Reading to Succeed with Elizabeth Morphis

Today's episode is such a treat! Elizabeth is joined by poet Darren Sardelli. He writes poetry and shows kids how much fun words and language can be - and how poetry is fun! His goal is to make his ideas fun and relatable for kids.
And, his work is a lot of fun! Darren shares some poetry with us - and you will be very entertained! He gives great ideas in this episode - such as start an Idea Notebook and encourage kids to check-out one poetry book when they are at the library.
Check out Darren's work here: https://laughalotpoetry.com/

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In this episode, Elizabeth shares eight common beliefs about reading and how they can discourage kids from reading. There have been many alarming articles about kids not reading much - so it's important to try and support our young readers as best we can.
The 8 beliefs are:
- Phonics Instructions Ends After Second Grade
- Picture Books are Easy Books
- Reading With Kids Ends Once They Learn to Read
-If Kids Want to Hear a Story Rather Than Read It, They Are Being Lazy
- Kids Need to Read Books at Their Reading Level
- Kids Should Not Be Re-Reading Books
- If Comprehension Support is Needed, Find Passages & Questions
- Graphic Novels are Not as Rigorous as Novels

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This is a treat! Today, I am joined by my former colleague, Terri Lilga. Terri is a retired teacher, who is now writing books for children. We worked together in Buffalo, NY for a few years.

In this episode, Terri shares her books with us. She explains how she came up with the ideas for her books - and how she gets ideas in general. She has really great stories about how she thinks up ideas! They are great to share with young readers.
Please check out Terri's work: https://terrililgabooks.com/

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Lorraine Radice is back on the podcast! Lorraine has a new book that recently came out, Revolving Literacy: How to Connect Relevance and Future-Ready Skills to Secondary English Instruction.
In our conversation, Lorraine talks about:

- what the term literacy includes
- her revolving literacy framework and how it benefits teachers and supports students
- books for kids in middle and high school
- ideas for teaching reading in the secondary classroom (these can be applied in upper elementary grades as well)
Check out Lorraine's book and work:
https://www.lorrainemradice.com/
https://www.solutiontree.com/lorraine-m-radice.html

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I'm back this week with Trevor Bryan, an educator and writer. Trevor's latest book is out and available to be purchased. It's called Narrative Know-How: A Fresh Approach to Support Comprehension and Craft in the K-6 Classroom.
In the last episode, Trevor explained the framework to this book. And, today he is back to share ideas about how this work can be implemented into the classroom to support our readers and writers. This book is full of so many lesson ideas that are ready to be used with kids. You will not want to miss this episode - and stay until the end...Trevor has a very special and kind offer for educators!
Grab a copy of Trevor's book, Narrative Know-How on Amazon or your favorite Bookstore
Follow Trevor on Instagram @trevorabryan

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We want our students to be confident readers and writers. One way to support their confidence is to teach them about structure. Today, I am joined by Trevor Bryan, who is an educator and writer! Trevor is the author of The Art of Comprehension and has written a new book that just came out this week, called Narrative Know-How: A Fresh Approach to Support Comprehension and Craft in the K-6 Classroom. His focus is on teaching kids to comprehend what they read. On today's episode, he will talk about the structure that has created to frame this book and why it can support our students as they are learning to both read and write. Trevor's ideas are so supportive of students - you won't want to miss his ideas!
Check out Trevor's new book Narrative Know-How on Amazon or any other bookseller site.

Follow him on Instagram: @trevorabryan

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Recently, there have been studies out that discuss how reading, particularly reading for pleasure is at an all-time low. This is for kids and adults, but the findings have been seen as concerning. The UK is calling on 2026 to be the year of reading - so that kids are reading for pleasure.
In this episode, Elizabeth shares ways that teachers can make this school year a year of reading as well - and the great news -- it doesn't require extra work! These can fit right into the school day.
Some ways to accomplish this goal include:
- Sharing your reading and love of books with your students
- Matching books to students' interests
- Reading aloud to students regardless of age/grade level/content area
- Reframing the Read for 20 Minutes Each Night assignment for parents
-Have fun reading!

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It's August, and that means that the new school year is just around the corner! My semester begins in just two weeks. This episode is aimed at teachers, but can be helpful for parents, too. As I am planning for the upcoming academic year, I have six tips that I am focusing on to have a calm start to the school year. I also have a planning tip from a planning expert!

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It's the end of July and the new school year is approaching (faster than I would like!). Today's episode is for parents. I often hear comments from parents that their kids are not interested in reading. After taking my daughters and a friend to a bookstore, I have a story and some suggestions about what you can do to help get your child interested in reading a book before the end of the summer. It will take some effort on your end, but it may just work!

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It's mid-July already! This week's episode features a quick check-in with three tips to get your kids back into a reading habit this summer. Daily routines and habits shift during the summer months which can mean that reading may not be happening as regularly as it does during the school year. So, Elizabeth shares tips that you can put into practice pretty quickly to get back into reading.

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