols is predictive of orthographic learning, while rapid establishment of semantic representations of novel words is associated with stronger reading comprehension.