WAUWATOSA, Wis. — A teacher in the Milwaukee area has gained a substantial online following and national recognition for the fun and catchy way he helps his students build reading and writing skills.
Jake Dagget teaches first grade at Underwood Elementary in Wauwatosa.
Every day, he and his students chant and sing catchy songs about letters and their associated sounds. They also incorporate various words and movements into the songs.
“So instead of using surrounding cues or memorization tactics, it’s using how the brain learns to commit things to memory, which is through sound,” said Dagget.
Dagget said his 6- and 7-year-old students don’t even realize how much they’re learning because they’re having fun.
“I saw a need in combining research and how the brain learns to read with joy,” said Dagget.
Dagget developed this way of teaching after reviewing traditional lesson plans on reading, writing and phonics, and feeling disappointed by them.
“When you look at the lesson, it’s a list of words,” he said. “How can you lead a class through that for 30 minutes without them being bored?”
He’s noticed more growth in his students by doing it his way.
“The brain actually maps sound to symbol,” said Dagget. “So you’ll see not only do we read on the screen, but then we actually sound it out and write it, so it connects the written form to then recognizing the written form in the book.”
Dagget is part of education and teaching groups online and decided to share a video of his students engaging in one of his lessons on Instagram and TikTok.
“We can still be evidence-based and still be joyful, so that was kind of my inspiration for sharing it,” said Dagget. “I did not know it would take off this way.”
The video got millions of views and hundreds of thousands of likes and shares.
Dagget’s infectious excitement and style of teaching struck a chord.
“Sure, maybe I’m young and fun, or you know peppy, or whatever you might say, but it’s actually rooted in research that they can take with them,” said Dagget. “The goal is to help as many people as I can have that knowledge base.”