HACKING THE BRAIN’S BACKDOOR A neuroscience-based approach to reading instruction. Learn More
A Multisensory Phonics Approach 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!
“Mini-Square” Phonics Flashcards
These 6×6 inch 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 pastel colors of pink, blue, yellow, green and lavender are included in the new “Decorative Squares” Kit, along with the Secret Stories® Book and Musical Brain Teasers™ phonics download (Posters may also be purchased separately.)
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 decode words in guided reading…. so why not teach the Secrets that are 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 words…. so why teach the Secrets kids need to actually 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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Secret Stories® Support Group on Facebook
Teaching Phonics with the 🧠 Brain in Mind
State - NC Grade - Kindergarten I love how the teachers encourage and help each other in using Secret Stories in their classrooms.
Arkansas 3rd grade I’ve been using the secrets for four years - 1st and 3rd grade. I love to see how other people use them with their students. I also love to encourage you to still use them with your older students. My third graders love them. They have had them since first grade,and I can really tell a difference. ❤️
-State - KY -Grade levels Secret Stories used with k-12 -Number of years SS used: 13 years -Positions held where SS was used to support students and teachers: Intervention groups, one to one lessons, used to support a k-6 elementary school staff during Read to Achieve (RTA) Grant to increase literacy skills, District Literacy Leader position used most often k-4 but also in 5th- 8th grade and high school language arts classrooms with struggling readers, and currently beginning to use in virtual learning videos to support teachers and students. --Secret stories is a key factor in helping students learn to look for larger chunks in words to more efficiently break unknown words which leads to becoming a more fluent reader. This also aides students in breaking unknown vocabulary words. Both of these increase comprehension. -Readers need a "Toolbox" of strategies to become a good reader. Secret Stories is a one of the strategies that should always be in their "reading toolbox"!
Arizona, resource teacher k-5
West Virginia, Kindergarten teacher...I have been using secret stories for 5 years.
West Virginia Title 1 4 years
Monterrey, Mexico PreK and K 9 years using SS
Hi!! Maryland First Grade 4years!
Florida Kdg, 1st grade, and Title 1 intervention groups 15 years
Hello everyone I live in Oklahoma and teach 1st grade. I have been using Secret Stories for 2 1/2 years and couldn’t imagine teaching without them.
Hi! I’m Jessica Land. I teach 5th grade. I’ve been using The Secret Stories for one year. And it is fabulous!! ❤️ Also, I live in Georgia.
Hi! I am Lori Belflower from Georgia. I have taught 5th, 3rd, and K. I have been using Secret Stories approximately 7 years.
I’m in Arkansas, a Reading Specialist that has been using Secret Stories for around 6 years or possibly longer. 🤷♀️😜 First heard Katie at a conference in Little Rock and was amazed by what she was presenting...also used her stories to write a paper and have shared them with all of my colleagues! They go so well with the Science of Reading...my students love them but most importantly, they remember them! ❤️❤️❤️
WA State Kindergarten I have been using the Secrets for 6 years and can't say enough about the growth my students make with the "GIFT" that is the Secret Stories! I can't imagine teaching without them!!
WV Academic Coach PreK-3 I’ve been using The Secret Stories for 4 1/2 years and I am in love with them! I’ve helped teachers all over my district learn to use them better in their classrooms after they learned what they are from Katie herself. I can’t imagine teaching without them either!
Karrie Kehrig Michigan 1st grade I have been using Secret Stories for 8 years now and can’t imagine teaching my students to read and write without them🥰!!
Hello, I am Joan from Texas. I’ve taught for 28 years, been a Lead Teacher, Mentor Teacher, Teacher of the Year, among other awards and recognitions. I have used Secret Stories since I learned about them many years ago. My kindergarten students have been so successful in reading since using S.S. and this is including ESL students and in a Title 1 school. I have found Secret Stories to be so much fun to implement and so exciting for students. 💕
Florida First Grade A really long time🤣
Hi! I’m from Georgia. I’ve taught pre-k, first grade, k-1 class and now I’m back in kindergarten!! I’ve used the secrets for about 7 years and often wonder how I ever taught without them!!! ❤️
Western Washington. Kindergarten. I've been using Secret Stories for at least 5 years maybe more. I did a few blog posts for Katie a few years ago about how amazing they are and the impact they have with English Language learners
West Virginia, 1 st grade teacher using the Secret Stories ®️ for 6 years!
Laura Smith. Teach in NJ. I’ve been teaching 19 years and have been using Secret Stories for 5 years and I love them!!!
Hi. I'm Jeanice. Currently, I teach kindergarten in Beaverton, Michigan. I've been using the Secret Stories with my kindergarteners for 6 years. This is my 21st year of teaching. I've also taught first grade (4 years) and second grade (11 years).
Hello🥰! I’m Renee McAnulty! I’m from California. I teach 1st grade and I have had the honor of using Secret Stories for 8 years,
Hi! My name is Debbie DeWees. I teach in West Virginia! I am formerly a Title I Interventionist and now Reading Resource. I have been moving kids with Secret Stories since 2007! ❤️❤️❤️
April 7th, 6:49 pm
Omg! I love the addition of those beloved characters! What a clever idea!!
Love, love love this!
Amazing!!!!!!!
Love the Mo Willems characters with your Secret Stories! Where did you get them?
How engaging!!
Inspiring !
I love it!!! This is my future set up when we're in person !!!
What font did you use for the Secret Stories header?
Oh my goodness!!! I love this so much! I have the old set of red posters. I’ve had them so long. I definitely am thinking I need to upgrade!
I love this!!
I love this!!
I love this! No I’ll be adjusting mine.🤣
Love.
So cute!!
Love the Secret Stories stuff but don’t have anything. What do you recommend to start with slowly? Do I understand they can be integrated with other reading programs?
These are amazing!
Looks great! I never would have thought of using s.s. in prek I worry it's too hard in K
Laura Ireland Newman look how cute.
Love the Mo Willems characters
Super cute set-up. Very cheerful. Have you thought how they will be taught since they are already posted? Have you considered maybe just having the vowels up for Pre-K and adding the more common ones as the weeks progress? Do you have an area where you can isolate one at a time? Just playing the Devil's advocate here - not meaning to be critical. These were just questions I had to work through this year before I used them in my 1st grade classroom.
Amy Fred Miller this is soooooo cute with the Mo Willems characters!
That looks great! I love the yellow background and your book characters 🥰
I love Piggie and Gerald! 😍
So cute! Where did you get that baby blue sofa??
Thanks for sharing! My SS just arrived and I can’t wait to put them up. Great arrangement.
Love it!
That is awesome, and thanks so much for sharing what you're doing with the Secret Stories® stickers, as it really does help others get their creative juices flowing!💗🧠💗 (On a side note, just make sure it's always set to "private" when using a 3rd party platform so it's only accessible by you/your class.😊)
Mandie Payne this is a neat idea if we got the stickers
I haven’t used SeeSaw. Is it user friendly?
Secret Stories® Ideas on Instagram
