Reading to Succeed with Elizabeth Morphis

It's a new season! And, to kick off this new season, Elizabeth is joined by planning expert, Sarah Hart-Unger. Sarah is the host of the Best Laid Plans podcast and the author of the book Best Laid Plans: : A Simple Planning System for Living a Life That You Love.
Sarah joins Elizabeth to share her planning system and talk about how teachers and parents can plan for daily tasks and also longer-term goals. Sarah makes a case for adding more fun into your schedule and how you can do a fun-audit of your time. We also discuss planning with kids and teaching them to plan.
Check out Sarah's book Best Laid Plans!

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Today's tip is to be positive about the books that your kids and students read. Our words have an impact on our kids. When adults make negative comments about the books that kids read, it impacts how they view themselves as readers. If your child is reading a book that you are not crazy about, rather than telling them to read something better, compliment them for reading.

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Have you ever wondered how writers and illustrators work together? Well, today's episode answers that question! Joining Elizabeth on the podcast are Laurel Snyder and LeUyen Pham - the author and illustrator of the book Shrinking Violet that is coming out at the end of March.
Laurel shares how she came up with the idea for Shrinking Violet, and LeUyen talkes about how she interpreted the words in the illustrations.
At the end of the episode, Laurel and LeUyen share an idea about how you can use Shrinking Violet with children!

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Welcome to the mini episodes! This is where Elizabeth shares a tip, a trick, or a strategy to take your kids from just reading to actually wanting to read.
Today's tip is to make searching for or finding books for your kids to read an adventure. Rather than buy a book for your child, take your child with you to the library or a bookstore to search for books -- and, you can make it extra special by adding in an extra stop!

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How we speak to ourselves is so important. Today's guest, Caitlin Santomauro is the author of the amazing book, The Language of Self-Affirmations: A Magical Practice of Manifesting Personal Power.
Caitlin begins by explaining what a self-affirmation is and why they are so important to include in our daily lives. She explains how self-affirmations can support kids - she talks about how she has used self-affirmations with her own students.
She gives listeners a taste of the content of her book by sharing a passage.
Check out Caitlin's book on Amazon!

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Today's reading tip is to talk to your parents about the books that they are reading.
Elizabeth explains why talking to kids about the books that they are reading is so supportive. These conversations can be short and informal, but they are effective because they help increase reading confidence and they help support comprehension.
Check out today's episode for the final tip of the month to support kids with reading at home - in small, but impactful ways!

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This month is focused on tips for helping kids read in 2026. And, today's episode is about not making reading a fight. What do you do when you do not like the books that your kids are reading?
Elizabeth explains what you can do if you are not loving the books your child is reading. She ends with a story from a recent article about why it's so important for your kids to be reading.

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Happy 2026!
To get the New Year started, Elizabeth is sharing tips and strategies that can be easily included when reading with kids - both in the classroom and at home.
In today's episode, Elizabeth shares the first tip which is to use OR Statements when reading with kids to support their knowledge of new words and keep the story moving along.
Check out today's episode to learn more about the different types of vocabulary words and to hear an example of an OR Statement in action!

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This episode is wrapping up 2025! It's the time to stop and take a few minutes to think about your teaching so that you have an idea of what is going well and what changes you might want to make after the winter break.
In this episode, Elizabeth gives three areas to think about with guided questions. She also talks about what worked well with her teaching this fall and what changes she wants to make in the spring semester.
There is a spotlight on an author and his books and a few fun and low-pressure ideas to keep kids reading over the winter break.

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This week's episode is about using reader's theater to address fluency with kids. Elizabeth just used reader's theater in her classes to show current and future teachers how scripts can support fluent reading -- and comprehension. Her students had a lot of fun and saw the benefits of using this teaching practice with kids - at all grade levels (not just elementary school).
The episode begins with information about fluency and then Elizabeth talks about how you can use scripts with kids.
Before ending, Elizabeth shares a parenting tip to help your reader with books that they are reading in school.

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