Revolutionize Classroom Instruction

Join passionate educators who transform their classrooms w/research from the fields of science, psychology and athletics.

Athletic coaches know how to design practice to produce top performance.

We can do the same in the English classroom.

Why our strategies work?

Brain-Based Instruction

The brain possesses several basic impulses that should direct our instruction choices.

Concrete feedback for Students

The timeliness of feedback increases the likelihood that the skill becomes part of a permanent long-term memory.

Intellectual access to all students

Create instruction so all students can understand and practice the reading and writing movements of the most skilled minds.

TEA Approved CPE Provider

Workshop & Courses

Join our workshop virtually or in-person

What we Provide

Workshops & Courses

Our workshops guide teachers through the actual activities designed for students. Teachers will experience the same level of movement and concrete feedback about the reading and writing “Plays” that we provide for our own students. Our strategies are anchored in brain research and used with actual students.

Consulting Services

We consult with individual schools and design workshops for their humanities teachers. We use your content to shape the professional development so it’s specific to your needs. We also provide individual coaching for teachers.
 
 

Resources

Teachers who attend our workshops and buy our books have access to additional student samples and on-going variations of our activities.
 
 
 
 

Frequently Asked Questions

How can your strategies help my students avoid plot summary?

Once you teach students what the “L2 Play” means, they can quickly discern between plot and an interpretive idea.  When giving feedback to students who are merely re-telling the details of the story, you’ll just say, “I haven’t heard any L2–increase the quantity.”

Since all levels of students can learn the basic L1 and L2 plays, a classroom of mixed ability with each play works well.  Arranging groups with a student just learning the L1 play with a more advanced student can be of benefit to both–the weaker seeing a more skilled execution of the play and the stronger being forced to explain why the play is successful builds both sets of memory networks. 

The effectiveness of the “Plays” is their simplicity and clarity.  They turn what seems for some a mysterious power of interpretation into an intellectual movement that is concrete and observable. 

Yes– the interpretive strategies work with all texts – no need to change a system when approaching a poem or a cartoon or a nonfiction text.

Our primary graphic organizer the Evidence-Association Chart visualizes for students the basic movements of reading and provides the data for piecing together sentences, paragraphs, and whole essays.  The Paragraph Chart focuses more precisely on four concrete plays that develop unity and coherence inside the paragraph.   Our math/science students particular enjoy the structured data collection and alignment the organizers provide. 

Clarity. Model. Repetition. Feedback

  1. Isolate 2-3 “Plays” that are important for your students’ success; make sure that the procedure for implementing the play is clear.
  2. Provide a model for students to imitate.
  3. Create single lessons to practice a “Play” and provide immediate feedback as students attempt to execute it.

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