The Science of Reading for Grades 4-12 with Katie & Jen
Welcome to the Science of Reading Podcast for grades 4-12! Your hosts, Dr. Katie McKnight and Dr. Jenny French created this podcast especially for 4th -12th grade teachers, literacy coaches and school and district leaders who need the information, tools and resources to grow students’ literacy achievement.
September 8, 2024
Reading Comprehension in the Content Areas
June 8, 2024
Building Fluency in Grades 4-12
April 14, 2024
Background Knowledge Means Better Comprehension
March 6, 2024
Building a Successful Summer School Program
January 30, 2024
The Science of Reading for Adolescents
Engaging Learners inspires educators with professional learning solutions that sets the stage for student literacy growth.
The result—confident readers and writers ready to thrive.
"We have been on a short but steep improvement trajectory over the past three years, thanks in part to your learning center strategies and a curriculum that is well-aligned to the performance expectations of our students. I seriously told my superintendent not to be surprised if the State Department of Ed investigated us for cheating on the state testing because I have NEVER witnessed double-digit jumps in proficiency from year to year as we have experienced here."
– David Powers | Principal, Schoolcraft Middle School, MI
"We have been fortunate to have Katie work with teachers throughout our district for several years now. She brings fresh ideas that are supported by authentic research. Our teachers always leave with something viable to use in their classrooms the very next day. Katie McKnight is definitely a ‘teacher's teacher’."
– Edie Emery | Instructional Specialist, Murfreesboro, TN
"Katie McKnight has made the job of being a teacher in today’s world do-able. The strategies she shares have improved instruction in our district tremendously! Katie’s sense of humor and realistic approach to teaching has resonated with our educators. The Title I school where she began her work in our district has skyrocketed. In fact, they received the highest scores in the district on our standardized achievement tests this past spring. She has made a difference for our teachers and our students."
– Holly Edds, Ed.D. | Superintendent, Orcutt Union School District, CA
"Katie's dynamic personality and engaging professional development sessions have been the catalysts for some amazing steps in our school's curriculum."
– Elizabeth Knost | English teacher, Anderson, IN
Customized professional learning solutions to engage schools, transform teachers, and impact learners. Engaging Learners approaches professional learning differently. Here’s how:
We build our solutions based on your needs instead of pre-packaged workshops. This includes coaching, virtual planning, online courses, customized PD, and more.
Our professional learning is flexible, timely, and relevant, and is delivered by expert educators and practitioners who are experienced in working with systems and schools across the globe.
Schools have different goals and PD should address those specific needs. Sometimes on-site PD isn’t the best option, and our suite of services and products can be customized to meet you where you are.
You want to do one or more:
Improve student literacy at the classroom level
Create a school-wide literacy plan
Find better assessment techniques
Inspire growth mindset for students and teachers
Differentiate instruction
Develop a rigorous, standards-aligned curriculum
Explore interdisciplinary literacy (including the math-literacy connection!)
Involve parents and community in student literacy
Reach out for a free Engaging Learners consultation to explore:
Onsite professional development
1-day and 2-day workshops
short-term ongoing collaborative guidance
long-term ongoing collaborative guidance
Remote teacher support and customized webinars
Online support tools for implementing the Literacy & Learning Center model
Budget considerations and grant writing
Engage with Engaging Learners and:
Record impressive student literacy gains
Turn your school into a collaborative learning environment
Use evaluation strategies that effectively communicate student growth, meaningfully develop student skills, and foster student empowerment
Improve learning in all the content areas
Close the achievement gap in your school and in your community
The Engaging Learners 3-Step Plan for Success
WHY - Learn why your school/district might need to reimagine its literacy plan and learning environments
HOW - Discover the most effective ways to adapt instruction
MEASURE RESULTS - Collect data and determine the impact of your instructional practices
Our most popular à la carte PD topics:
Literacy & Learning Centers™
Developing Literacy in the Disciplines
Short, Short, BIG! Teaching Evidence-Based Writing
Differentiated Instruction
Hands-on Grammar and Vocabulary
Merging Literacy and Self-Regulation
Yes, And: Developing Social-Emotional Learning with Academic Skills
Curriculum/Standards Alignment
Descriptive Feedback for Students
Administrators trust us, teachers love us, and student achievement soars.
Our presenters' research and professional focus includes: inclusive classrooms, using multimodal instruction strategies, interdisciplinary literacy, the math-literacy connection, differentiated instruction, growth mindset, gifted learning, administration and teacher support, curriculum development and standards alignment, and grant writing – all with a focus on closing the student achievement gap.
Engaging Learners offers professional development on a wide variety of topics, and provides practical, classroom tested strategies for advancing K-12 literacy in every school.