"Brian Kissman’s Super Standards for Literacy are powerful and unique in that he has been able to take this tremendously broad field of what it means to be literate and collapse it down into six graphics and big ideas."

OnPoint Testimonials

From a Parent:

Dear Brian,

I want to tell how amazing I thought Phonics Things is.  My daughter and I love it.
We a have enjoyed making up/thinking of other words with the same sounds.  The book is breathtakingly beautiful.  I don’t suppose my 4 year-old will be ready for the Literacy Mats soon, but it will be used!  I will also be ordering other copies for Clare’s classroom and for gifts.  Bravo!  Thank you.

Sincerely,

Dr. Kim McCord

From a Teacher:

As a result of the past year and a half of training under your mentorship, the whole year so far has been a complete success.  My students and I are excited about reading and writing!  The fun and creativity that I put into this program has me enjoying teaching more than ever before and has my students making academic achievement gains. I have become confident, relaxed, and animated.  I enjoy getting up in front of my class and having a good time engaging my students in learning.   I am effectively using the mixture of different teaching strategies, styles and “voices” you have trained me to do.  My energy comes forth naturally and locks my students into the learning experiences.

One of my favorite parts of the OnPoint program is how we engage students in word study and phonics. The Phonics Things Banners are my kids’ favorite thing when it comes to learning about word patterns.  The Banners are definitely a hit in my room. 

Your impact on me as a teacher, especially compared to how I taught last year, is unmatched.  Through your program, I really do have students excited about reading and writing.  The amount of reading and writing that is being accomplished on a daily basis and the students’ growth as of November is more than what we accomplished last year as the children left for the summer break!  Again, my excitement for teaching has grown and this allows me to strive to become the very best teacher I am meant to be. 

I no longer rely on a set program or manual or textbook to teach; anything that tells me what it is that is supposed to be done on a particular day.  Working from the research-based big ideas and methods you have trained us in, I “get it, use it, and create with it” to push students where they need to be pushed, and to place them at a level where they can most successfully grow towards becoming excellent readers, writers, and communicators.

Thank you.

Mark Erickson, Grade 4 Teacher

From a Curriculum Director:

Students are learning, catching up and jumping ahead in their classes thanks to a literacy program created by Brian Kissman called OnPoint. The OnPoint Literacy Program is effective in teaching teachers how to teach and in instilling in children the enthusiasm and joy for learning.  He created this original set of books and materials because he believes so completely that all children can learn given the right training and best teaching practices. Students in the program literally run to their work stations in the morning and begin reading or working without wasting time; this happens because teachers are using the instructional methods and the materials of the OnPoint Literacy Program. 

Brian’s passion in creating OnPoint is paying wonderful dividends for elementary students, but I believe this approach and collection of resources also have great potential for middle and high school students to soar academically, especially so when both the teachers and the students have his Literacy Mats books in hand. And, the evidence from formative assessments illustrates success for students of all socio-economic levels. The effort Brian has put into creating this program and a learning environment filled with books, posters, and a learning structure so that all children can learn, speaks volumes about the man. 

Sheila Pantlind
Choice Schools Associates
Director of Curriculum and Instruction

From an Elementary Principal:

With a clear goal and understanding of how a successful literacy program looks, Brian Kissman started with three of our classrooms.  Through intensive professional development with the instructional staff and administrative staff he started training us on how to affect change in the classroom.  After one year, the empirical data spoke for itself.  Classrooms that were guided under the direction of the OnPoint Learning team showed significant progress in reading, writing, and language usage.  All the OnPoint Learning classrooms outperformed similar grade classrooms without the instruction guidance.

The power of his program rests in the fact that it is a very detailed and structured program that answers the question of how to differentiate instruction in reading, writing, and communicating.  It gives administrators the tools and knowledge to see the academic growth they long for in the classroom at the individual student level.

We are very pleased with the progress and growth we have seen in our students.  This year we have worked hard to incorporate these same ideas into all of our general education classrooms with the OnPoint Learning model.  We hope in the future to continue our partnership in bringing this successful program to all our classrooms.

Steve Paddock
Principal
Hanley International Academy