Learning Opportunities

Join Katie Garner, author of "Secret Stories® Cracking the Reading Code with the Brain in Mind!" for this 3-part professional development series.

Help beginning K/1 readers become strong decoders instead of weak guessers AND make meaning as they engage with text across the instructional day. Using brain science as a road map, discover how to take advantage of “backdoor” learning systems to fast-track MORE of the phonics code kids need to read and write SOONER! By aligning abstract phonics concepts with already familiar “universal” experiences and understanding (i.e. having a crush, not getting along, getting hurt, being left out, doing what your mom or babysitter tells you, knowing where and when to be sneaky, etc...) we can leverage early-learners’ social-emotional intelligence to fast-track skill mastery. In this way, beginning readers are empowered with all of the tools they need to become fearless codebreakers — and not just at the reading table, but across the entire instructional day! 

This 3-part professional development series will include:

• Research on early brain development ("back to front") and how the brain learns to read
• Understanding of the brain's processes for learning, including the social-emotional “superhighways” 
• Strategies for aligning high-leverage phonics skill concepts to “universal" experiences & understanding
• Fast-tracking individual letter sound mastery (in 2 weeks to 1 month) via muscle memory
• Increasing automaticity of sound-symbol ("speech to print") connections with musical drills for rapid decoding & encoding  
• The Decodable Truth About Sight Words
• Maximizing Instructional Value with Phonics-Focused and Brain-Aligned Teacher Moves 
• Turning “Landmines” into “Playgrounds” by Coaching Students to Strategize, Not Memorize