HACKING THE BRAIN’S BACKDOOR A neuroscience-based approach to reading instruction. Learn More
Multisensory Phonics Instruction
Rooted in the Science of Reading
Twice the Reading Gain in Half the Time….
Phonics with the Brain in Mind!
Secret Stories® are the “secret” reasons WHY letters get together and make the many different sounds that they do.
They offer logical explanations for letter sound behavior that learners’ brains crave!
Rooted in the science of reading and cognitive neuroscience research,
Secret Stories® targets backdoor learning channels to accelerate phonics skill mastery for reading and writing.
Secret Stories® works seamlessly with any reading curriculum or phonics program to fast-track
the critical “code-based” phonics skills needed to read and write—while fitting perfectly into existing instruction.
“I share it with EVERY teacher I meet because I know the difference it makes!”
– Heather, a First Grade Teacher in Lake Worth, Florida
Not skills kids have to learn, but “secrets” they want to know!
“I would tell any elementary grade teacher the following – These are the most useful and interactive posters I have in my classroom. If nothing else goes on your walls, hang these posters!!!”
– Jenifer, Second Grade Teacher in Wellington, Florida
“I have been a kindergarten teacher more years than I can count, and the strategies you shared in workshop were of more use to me, and more beneficial to my students, than anything I have ever brought back to my classroom! Thank you for revitalizing my year!”
– Carolyn, Kindergarten Teacher in Burbank, California
“Secret Stories are the life-blood of our classroom. They are always in view, always a part of our whole and small group conversations. We couldn’t read words without them.”
– Tara, First Grade Teacher in Parkersburg, West Virginia
“I first heard about the Secret Stories at a LETRS training for principals and immediately purchased them for my staff. The Secrets have now made their way into the main office, as I now have a ‘Wall of Secrets’ outside my door! Students just love to share them with myself and my assistant principal, and I am thrilled to see my teachers feeling so confident and rejuvenated about teaching reading!”
– Paul, Elementary Principal in Dallas, Texas
NEW PRODUCTS!
“Heavy Duty” Decorative Phonics Flashcards
These 6×6 inch “heavy duty” decorative phonics flash cards have the Secret Stories® graphics on one side and the abridged “secret” phonics stories on the other, making them the perfect supplement to any of the Secret Stories® Classroom or Parent/Homeschool Kits.
Secret Stories® “Decorative Squares” Phonics Kit (for Classroom & Parent/Homeschool Use)
This 12×12 inch phonics posters in whimsical shades of pink, blue, yellow, green and lavender are included in the new “Decorative Squares” Kit, along with the Secret Stories® Book and Musical Sound-Drill/Brainteaser Songs phonics download (Posters may also be purchased separately for those who already have the book and music download.)
What is phonics and phonemic awareness?
Phonics is a method for teaching reading and writing that is based on the alphabetic principle—the understanding that letters represent sounds that form words. Phonics instruction requires developing learners’ phonemic awareness, which is the ability to hear, identify, and manipulate sound patterns (phonemes) in order to teach the corresponding spelling patterns (graphemes) that represent them. Read More
Is phonics important in learning to read?
Phonics is important in learning to read and write because letter-sound knowledge is the foundation needed to build up reading and writing abilities. Written language is like a code that kids must crack and phonics is the key to cracking it. Read More
When do kids learn phonics?
Kids learn phonics at the beginning grade levels, with the traditional path for phonics instruction often spanning multiple grade level years, from prekindergarten to second or even third grade. Learning phonics in kindergarten means learning that the letter /y/ makes the sound “yuh,” but it’s typically not until second grade that they learn it can also make the sounds of /e/ and /i/. Read More
A Brain Based Approach to Teaching Reading
Secret Stories® is a brain based solution to the age-old problem of how to teach meaningless phonics skills in a meaningful way. By cloaking skills as “secrets” that learners want to know, they are easy to teach and can be shared as needed— whenever and wherever they are encountered, allowing for immediate transfer to reading and writing.
By targeting reading instruction to the earlier-developing social and emotional centers in the brain, Secret Stories® makes high-leverage phonics skills easily accessible to beginning and struggling readers, alike, making it one of the most highly effective reading instruction concepts available to educators. View the Research.
How Secret Stories® Phonics Works
Activating “Backdoor” Social Emotional Learning Channels
with Multisensory Reading Instruction
Visual Learning
SEE IT
SEE the picture to identify the sound patterns for reading and spelling patterns for writing/spelling.
Auditory Learning
SAY IT
SAY the story to recall the sounds that letters make when they get together.
Kinesthetic Learning
DO IT
DO the actions to engage muscle memory for easy phonological processing and nonconscious skill retrieval.
DO the Better Alphabet Song to fast track mastery of individual letters and sounds—taking just 2 weeks to 2 months.
Affective Learning
FEEL IT
FEEL the emotional connections by acting out letter sound behaviors through role play to activate the brain’s emotional systems for deeper learning and increased learner engagement.
“It is neurobiologically impossible to think deeply about things you don’t care about.” — Dr. Helen Immordino-Yang
Not More, Just Better
Secret Stories® makes learning to read go warp-speed!
Secrets are the “keys” kids need to “unlock” words all day long, in all subject areas.
They are always there, always teaching….
living in between the reading and writing they’re already doing every day!
TEACH READING SMARTER, NOT HARDER…
You’re already singing the alphabet…. so why not sing the “Better” Alphabet?
You’re already talking about words on the calendar…. so why talk about the Secrets that are in them?
You’re already telling stories…. so why not tell “secret” stories?
You’re already modeling how to write words….. so why not model how to spell them with Secrets?
You’re already studying letter sounds in word work activities…. so why not study their “secret” sounds?
You’re already teaching how to “read” words in guided reading…. so why not teach the Secrets needed to decode them?
You’re already teaching vocabulary words in math…. so why teach the Secrets that are in them?
You’re already “memorizing” sight word lists…. so why not just teach the Secrets kids need to READ them! Learn More
Secret Stories® transforms daily phonics instruction into child’s play.
It’s not “one more thing” you have to teach; but the one thing you won’t ever want to teach without!
“Memory-Enhancers” in the Brain
Secret Stories® act as strong “memory-holding” templates in the brain,
providing a much-needed framework for memory construction.
Stories are easy to remember because stories are how we remember, making them easy to teach and to learn.
The fact that they are “secrets” makes them important to kids, marking them for memory and prioritized learning in the brain.
Learn More about the Secret Stories® Phonics Method.
Using Brain Science to Accelerate Reading and Writing Skill Mastery
Secret Stories® Breaks Down the Grade Level Walls that Delay Learner-Access to the Code!
“Three to four grade level years is too long to make learners wait for the whole code!” —Katie Garner
It’s amazing what kindergartners can do
when they have ALL of the reading code!
Writing Improves Reading
Using Writing as a “Window” into the Mind of a Reader
Secret Stories® gives kids more tools to bring to the reading and writing table so that they can take the maximum instructional value away each day!
The guiding premise behind Secret Stories® is that there is no reason to teach phonics aside from using it to read and to write, which is why kids need more of the code earlier on. Reading and writing in kindergarten with only a letter a week is impossible.
About the Author, Katie Garner, M.Ed.
Katie Garner, M.Ed., (author of best-selling book, Secret Stories® Cracking the Reading Code with the Brain in Mind) is an internationally known speaker, author, and literacy consultant with over twenty-five years of experience working in elementary grade classrooms across the US, and a passion for infusing neuroscience into literacy and learning. Her “backdoor-to-the-brain” approach to accelerated phonics skill mastery, via the affective (social-emotional) learning networks, shifts the paradigms associated with traditional, reading skill instruction, and has been shared in both lecture and panel discussion at Harvard and M.I.T. Attend a Phonics Workshop or Check Katie’s Speaking Schedule
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Teaching Phonics with the 🧠 Brain in Mind
January 23rd, 1:09 pm
Not effectively. You need the posters. Well your kids do. The goal is for THEM to use it when THEY need it to read and write. The digital resources are great but are only meant as a supplement if needed. All you need to really get going is the book and posters. That’s it
You need the posters and book, which comes with a kit.
I am very happy with my purchase of the wall posters and the small cards. So happy to have Both and worth the money
You don't need anything else except the classroom kit (book with 12x12 posters). Everything else is a bonus, the posters are the most important because students need to be able to reference them all the time. The book has the specific story with the actions.
January 26th, 9:18 am
New threw flew few
Feud Leud lieu lieutenant queued
You’re right…most words are quite long like in pneumonia. What about…deuce and feud?
Europe, fuel, queue are a few I can think of.
I found the origin but yes, most words won't be used until they are older! from Greek, where it has the meaning "good, well''. This meaning is found in such words as: eulogy, euphemism, euphoria, euthanasia.
You're definitely right that there are very few /eu/ that beginning readers are likely to come across....unless you have a Eunice in your class, lol! However, it is a necessary piece of the code for older, struggling readers to own in order to read words like those in the comments below. As for why /ue/ isn't used instead…it's because unlike /eu/ — which kids could NOT decode without the Secret, /ue/ would be easily decodable as it would simply default to the “catch-all” of 2 vowels walking (which accounts for the leftover vowel pairs that aren’t accounted for with Secrets). Great question though!😊
Eugene, maneuver, neuron, neuter, sleuth, eureka!
Family Feud game in Europe?
My 5th graders have come across these EU words. Europe, feud, lieu, maneuver, neutral, neutron, pneumonia, sleuth, therapeutic, pseudonym, maneuver.
PHEW let me get out of here. That stinks.
I am a reading specialist for K -2… my students needed a way to remember what sound “ue” as in the words clue, blue, etc. so I just carefully cut out the “eu” and just reattached to say “ue”. Problem solved for where I was at with my students. I try not to clutter their minds with things that I know they will not need until years later… Hey, I just need my kids to decode words the best that they can with any trick / reminder I can find. UE can say long “u” and /oo/ I needed help with /oo/. When it works … I use it !!!
I teach Kindergarten so we don’t use EU often. I wrote UE on my “eu” “ew” poster. When we do secret stories games, they know all three make the sound even though we only use two of them.
I’m glad it wasn’t just me who wondered! Thank you for asking.
First grade—we studied neurons just last week 👍👍
Europe. Euro.
Feud.
Few
Feud
Catholic school: Eucharist!
Europe
I was just thinking this yesterday that ue should be added to this poster !!
Glue, chew, clue
January 26th, 8:58 am
January 25th, 1:05 pm
Tracey Tromley Nowaskie Brittany Helms Ashley Seal Lindsey Freyberger Krista Swartzentruber Natalie Knepp Amy Kavanaugh
Thanks so much for sharing!
Wow!! Thanks!!
Natalie Rudolph-Bakken
Thanks
💜💜 awesome!!! Thank you!!!
How do people use this in kindergarten?
Thank you!!!
Awesome!! Thank you ♥️
Yay!!! Thank you!!
This is so fantastic!! I cannot wait to start using these!!! Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Danell Brown Anderson
Aimee and Rachel 😍 I was about to create something similar and they were nice enough to share. LOVE
Lillian Sandoval
