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Engage with Jake: Transform Your Next PD Day from “Mandatory” to Memorable.

Jake brings the perfect blend of science, strategy, and spark—delivering keynotes and PD sessions that leave educators inspired, equipped, and actually excited to implement new learning.

Discover why schools love working with Jake, explore keynote and breakout offerings, and secure your date for the upcoming season.

Check out the tabs below to hear from clients, explore offerings, and begin the booking process.

Direct Instruction Unpacked: Environment, Planning, & Rigor

Knowledge about the science of reading has made its way through thousands of schools over the past few years, and curriculum companies have followed suit with their edited and updated materials. However, what we continue to see is a challenge with our current generation of students: engagement. How do I make explicit, systematic instruction joyful? How do I make direct instruction inclusive for a classroom of diverse learners? How do I balance compliance with student-centered advocacy? Jake answers all this and more as he models how achievement is the ultimate catalyst for motivation.

Leading in Literacy: Developing a Laser Light Focus

Whether the literacy block is 60, 90, or 120 minutes, school districts across the country have been working tirelessly to adapt to new structured literacy requirements, practices, and strategies. As lead teachers, coaches, principals, and directors, developing a strategic plan that includes the path, pedagogy, and pupil in mind is crucial. Join Jake for a session in how we can bring teacher experience to the forefront and develop reachable, focused outcomes in elementary literacy.

A Daily, Interactive Phonics Block

Explore a sample, explicit phonics lesson that incorporates articulatory gestures and kinesthetic involvement throughout visual, auditory, blending, and dictation drills.

Sound Walls in K-3 Literacy

Do I need a word wall? Do I need a sound wall? How do I use a sound wall? What is the research on the use of mouth articulation images? Answer all these FAQs and more in Jake's exploration of both phonological and orthographic sound wall usage for K-2 classrooms.

Dictation: Reimagining Spelling Instruction

Are we still doing spelling tests? How does dictation work, and how often should I be doing it? What is the research behind it? Join Jake as he answers all these questions and more about the shift from memory-based spelling tests to daily dictation practice. Explore the importance of a speech to print approach, and get hands-on practice with key sound to spelling strategies for K-2 students.

Management Moves: Strategies for 100% Classroom Engagement

We know motivation is a key factor for academic success and increased executive functioning. Explore some kinesthetic ways to incorporate TPR, rhythm, and movement in your K-5 lessons with some new moves, grooves, and whole-body engagement with Jake!

Morphology in Tier 1” (Grades 3-5)

Prefixes, suffixes, base words -- how do we instruct these in a Tier 1 whole-group setting? Utility, frequency, and transparency? -- why are these important? Explore all of this and more in a session that unpacks that power of English as a morphophonemic language.

Small Group Instruction with Structured Literacy

In the science of reading era, strong whole-group informs small groups. Explore teacher table necessities as well as independent center activities that encourage application of taught skills. These small group activities will follow an Orton-Gillingham approach and can be easily implemented alongside any SOR-based curriculum. End the session with actual examination of data and small group planning using Linnea Ehri’s Phases of Reading.

Differentiated Phonics for Below, Above, and Multilingual Learners

We've done a great job getting the word out about having a strong, interactive Tier 1 phonics block. But what about below and above level learners? What about multilingual learners? How do we analyze spelling data to make instructional choices? Join Jake as he unpacks research from Wiley Blevins and Linnea Ehri and models differentiation in action during your daily phonics instruction.

Music, Rhythm, and Movement in Early Literacy

With over 2 million fourth grade students below the proficiency level in reading, we have an urgent calling as adults to support our youngest learners in mastering the necessary foundational skills to become readers. Access to literacy affects income, health, employment, and self-esteem. When we can express ourselves through movement, rhythm, music, and art, we are opening the doors to literacy as well. Join Jake as we plan an early phonemic awareness and phonics lesson that bridges sound and spelling with rhythm, repetition, interactive beats, and musical melodies.

Speech to Print with Pre-Alphabetic Learners

How do I develop phonological awareness in a playful, engaging way? What is most important with 4-year old brains? What does research say about letter/sound introduction? All these questions and more are explored in this focused, targeted session for teachers working with PreK and Kindergarten learners.

Elementary Writing: Foundation, Planning, and Assessing

Writing instruction used to be understood as a “go off and write” time, leaving students with little explicit instruction. Join Jake in this session where he breaks down sentence-level instruction, sentence expansion, sentence variety, planning, and revision. This session will give concrete examples of how to positively impact student writing development.