Vocabulary. Grammar. Knowledge-building. Research-backed. Classroom-tested. Curriculum + professional development https://xitter.cf/t.co/BGkbkOgL8a
Brooklyn, NY
Joined December 2010
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Morphology belongs in phonics, spelling, and vocabulary. The tricky part is knowing what to teach, when, and how the pieces connect.
Matters of Morphology
Sept. 24 | 11 a.m.–2 p.m. ET | Live on Zoom
$149 individual | $595 team of 5
Learn more: mailchi.mp/76c62af39bd5/word…
Register: getwordlove.com/s/search?q=m…
Word Love Literacy Labs this fall:
9/24: Matters of Morphology
10/22: Grammar from the Get-Go
11/19: Vocabulary for Knowledge
12/10: Make Learning Stick
Live on Zoom, 11–2 ET. $149 individual or $595 for a school team of up to five.
mailchi.mp/76c62af39bd5/word…
My first year teaching in the Mississippi Delta taught me an impressive number of things the hard way. 23 years later, I wrote down 12 things I wish someone had told me plainly. I still need several of the reminders myself.
wordlovedispatch.substack.co…
I wrote about a tiny phrase in education that sounds harmless, appears everywhere, and now sends me to the moon every time I see it.
New Substack: Why You Should Never “Have Students” Do Anything
Read or listen: open.substack.com/pub/wordlo…
Summer can become a swamp or a spreadsheet.
I wrote about a smaller invitation for the season:
Marvel at something each day.
The air before a thunderstorm. Fireflies. A good story. A kid learning to swim. Twilight.
“What did I marvel at today?”
Read or listen: open.substack.com/pub/wordlo…
“Mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell” became a joke because millions of people remembered it.
Maybe that’s not evidence that school failed.
Maybe it’s evidence that a tiny piece of knowledge stuck.
And no, that is not mastery.
But it is not nothing.
Read or listen: open.substack.com/pub/wordlo…
Most words get taught. Few get used.
How do you choose the ones that matter?
My process for building vocabulary that actually transfers: open.substack.com/pub/wordlo…
Narrowing K–2 Word Love math vocab to ~12–15 core words per grade.
Vocab lists can get bloated. Trying to identify what actually deserves to stick.
If you teach or support K–2, I’d value your input:
K: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F…
1: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F…
2: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F…
Word Love Summer Sessions 2026
June 16–18: vocab, grammar, spelling
July 15: Science of Learning Studio
Send a small team. Bring it back to your district.
Learn more: mailchi.mp/readwritemike.org…
Scarborough’s Reading Rope is everywhere.
Is it helping teachers act on the science of reading, or just helping us display its parts?
Not wrong. Just hard to use.
Read about it—or listen—here: open.substack.com/pub/wordlo…
Most kids know 'The Tortoise and the Hare.'
After that, their knowledge of fables falls off fast.
But fables are:
-short
-memorable
-tied to everyday language (“sour grapes,” “crying wolf”)
-perfect for classroom use
We should be using them more.
Read or listen here: open.substack.com/pub/readwr…
Fluency is simple. That’s the problem.
Overexplain it and the work veers off course.
Model. Read together. Read again. Then release.
Repeated reading with gradual release still works.
Read or listen here: open.substack.com/pub/readwr…
In second grade, I lost a math race at the chalkboard—and learned something that had nothing to do with math facts.
I wrote about it here: The Math Race
Lessons Before Lessons: A Learning Life 👇
Mike Ochs | Word Love retweeted
“Transfer isn’t a finish line; it’s a path …. No matter where a learner begins, there’s always another step to take. Our task is to help them strengthen knowledge, clarify intent, and expand creativity as they keep moving along the path of transfer.“@readwritemike 🤍
Part 3 of The Paths of Transfer is out.
Replication. Emulation. Innovation.
When knowledge & creativity align, learning begins to take off.
Stories from classrooms, coaching, and the moments when transfer becomes true understanding.
Read/ Listen here: open.substack.com/pub/readwr…
Part 3 of The Paths of Transfer is out.
Replication. Emulation. Innovation.
When knowledge & creativity align, learning begins to take off.
Stories from classrooms, coaching, and the moments when transfer becomes true understanding.
Read/ Listen here: open.substack.com/pub/readwr…
The second lion flicked his tail. “You might check your reflection before you give a lecture.”
The first bent to drink and saw his own mane matted and red all over.
He grunted, embarrassed. The other smiled. “Hard to see your own stains when you’re roaring at someone else.”