The Literacy Teacher's Life

The Literacy Teacher's Life

This podcast is for teachers and parents who are dedicated to helping young readers and writers thrive. Children are naturally curious and it’s our role as parents and teachers to provide them with support so they learn to love reading and writing. Between national standards and outside influences, there is a significant amount of pressure on teachers and parents around teaching young children to be successful readers and writers. My goal with this podcast is to support and provide guidance for new and continuing teachers so that they can design and implement literacy instruction that will inspire enthusiasm in young readers and writers. For parents of elementary-aged readers and writers, I hope that this podcast will demystify the process of teaching reading and writing. I will introduce the terms and practices that teachers use so that you will be in a better position to support your children’s love of literacy. With this podcast, I aim to provide guidance, reassurance, and confidence so that children - both at school and at home - are building the literacy foundation that they need to empower them throughout the rest of their lives. This is the podcast that will benefit teachers and parents so they can confidently take control of their role in nurturing tomorrow’s readers and writers.

Episodes

November 30, 2023 39 mins
In this week's episode, Elizabeth talks with Jennifer McCarty Plucker about her new book Inspiring Lifelong Readers. Jennifer talks about the inquiry work that she did with students in middle and high school to support them as readers. She provides very helpful strategies from her book that can be implemented at all grade levels. Jennifer stresses the importance of helping all students find books that they enjoy reading - and she g...
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After receiving some questions about independent reading, Elizabeth decided to share a structured approach to this time of the day. How can we make the most of independent reading time for kids and ensure that they are using this time to strengthen their reading skills? Elizabeth discusses the purpose of independent reading, some of the ways that independent reading falls short, and tips for how to make it purposeful for students. ...
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Today's episode is focused on reading skills and strategies. Elizabeth begins by discussing the definitions of reading skills and reading strategies and gives examples of both. She gives an example of how strategies can be taught when reading to kids and offers ideas for teaching practices that can help when modeling strategies to students. The episode ends on a positive note with a story of how Elizabeth used the book, Black and W...
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The conversation about reading at the moment is mainly focused on decoding - or sounding out the words - to do the actual reading of a text. Decoding is essential and important. But, comprehension or understanding what you are reading is also important. In this episode, Elizabeth discusses the importance of teaching kids to understand or make meaning of the texts that they are reading. She models a Think Aloud strategy that she use...
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Read-Alouds are an essential component of reading instruction - at all grade levels. In today's episode, Elizabeth sits down with Dr. Molly Ness, a former classroom teacher, reading researcher, and teacher educator, who has a new book out, Read Alouds for All Learners. Molly begins by discussing what a read-aloud is and gives some helpful strategies for different grade levels. She also discusses how read-alouds fit into the Science...
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It's the beginning of the school year, and popcorn reading has come up quite a bit in the last week. Elizabeth begins by explaining what this teaching practice is and why it is still present in classrooms. She offers five other options for whole class reading instruction rather than popcorn reading. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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September 7, 2023 23 mins
It's the beginning of the school year and the start of September! This week is a mixed bag episode - where Elizabeth covers a few different topics. Elizabeth begins by following-up on the "I Statement" activity that she mentioned in Episode 23. She tried it with her graduate students - and it was a success! Some of her students are planning on trying it out with their own elementary students during the first week of school. She sh...
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August 24, 2023 19 mins
The new school year is quickly approaching! So, this episode is dedicated to all things back to school. Elizabeth starts by discussing writing activities that can be used at the beginning of the year. Her new favorite is "I Statements" that she learned about this summer. Then, she shares ideas for introducing yourself to your students so that they learn a little about who you are. Reading at the beginning of the year is so importan...
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In this episode, Elizabeth shares why stories are so important for our students. She shares three strategies to keep kids engaged with the stories that they are reading - either in school or at home. Next, Elizabeth discusses some ideas for getting kids back into the routine of reading and writing before the new school year begins. The episode ends with a great book recommendation for emerging readers. Learn more about your ad cho...
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July 27, 2023 18 mins
Summer is flying by! This week is another episode focusing on summer reading with kids. Elizabeth talks about book series and how they can help keep kids reading during the summer months. She talks about the benefits of reading book series and shares very manageable strategies to support readers during the summer months. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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It's finally summer! Welcome to Episode 20! This episode is focused on parents and family members who are reading at home with kids over the summer. We will dive into picture books and how picture books can support readers of all ages. Summer reading should be fun and a time to connect with your child so pick books that you want to read with your child and that your child will enjoy reading. Elizabeth walks through how she approac...
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In today's episode, Elizabeth speaks with children and young adult author, Matt de la Peña. They begin by speaking about a few of his books and where the ideas for those books came from. He also shares ideas for how teachers can use his books with students. Matt then speaks about his writing process and how he collaborates with illustrators, such as Christian Robinson. He has some ideas for getting kids writing, too! Hint: pay att...
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In this episode, Elizabeth is joined by teacher, librarian, and writer John Schu! He is the author of the recent book, This is a Story and also the book This is a School. John believes in the power of stories and how stories affirm our own experiences and honor our own journeys. He shares strategies to help get children reading and writing as well. And...he ends with some great news about a book by Kate DiCamillo that is coming out...
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If you enjoy going to the library, you won't want to miss this episode! Elizabeth speaks with Lessa Kanani’opua Pelayo-Lozada, who is the President of the American Library Association. They discuss the mission of the ALA and the work that they are doing right now to support librarians, libraries, and communities. Lessa spends time discussing the ALA's upcoming conference, which will be held in Chicago at the end of June. There is ...
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In today's episode, Elizabeth is joined by Jamie Sears, the founder of the Not So Wimpy Teacher - a website that makes teaching for grades 2-5 more manageable. Jamie has recently published a book, How to Love Teaching Again: Work Smarter, Beat Burnout, and Watch Your Students Thrive, and she shares tips and strategies to make teaching more sustainable. Some of the topics discussed include planning lessons more efficiently, schedul...
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Today's episode has a very special guest! Laura Vanderkam, a time management and productivity author joins Elizabeth to discuss how time can be used well in the classroom and outside of the classroom. Laura shares a variety of strategies that can be implemented to make teaching more manageable as well as strategies to enjoy life outside of the classroom. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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Interview season is upon us! Districts and schools are interviewing for teaching positions. In this episode, seven interview tips are discussed. Elizabeth also provides some examples of common interview questions to help prepare for a teaching interview. Elizabeth ends on a positive note by sharing a new book for teachers - How to Love Teaching Again: Work Smarter, Beat Burnout, and Watch Your Students Thrive by Jamie Sears. Learn ...
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I’m your host, Elizabeth Morphis and for today’s episode, I’m sharing a mixed bag of topics, stories, and examples you can use in teaching literacy.  Running Records  Running records are informative assessments that tell the teachers what the kids are doing so they can make informed decisions about what to teach their students. They provide teachers with what they need to know to make wise teaching decisions.  Here, the students re...
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I’m your host, Elizabeth Morphis and for today’s episode, I’m sharing with you more tips to help your child practice literacy at home—those that won’t take a lot of time!  When it comes to the actual activity of reading, especially for kids who are just starting to learn, a few strategies you can do are the tap-it-out strategy to look at the word, segment the word, or use a bookmark or finger under each word. The goal is to improve...
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March is often the time for Parent-Teacher conferences, so now is a great time for parents to ask what can be done at home to help their young readers, and for teachers to give some guidance about how parents can do this.  As parents, you don’t need to spend a lot of time with your kids to help them read. You just have to be creative with what time you have. Here are some ways to support your young readers.    Utilize playtime.  Wh...
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