Bottom line: if you’re interested from learning from remarkable teachers, who are getting remarkable results, you should join us.

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Here’s what you can expect at the Symposium:

1. Teachers teaching teachers: every session will be led by a teacher.

2. Routines you can use: every session will highlight practical, evidence-based strategies and approaches that you can use in your classroom.

3. Student data: each session will be anchored in promising student data.

4. Getting in the weeds of a wide range of topics: word problems in math, fluency routines in math and ELA, developing analysis in writing, FASE reading, JUMP math, Reading Simplified, linguistic phonics, continuous blending, Reading Mastery, and so much more!

5. Simple, bare-bones tech: we’re using Zoom. We’re using breakout rooms. We’re keeping it simple. Think ResearchEd if ResearchEd were virtual.

Here’s the schedule for the afternoon. And you can read more about our sessions and presenters here. And don’t forget to…

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HUGE THANK YOU to our sponsor, the Science of Reading Center at the State University of New York, New Paltz.

We’re so excited to work with the SoR Center because they understand the importance of practical, instructionally-focused PD (check out their microcredential!) and because they value teachers as literacy leaders and champions (check out their podcast Reading Realities).

This past school year, nearly one hundred teachers piloted Sean’s work in their own classrooms. Last week, we got to hear from Sean himself and two of those teachers, Elana Gordon (), and 3rd grade teacher , about their experiences using the curriculum across three different contexts. During the session, we learned about many of the routines, watched videos of their instruction, and reviewed their data.

You should watch (or listen) to the recording above. I can’t possibly do Sean’s work justice in this short write-up, but I did want to share three of my takeaways from the event.

1. The volume of words taught through the Word Mapping Project is simply incredible. Nothing remotely compares. Even if students are retaining just 50% of the words taught (and the data indicates they’re retaining way more than that), it’s a huge victory for them. The words will help unlock complex, meaty texts. These words will make student writing more specific and interesting and nuanced. These words will make students better conversationalists. It will even make them better spellers.

2. We are really, really, really under-dosing vocabulary instruction. And NO, I’m not saying we need to spend 20 minutes everyday completing a Frayer model on a single word. Regardless of whether or not you start using the WMP, you can still carefully and systematically embed high-leverage words into routine daily instructions (“Proceed to your desk!” “Assemble in a line.”). You can still teach connected words, synonyms, and antonyms all together. You can still borrow some of the routines from the WMP.

3. Sean is the epitome of a teacher-scientist. He identified a persistent problem, researched the evidence, started building materials, tested them out with real students, gathered data, and continually refined his work. Not every teacher should build a standalone curriculum like Sean did, but every teacher should be encouraged, supported, and expected to problem-solve and think analytically, systematically, and iteratively about how to help their students, while using research as a guide.

So! Please give the presentation a watch (ideally) or a listen, and let us know what you think. I’m also linking Sean, Laura, and Elana’s slides that are full of videos and additional information.

And if you’re interested in winning a one-year Word Mapping Project subscription license, you can buy a raffle ticket or two here and support a wonderful cause at the same time.

Register: June 9th at 7:00 PM ET: The Word Mapping Project

EVERYONE is talking about the Word Mapping Project! Just us on June 9th (7PM ET) and learn what all of the buzz is about from 3rd grade teacher , reading interventionist , and WMP creator and 5th grade teacher .

In this TTT session, these wonderful educators will invite us inside their classrooms and share how they’re using the WMP to accelerate student learning, build word knowledge, and drive reading comprehension gains. We’ll watch videos of real students in action, learn about the research behind the work, and review data across different classrooms. Even if you’re not ready to adopt the curriculum in full, you will leave with some replicable and useable routines that you can bring to your class next Fall.

I’m really excited for this session. The Word Mapping Project was created by an actual educator, who has carefully tested and refined every element in his own classroom. Then, he invited dozens of teachers across the country to pilot his work and incorporated their feedback and ideas into revised materials. Put another way, Sean is the embodiment of a teacher-scientist.

See you on June 9th!

Want to see how it works? Check out our complete archive of TTT free sessions below.

Interested in learning more about how you can bring this work to YOUR school, district, or university? Get in touch. We’re currently piloting this work in several schools and are looking for more partners.

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Season 2 (2025-2026)

Getting the Gist (featuring Tara Hess and Sara Quinn)

Retrieval Practice (featuring Lauren Proffitt and Stephane Bolton)

Early Elementary Writing (featuring Virginia Quinn Mooney and Anjanette McNeely)

Early and Upper Elementary Fluency (featuring Virginia Quinn Mooney and Aaron Grossman)

Small Group Instruction (featuring Virginia Quinn Mooney)

Maximizing Student Engagement and Lift (Becky Pallone and Court Shuller)

Season 1 (2024-2025)

Upper Elementary Fluency (featuring Aaron Grossman and Kyair Butts)

Upper Elementary Writing (featuring Jen Dove and Elise Frank)

Early Elementary Fluency (featuring Virginia Quinn Mooney and Laura Stam)

K-2 Writing (featuring Caitlin Lucas, Virginia Quinn Mooney, and Amanda Wiater)

Small Group Instruction (featuring Virginia Quinn Mooney)

2nd grade teacher Tara Hess and MS reading interventionist Sara Quinn are worried about this discrepancy too. On May 12th, they presented to a group of educators about one of the things they’re doing to help their students comprehend complex texts: explicitly teaching and then relentlessly practicing “getting the gist.”

In the above video, you’ll learn about what that routine looks like in their classrooms, get to see multiple videos of Sara and Tara’s instruction, learn about common obstacles and challenges for students, and review MAP data.

I walked away from this session with shared several, key takeaways that I wanted to share here:

1. Gist work should be grounded in meaty, complex texts that are worth reading. This is key.

2. Model relentlessly. If you think you’re over-modeling, particularly with striving readers, you’re probably NOT. Make your thinking visible and articulate your thinking as much as possible. Don’t assume students will make the same logical leaps that you do.

3. Practice relentlessly. If students are reading meaty, complex text everyday, they can get the gist everyday. This doesn’t have to be a big deal or take a ton of time, and the more you use this routine, the more efficient you and your students will get.

4. Everyone talks. Before students complete their graphic organizers and write their gist sentences, everyone talks about what they’ve read. Tara uses frequent, punctuated turn and talks to maximize student thinking and talk time. Sara has a small group of intervention students, so it’s easier to ensure that everyone is talking and thinking. But both educators prioritize this talk time. In their classrooms, oracy is rehearsal for writing.

5. One big reason I believe Tara and Sara are seeing such good results with this routine is that they are using it in such a way that students cannot avoid thinking about what they’re reading. More on this later, but I’m bullish on other practices that direct student attention to the text and require this text immersion. We want to prioritize routines that do this.

It was a great session! Give it a watch (ideally) or a listen, and let us know what you think. I’m also linking Tara’s and Sara’s slides, as well as a blog Sara wrote earlier this year on the same topic.

And while you’re here, go ahead and sign-up for our next Teachers Teach Teachers event: June 9th at 7:00 ET: The Word Mapping Project

1. Brain Dumps (or Brain Boosts, as Stephane has rebranded them)

2. Mini-Quizzes

3. Rapid Retrieval

4. Big Basket Questions (BBQ)

We also watched exemplar videos of these routines in action, observed student work samples, and engaged in a robust discussion about how to bring this work into participants’ classrooms.

I think it was our highest-impact TTT event to date, and our audience feedback and participation reflected that. Teacher know that retrieval practice is important, and they are HUNGRY for ideas and strategies about how to make it work in their classrooms.

So! We figured we’d share the presentation in both video and podcast format with you. Give it a watch (ideally) or a listen, and let us know what you think. I’m also linking Lauren’s and Stephane’s wonderful slides that are full of relevant links, resources, and EXTRA retrieval routines that we couldn’t get to in an hour.

And while you’re here, go ahead and sign-up for our next two Teachers Teach Teachers events:

May 12th at 7:30 ET Getting the Gist

June 9th at 7:00 ET The Word Mapping Project