www.TheSecretStories.

com

Teaching with the Brain-in-Mind!

Learning letters, sounds, and even complex phonics skills can be as simple as a game of “Pretend!”

The SHORT Esound is as easy as pretending to be a “little old lady who can’t hear,” the
SHORT U sound is no more difficult than pretending “not to know the answer to a
question,” and the sounds for Sneaky y® are as simple as knowing “how to behave
when you’re the line leader vs. the caboose!”

By aligning critical literacy skill instruction to how our brains actually learn best,
even the hardest phonics skills become easily accessible to all learners— regardless of
age!

CLICK HERE TO WATCH A VIDEO OVERVIEW

OF THE SECRET STORIES® ON THE
SECRET STORIES® YOUTUBE CHANNEL!
 ®
This TpT “mini-pack” is an excerpt from the SECRET STORIES® Classroom Kit
(Book, Posters & CD)
visit www.TheSecretStories.com.

A Note to Teachers-
If you already have the complete SECRET STORIES® Classroom Kit—
the supplemental “bits & pieces” of the SECET STORIES® offered on TpT as digital downloads
provide for added flexibility and targeted application of the SECRET STORIES® strategies that
kids love!
And if you don’t already have the complete SECRET STORIES® Classroom Kit—
these “bits& pieces” of it offered digitally on TpT are the perfect appetizers
to give you and your students a small taste of how easy teaching reading can
©2016 be! Inc.
Marenem,
 THE
SECRET
STORIES

THE V
SECRET
STORIES L
O
B G
L
O ....AND TIPS!

G
CLICK FOR
TEACHING
TRICKS...
www.TheSecretStories.com 4
The “Zoo Keeper” strategy works like a charm
to help beginning writers put down on paper all
of the sounds that they hear in the words that
they’re trying to write!

For more on how to best use this

strategy in the classroom, as well as how
to pair it with “M&M Quizzes” for
ultimate effectiveness, watch this video
blog. And for more, subscribe to the
SECRET STORIES® YouTube Channel.

You can also read more about this strategy (and see
examples from the classroom) in this
SECRET Blog post. http://thesecretstories.com
 What Do Good Writers and Good Zoo Keepers
Have in Common?

my
Zoo

©SecretStories.com By Katie Garner

Imagine that you are a zoo keeper…

My
Zoo

©SecretStories.com
 And one day,
all of your animals
ESCAPE!

©SecretStories.com
You can’t just go catch the bear and the
elephant and then call it a day!

What kind of zoo would you have with only a

bear and an elephant? ©SecretStories.com
 No, a good zoo keeper wil try to capture
as many animals as they possibly can!
©SecretStories.com
 And just like a good zoo keeper, good
WRITERS must always try to capture as
many SOUNDS (i.e. letters/SECRETS) as they
can in the words they want to WRITE!

©SecretStories.com
 Re d i t
C s

http://thesecretstories.com
 Kindergarten Writing
PROMPT:

“If you were a dolphin, where would

YOU be? ...On the coast, at a park, or
the deep blue sea??”

www.SecretStories.com
 A “Sampling” of SECRET STORIES®
If your class isn’t privy to the “grown-up” Reading & Writing SECRETS, here is
a small sampling for you to share!
You will be amazed at how quickly even the youngest learners start putting them
to use in reading, writing & spelling—
critically analyzing the most likely and next-most likely
sounds letters make in words and then
demanding to know the letters “SECRETS” when
they aren’t doing what they should!

for all the secret stories®, visit-

www.TheSecretStories.com
©2014 www.TheSecretStories.com
 ®2017 www.TheSecretStories.com
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©2014 www.TheSecretStories.com
®2017 www.TheSecretStories.com

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©2014 www.TheSecretStories.com
®2017 www.TheSecretStories.com

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©2014 www.TheSecretStories.com
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©2014 www.TheSecretStories.com
®2017 www.TheSecretStories.com
 Just click on each set to view!

More SECRET STORIES® on TpT!

for the complete secret stories classroom kit, go to-

www.TheSecretStories.com
 Transform KIDS into LETTERS and bring words to life!
The SECRET STORIES® Headband Sets!

Just click each set to view!

Click Here for SECRET STORIES® Guided Readers Titles!
 the
Common Core Standards
made
CLEAR!
CLICK FOR MORE COMMON CORE!

49
CLICK HERE for more Common Core!
www.TheSecretStories.com 52
“Freebies”
Get EVERYTHING in ONE place!
Subscribe free to the Secret Stories® Newsletter
for new links to FREE teaching resources and more!
Go to www.TheSecretStories.com and scroll down
to the bottom of the page to find the subscriber box!
Click Here to download FREE Common Core Literacy Poster Sets for PreK- 3rd Grades
Click Here to download FREE Common Core Science Poster Sets for PreK- 3rd Grades
Click Here to download the FREE Secret Stories® Shape Anchors!
Boost and extend early writing with this FREEBIE! The Zoo-Keeper
and M&M Strategies work like a charm for getting beginning
readers and writers who know the SECRETS to WRITE like they
READ— so as to easily connect sounds with letters and letter
patterns in text!

Click Here for the FREE ZooKeeper Writing Strategies

Click Here to Watch Video!
 Kindergarten Writing
PROMPT:

“If you were a dolphin, where would YOU

be? ...On the coast, at a park, or the deep blue
sea??”

Click Here to Learn How Writing is a “Window” Into the Mind of a Reader!

www.SecretStories.com
 Follow my Social Media!
Connect with me on social media for the best
too-neat-not-to-keep teaching tools, tricks and other
“BRAIN-CHANGING” teaching stuff!

https://twitter.com/
SecretStoriesKG
www.pinterest.com/ https://www.facebook.com/
rgarner1289/ TheSecretStories

INSTAGRAM VIDeos

https://www.instagram.com/
readingwritingsecr thesecretstories/
ets.blogspot.com/ https://www.youtube.com/
TheSecretStoriesVids

www.TheSecretStories.com
 www.KatieGarner.com

www.TheSecretStories.com