Aha! 8 Light Bulb Moments For Teachers of Reading in Maine

In 2016, I helped train teachers from three schools in Maine (1 public, 1 independent, 1 parochial) in Jolly Phonics, a UK-style synthetic phonics program, relatively novel at the time in the United States. Subsequently, they experienced great success in their classrooms and word got around about their students' remarkable gains. The new concepts of teaching reading and spelling through a sounds-to-print approach spread to many other schools throughout the state. This presentation highlights eight “Aha!” moments that teachers have shared with me about their experiences over the last eight years as I have journeyed with them using sounds-to-print phonics in Maine schools.