missy purcell
@MissyPurcell
Dyslexia mom & former balanced literacy teacher who discovered the power of evidence-based reading. Advocating to ensure every child becomes a reader!
So appreciative of #soldastory and it's telling our stories. #dyslexia #literacy #reading
"There is a revolution raging in schools across the country right now, thanks in no small part to Sold a Story." time.com/collections/10…
We’ve had the best time learning from Dr. Anita Archer this week at the Train the Trainer Explicit Instruction Institute! I can’t wait to help schools elevate instruction this school year! Thank you, @ReadingScience2, for hosting this event!
Loved getting to learn from David Kilpatrick @Region10ESC this week! #keeplearning #untilEVERYkidcanread
A lively discussion about syntax, grammar, and punctuation - with Anna Geiger. themeasuredmom.com/a-lively-discu…
From 47% reading at grade-level to 100%...! How did first grade teacher Stephane Singleton Bolton get all of her students reading chapter books by May? In this piece, Stephane describes five major instructional shifts she made after adopting @EBLIreads last year.
📖 July is all about reading comprehension! To Read Stuff You Have to Know Stuff reminds us that knowledge plays a powerful role in understanding texts. ow.ly/zmzG50Wnbj2 Don’t miss our podcast episodes this month focused on comprehension! 🎧 ow.ly/Prvh50Wnbj3
“Automated arithmetic facts free working memory for algebraic reasoning.” Knowing phonics cold “liberates the cognitive resources necessary for comprehension and analysis.” Great thread on the critical importance of working memory to cognitive science.
Expertise isn't about having more working memory, it's about needing less of it. Experts automate many components in long-term memory and can recognise meaningful patterns instantly, bypassing the need to process individual elements. ⬇️ 🧵
If the student hasn’t learned, the teacher hasn’t taught. - Zig Engelmann
Writing prompts that require elaboration can improve learning in the classroom. However, inexperienced writers can experience cognitive overload. Natalie Wexler explains how teachers can ease this burden and improve learning. One of my favorite episode of the series!
✏️🪩Are you ready for it?!?📕⌨️ 🎉Episode 5 of the #KnowledgeMatters Podcast is LIVE! Host @natwexler discusses Memory and the Writing Effect with guests Jeff Karpicke from @Purdue and John Sweller, Developer of Cognitive Load Theory! 📝🧠 🎧Listen here: tinyurl.com/ynnhd8jd
I’ve also highlighted Steubenville’s success—and sadly, the response is telling. For every one person who asks, “How can we learn from this?”, ten rush to discredit it or claim it’s not real. Why are we more eager to dismiss progress than to replicate it? Disappointing.
In my project looking for districts doing an outstanding job of teaching kids to read, I highlighted Steubenville City in Ohio. It's that district way at the top right of the Ohio graph. the74million.org/article/which-…
Really important insights in this episode--which, by coincidence, I listened to while attending an education conference near @AmarilloISD . I hope other districts (and schools within the district) are paying attention to what's happening at Eastridge Elementary!
What happens when classrooms read a novel together? @Doug_Lemov speaks w/ Lori Hughes, an educator in @AmarilloISD about the classroom improvements she noticed when students were reading + learning w/ whole books! Listen to the Knowledge Matters Podcast: tinyurl.com/ynnhd8jd
Western Region PTA’s, @WRPTA, Dyslexia Resolution has passed the executive and resolution committees and will be presented at the 129th Annual Convention. Congratulations to our local literacy specialists that worked all year to get this done.
☀️Use this weekend to get caught up with the Knowledge Matters Podcast! @Doug_Lemov talks about the power of whole novels and how the simple act of READING TOGETHER can give books hope in a “death struggle against the smartphone.”📚 🎧Listen here: tinyurl.com/ynnhd8jd
Indeed. As teachers, we hold the quiet power not only to shape what children know, but to shape how they see themselves. The confidence we help them build can stay with them long after our instruction ends.
When kids succeed, they want to learn more. 🙌 When teachers actually teach kids to read, they feel fulfilled. It’s a virtuous cycle. Way better than the miserable loop of bad methods, frustrated teachers, and struggling kids.
“Behavior and academics aren’t in silos.” A REALLY important point. I have personally visited schools where they changed to better curriculum and reported that referrals to the principal went down. Because more kids were academically successful and/or engaged by the strong…
Last year a low achieving reader had a behavior plan that gave him three “strategies” to use in class. All three of them were hot passes to other places in the building with snacks. Then everyone wondered why he wouldn’t stay in class 🤦♀️ Let me teach him to READ!
"Altruistic Gaslighting": Using Social-Emotional Learning to manage trauma from inadequate reading programs. Teaching kids to manage emotions, calm down, and avoid disruption while adults project nobility, love, and care, without addressing the daily trauma of illiteracy.
Making the shift to the Science of Reading takes real COURAGE. 📖 Teachers must break the cycle & swim upstream—for kids. 🗣️ Parents must ditch groupthink & speak up. There’s nothing more important than fighting for children’s right to read. @reading_league #LiteracyMatters
"Don’t sell out kids for acceptance. Fear of being disliked stops many from questioning school policies/practices or working across divides. Careerism & cowardice as priorities hurt kids. Be the adult kids need—lion or dove, just not a herd-follower using approval as a pacifier.
This is why we can't have nice things... I came across the poster on a teacher’s Facebook page the other day—she has nearly 200,000 followers—and many teachers were eager to use it. Several educators gently warned, “Please don’t share or use this; it’s not backed by science.”…