Making Words Stick

The adult reader instantly recognizes 50,000 words. How did they get there? Through orthographic mapping - a process in which a word’s meaning, appearance, and sound structure become glued together for instant recognition. Aligned with Dr. Ness’s 2025 Scholastic book Making Words Stick, this session does the following explains how to make words stick and transfer for students.

Building Language Comprehension through Read Alouds

What is the role of read alouds in the science of reading? What does the most current research show about the linguistic, socioemotional, academic, and even physiological benefits of read alouds? Based on Dr. Ness’s 2023 book Read Alouds for All Learners, this presentation focuses on maximizing the potential of read alouds across the content areas, by building vocabulary, and thinking aloud to support comprehension. 

The Miracle of Reading: The Reading Brain 

Reading is perhaps the most impactful human development. In this session, we explore how explicit instruction creates the neural pathways of the reading brain. Using the long-standing body of reading research, this session unpacks the skills needed for proficient reading and overviews what classroom instruction guided by the science of reading looks like.

Effective Comprehension Instruction: Both Strategies and Knowledge

Ever find yourself saying, “My kids can’t comprehend this”? The ultimate outcome of reading, comprehension is complex and nuanced. This session asks the following: What comprehension strategies? When, why, and how? We unpack the most impactful comprehension strategies, in conjunction with background knowledge building and activation.  

My What Big Words You Use: Effective and Engaging Vocabulary Instruction

Banish your vocabulary work books and learn how to select and teach vocabulary that is relevant, useful, and engaging to students. Our focus will be both on Tier 2 words and on effective word study, with the end goal being transfer to independent reading and writing.

Supporting Students’ Comprehension through Think Alouds

Purposeful readers think about their own reading as they navigate through a text. Based on Dr. Ness’s Think Book with Think Alouds (Corwin, 2017), we focus on building students’ comprehension and metacognition. The aim is to transform passive readers into engaged, metacognitive readers with improved comprehension, engagement, and text retention.