Really Great Reading Reviews & Testimonials

Really Great Reading Reviews & Testimonials

Each day at Really Great Reading we work with the explicit goal of supporting teachers and providing training and instructional materials that will result in the best student outcomes. There is nothing that makes us happier than knowing that we have made an impact. Thank you teachers for taking the time to teach reading and for sharing your experiences with us! 

 

Professional Development Testimonials 

I am a 5th grade teacher, so I don’t really have the opportunity to necessarily teach students to read. I get to help them improve on their skills, but not actually break it down to teach them how.  I can’t stress enough how incredible this program was for me. I was so impressed on how quick the kiddos were to picking up and thriving with the finger stretches! The lessons were engaging, motivating, and I could really see my student’s reading skills and even more importantly their confidence explode. What a remarkable feeling it gave me! I can’t thank you enough for your SOAR program. I really hope our district has this opportunity again next year too for summer school. I had several students pass their sight word lists and all improved with their fluency! A+++++++++++ 

- Robyn, Kansas

Thank you SO much! This was one of the best PD webinars that I've done! My biggest take away was learning the difference between graphemes and letters. I also feel that moving towards orthographic mapping is going to make a huge difference with my readers! THANK YOU!

— Rachel, Massachusetts

You did a better job explaining orthographic mapping than anything else I have watched/read.

— JenOhio

I had several "aha" moments! Voiced and unvoiced pairs, letter names and their relationship to their sounds, WE SPELL WITH GRAPHEMES! Thank you SO much, I am a new teacher and this reignites my passion for early literacy and inspires me!!!!

— Adrianna, Ontario

This was GREAT! As an administrator I will encourage all of my reading teachers to attend those training. Thank you.

— Brenda, Maryland

Most worthwhile training I have had hands down. Thank you

— Ricki, Nevada

LOVE LOVE LOVE these webinars - you have opened my eyes to a much better way of teaching literacy. Seriously want to run back into the classroom and infuse it with this wonderful learning. Thank you so much!

— Amy, New South Wales

I love the new way to teach syllable division, with the simple objective to just decode the word. No more rules! This was another truly amazing webinar. I learned so much! THANK YOU!!

— Rachel, Massachusetts

I've learned more about teaching reading in this presentation than in all 2 of my master's degree programs. THANK YOU!!!

— Mona, Missouri

Bottom line, this give me great hope for my struggling 3rd graders!

— Debra, Oregon

One of the biggest takeaways for myself is that in your 3 hour presentation, it is the MOST information I've EVER received on how to teach young children to read. Another takeaway was that being able to SEE how to teach the concepts was invaluable.

— Liz, Ontario

I definitely have a better understanding of closed syllables and the why of teaching them. So excited to share all I've learned with my co-workers and hopefully have them take the webinars.

— Doreen, Ontario

There were so many take-aways, but the Scarborough’s rope stuck with me a lot. I teach special Ed and I have so many that struggle with different parts of reading. That model helps me understand gaps that I can help to fill in reading, and how to explain gaps in reading to parents.

— Shae, Missouri

After the first session, I started using the signs for short vowel sounds. It's amazing how quickly my students caught on and how we use it daily.

— Shawn, Texas

Thank you so much! I was just commenting to my friend that is here with me that i can't believe this webinar was free! SO MUCH here for me. I am excited to get into tomorrow, and so sad for my previous students that i didn't have these techniques before.

— Abby, Indiana

I can continue to help my 4th graders work on orthographic mapping. It's not too late to improve their phonemic skills!

— Emma, North Carolina

I stumbled across Really Great Reading through the Measured Mom Blog I believe and I am beyond thrilled! I teach kindergarten and use Heggerty daily along with my training in unlocking the reading code and evidence based literacy instruction. I am also currently working on my LETRS training. Your 3 part workshop in addition to the SOR into Summer School and Erasing the Misery of Teaching should be mandatory for any teacher teaching anything grades PreK-4. I am blown away at all that I have learned. Our Title I teacher ordered a kindergarten and first grade kit for intervention but after doing your training I begged my principal to make it mandatory at our K-2 building. The lessons are not only fantastic the teaching strategies are so positive and explicit. I have been gobbling up books on the science of reading for several years BUT BY FAR your programs are the most streamlined and efficient. Our district does ACADIENCE and my scores have always been really good BUT I can't wait to see the difference using this. My principal is adding it to the ESSER grant.

— Hope

I've learned these tenets in my LETRS class. However, the reinforcement of terms in SOR is key. The word 'excitation' is new for me and it's a great understanding. This added to my knowledge of SOR.

— A'isha, Washington DC

This training would be very beneficial to all K-3 teachers.

— Nicole, Arizona

This was the most informative course I have ever taken. I have learned more about reading in this course then I have in 10 years of teaching. Thank you so much.

— Kata, Ontario 

This has been a wonderful consolidation of the importance of explicitly teaching along the phonological and phonemic awareness continuum. Thank you!

— Catherine, Alberta

I'm so glad this research is being brought to the forefront! If 40% of our students will not be fully literate without a systematic approach, we really need to be making a change, and I'm so happy this change is happening!

— Leana, Washington

You deepened my basic understanding of this type of literacy instruction and made me feel more confident in the language and practices. Thanks!

— Katherine, California

This was FANTASTIC! Thank you! I was wondering how I was going to sit through 3 hrs after a day of teaching - well, it was so engaging and clear that it flew by! Thank you!

— Doreen, Ontario

Mind blowing! when we know better, we do better. Thank you!

— Jennifer, Ontario

I can continue to help my 4th graders work on orthographic mapping. It's not too late to improve their phonemic skills!

— Emma, North Carolina

 

Assessments & Grouping

This [Diagnostic Decoding Surveys] is the most polished little instrument in existence, and many people are grateful that you have shared it.

— Louisa M., National Reading Expert

I'm in RTI training through the local Ed. Service District and our trainer hadn't heard of the RGR Survey… so I gave him a copy I had with me. He was really impressed by it… RGR has become, for Hoover Elementary, our universal screener. The Grouping Matrix is incredible -- our district has made extensive use of it and I love the curriculum placement that it offers!

— Mari Lyn S., Reading Interventionist

I am amazed at the ease of using the Grouping Matrix! Thanks for making a tool so easy to use and understand and for having it available at no cost.

— Karen R., Literacy Coach

We are just starting in the RtI process and are looking for new assessments to place primary students into the proper programs in tiers…. I used the Beginning Decoding Survey [with] these second grade students and just loved it.

— Karen R., K-2 Literacy Coach

 

Phonics Instruction 

I’m using your program in some of my 2nd and 3rd grade interventions, and we’re having fantastic results! The vast majority of our kids are reading with at least 97% accuracy

— Stacey B., Content Leader

Last week I began teaching Phonics Boost to a 54-year-old guy who says he got off track with reading when his teacher said there were 5 vowels and then began to name them…. He admits that he never really learned to read, but he did manage to memorize a few words – just enough to get by.We began the Boost lessons last week and got through Lesson 6 this morning. He is doing great! … This morning [he] told me that this is the first time in his life that he feels proud of himself.

— Karen C., Dyslexia Specialist

We have been using the (Phonics Suite) materials for a few weeks now and it is amazing how much progress the students are making!

— Amy L., Teacher

I wanted to keep you updated on our progress with our implementation.  I was at Kendrick Lakes last week for their data team discussion and student progress reporting.  In just three weeks of instruction, their 4th grade groups have doubled their WCPM and increased their accuracy significantly with similar trends in the other grade levels!  Stein is reporting similar performance across their building as well...  Of course they shared this growth at our last area principal/coach meeting.  All of a sudden, the other three schools that have been a tad sluggish in getting after implementation are now chomping at the bit to do a better job.

— Melody I., Literacy Coordinator

I am doing your program with a 3rd grader…. At first his accuracy scores flat lined below 90%.  Now they are usually in the Way to Go section. [I] showed his mom the history of his chart.  [It] was powerful....right around September you could see a huge jump.  They had parent conferences in November. For the first time ever, she had wonderful reports of how well [her son] is doing. [We] were high fiving each other and "dancing round the kitchen." His reading teacher came to observe me the other week and was amazed at the difficulty of the words he was decoding.  She said she would have to think about this as she now believed that she hasn't been challenging him enough.

— Sue G.

In a short period of time, we have improved outcomes for children and have the data to prove it! This implementation is closing the achievement gap in our district. Our children are reading and being successful. The training provided my teachers with a solid foundation – they were able to come back the very next day and begin implementing this program successfully to change the lives of children…We are a Phonics Suite school!

— Rick H., Superintendent

This year my school adopted Phonics Boost to use as our intervention program. I have absolutely fallen in love with your program! We have experienced so much success. The kids are reading with 98-100% accuracy and their reading rates have also improved. I have used Scott Foresman ERI, Voyager Passport, Read Well, and the Elements of Reading kits. None have had the level of explicit, direct, and systematic phonics instruction that your program provides.

— Elizabeth N., Reading Specialist

Really Great Reading has changed the way we think about our adolescent struggling readers. We must be able to provide an intervention to ensure these children are able to graduate from our schools reading, comprehending, and ready to participate in the 21st century. This is the tool we have been looking for!

— Jack W., Superintendent

The atmosphere was so safe. Students had difficulty reading and the other students were very encouraging and patient. Of course, that is a credit to the teacher, but still – the students must be seeing success to work so hard at something. These are some pretty tough, normally ‘unsuccessful’ students and you would think they were being paid to behave so well. They were fighting over being the reader, everyone participating and engaged in the lesson, taking notes – high school kids.

— Linda H., Curriculum and Instruction Director

We have been using the (Phonics Suite) materials for a few weeks now and it is amazing how much progress the students are making!

— Amy L., Teacher

I would like to give great applause to…all the staff that is working with all the students in the Phonics Boost program at Dundee Crown Highs School. My oldest son has a form of Dyslexia. He had gotten to a point in school that he couldn't compensate on his own. The Special Ed. team suggested putting him in a remedial reading program to fill in the gaps he missed along the way of his earlier education. Now, he has mentioned to me how much he noticed that reading and comprehension have gotten easier for him and are not such a struggle.

— Carla M., parent of a student receiving Boost lessons

During class our students continue to make wonderful progress. Our most ADHD student who is incredibly dyslexic was overheard talking to another student at an assembly saying, “I didn’t really like the idea of getting pulled out from my [old] reading class, but [my new reading class] it’s really making a difference.” Another of our students, a senior, told adults at an LD Simulation that she finally started getting help in learning to read this year. She wishes that she had gotten this program earlier but is thankful that she’s in it now.

— Linda M., RtI Coach

We have been using the (Phonics Suite) materials for a few weeks now and it is amazing how much progress the students are making!

— Amy L., Teacher

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