Praise for Making Words Stick by Molly Ness and Katie Pace Miles

 “To support students’ sight-word learning, teachers must understand how those words are stored in memory and what skills are needed to enable learning. Orthographic mapping explains that process. This book offers valuable information to help teachers provide effective word-reading and spelling instruction.” 

― LINNEA EHRI, Distinguished Professor Emerita, Ph.D. Program in Educational Psychology, The Graduate Center, City University of New York 

“Making Words Stick is not only bursting with practical guidance for planning smart decoding and spelling lessons, but also offers clear evidence-based explanations for why such lessons will work. It is a must-have for any elementary teacher’s bookshelf.”

― TIMOTHY SHANAHAN, Distinguished Professor Emeritus, University of Illinois at Chicago 

“In this essential book, Molly Ness and Katie Pace Miles provide an accessible and engaging guide to enabling students to recognize words as automatically as possible, freeing up cognitive resources for comprehension. They summarize and clarify reliable research and translate it into practical classroom strategies for all elementary grades.” 

― NATALIE WEXLER, author of Beyond the Science of Reading: Connecting Literacy Instruction to the Science of Learning and The Knowledge Gap: The Hidden Cause of America’s Broken Education System―and How to Fix It 

”You have a treasure in your hand! This book will enable so many students to learn words with ease and use those words to read and write skillfully and confidently. I am grateful to Molly and Katie for it and confident you will feel the same.” 

― JAN HASBROUCK, author/coeditor of Climbing the Ladder of Reading & Writing, Conquering Dyslexia, and Student-Focused Coaching 

”The accessible presentation, combined with practical ideas on how to implement word-reading and spelling instruction, makes Making Words Stick the perfect resource for teachers who want to deepen their practice of the science of reading.” 

― DENISE EIDE, founder and CEO, Logic of English; author of Uncovering the Logic of English: A Common- Sense Approach to Reading, Spelling, and Literacy 

”The dynamic duo of Molly Ness and Katie Pace Miles provides the ultimate resource for teaching high-frequency words. With easy-to-digest and relevant research, a simple four-step instructional routine, and impactful practice activities to ensure mastery of those all-important words for reading and spelling, this book is essential reading. Highly recommend!” 

― WILEY BLEVINS, author of Phonics From A to Z: A Practical Guide, Fourth Edition

“Educators have needed a book like this for a long time. Making Words Stick, a resource grounded in science, provides us with explicit, easy-to-implement activities that will engage and support students’ reading and spelling. It is chock-full of resources, and teachers will turn to it repeatedly.”

― AMY SIRACUSANO, national literacy consultant and adjunct for The Reading Science Advanced Certificate, Brooklyn College, CUNY 

“Molly and Katie make the complex seem so simple and manageable. They give teachers practical steps to follow, tools to use, and the knowledge they need to make words stick for spelling and reading. Their four-step routine, with its menu of activities, will have teachers referring back to this book frequently.”

― BRENT CONWAY, assistant superintendent, Pentucket Regional School District, Massachusetts

“This book unpacks the what, why, and how of word learning―from brain processes that map words to meaning, to a practical, repeatable instructional routine designed to build decoding fluency. It is the ultimate ‘research to practice’ guide to turn tricky words into sticky words!”

― MELISSA LOFTUS AND LORI SAPPINGTON, hosts of the Melissa & Lori Love Literacy podcast and authors of The Literacy 50: A Q&A Handbook for Teachers 

“Making Words Stick doesn’t just explain the science of word learning, it ignites a passion for it. If you’re serious about not just teaching words, but making words stick, this book is more than a resource. It’s a revolution! Put it on your shelf, in your hands, and most importantly, into action.” 

― TERRIE NOLAND, CALP, thought leader in literacy leadership 

“Molly and Katie are experts at helping educators turn knowledge into action. Making Words Stick offers a low-prep, high-yield instructional routine for supporting word recognition that’s easy to internalize and use! Packed with research and practical application, it will become a go-to resource for educators and leaders!” 

― JUSTIN BROWNING, national literacy consultant and implementation specialist; founder of SoR for More