The Literacy Dive Podcast: Reading and Writing Strategies for Upper Elementary Teachers and Parents

With only a few weeks of school left, we tend to be in summer mode or close to it. While we all love the break that summer brings, it can sometimes interfere with maintaining students’ literacy skills. In today’s episode, I’m sharing 8 preventative ideas to help prevent the “summer slide”. 

Although it’s always fun to receive gifts on your birthday, this year, I wanted to give YOU, my audience, a gift! To win, complete the BINGO card that has clickable links with various tasks that you will need to complete. Completing five in a row (a BINGO) counts as one entry; for five more entries you can complete a blackout board; and two more additional entries, post it on your Instagram story and tag me. 

I will randomly select three winners who have a chance to win an Amazon gift card, Target gift card, Teachers Pay Teachers gift card, or credit to my Teachers Pay Teachers store. This gift goes until April 29th and I’ll pick the winners on April 30th. Submit a screenshot of your BINGO card either to [email protected], or DM me @theliteracydive. 

SHOW NOTES:

https://theliteracydive.com/prevent-summer-slide

Resources Mentioned:

• Grab your BINGO board!
• Online Summer Classes Google Form
• June Writing Prompts
• July Writing Prompts
• Free ABC Countdown 
• Free Literacy Choice Boards 
• Free Reading Log Challenge
• Writing Anchor Charts category 
• Reading Anchor Charts category
• Summer Bridge Workbooks:

• • Grades 2-3
  • Grades 3-4
  • Grades 4-5
  • Grades 5-6
  
  

Connect with me:

• Check out my TpT Store
• Subscribe to my E-mail list
• Instagram Posts
• Blog Posts
• Facebook Posts
• Watch my YouTube channel 

If you are enjoying The Literacy Dive Podcast, please follow, leave a rating, and a helpful review! It is much appreciated and thank you for...

I am beyond excited about this episode because in celebration of my birthday week, I am doing something a little different on the podcast today. Instead of the regular strategies to use in the classroom and providing an entire episode on literacy content, I decided to do something fun and answer some listener questions! This is an episode full of fun, relaxation, stress-free, some teacher-related recommendations, and knowing a little bit about the voice behind the podcast - me! 

Throughout the episode, I answered 10 random questions, and a bonus question, from my audience. What I loved about the questions was the mix of content. Some were fun and silly questions about myself, while others touched on my love for literacy and my passion, helping other educators learn and grow in the educational field. 

It’s always fun to receive gifts on your birthday, but this year, I wanted to give YOU, my audience, a gift! To win, complete the BINGO card that has clickable links with various tasks that you will need to complete. Completing five in a row (a BINGO) counts as one entry; for five more entries you can complete a blackout board; and two more additional entries, post it on your Instagram story and tag me @theliteracydive.

I will randomly select three winners who have a chance to win an Amazon gift card, Target gift card, Teachers Pay Teachers gift card, or credit to my Teachers Pay Teachers store. This giveaway goes until April 29th and I’ll pick the winners on April 30th. Submit a screenshot of your BINGO card either to [email protected], or DM me @theliteracydive.

SHOW NOTES:

https://theliteracydive.com/birthday-celebration

Resources Mentioned:

• Grab your BINGO board:

  https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1cpN-OBDsi7XI5a2ywEJdgZO340fgQESK?usp=sharing

Connect with me:

• Check out my TpT Store
• Subscribe to my E-mail list
• Instagram Posts
• Blog Posts
• Facebook Posts
• Watch my YouTube channel 

If you are enjoying The Literacy Dive Podcast, please follow, leave a rating, and a helpful review! It is much appreciated and thank you for listening!

Test prep is so much fun, said no teacher ever! Well friends, it’s that time of year again - test prep season right before state assessments. 

There’s always a negative connotation with test prep, but I’m here to tell you that it can be engaging, informative, enjoyable, and collaborative amongst your students. In today’s episode I’ll be sharing 6 ways to keep your students highly interested throughout your test prep season.

SHOW NOTES:

https://theliteracydive.com/engage-your-students/

Resources Mentioned:

• Episode 77, Test Prep Tips That Will Help ALL of Your Students
• Test Prep Instagram Post
• Simple Student Response Cards
• Student Response Cards

Connect with me:

• Check out my TpT Store
• Subscribe to my E-mail list
• Instagram Posts
• Blog Posts
• Facebook Posts
• Watch my YouTube channel 

If you are enjoying The Literacy Dive Podcast, please follow, leave a rating, and a helpful review! It is much appreciated and thank you for listening!

The stress and overwhelm felt during test season is not only felt by students, but also by teachers as well. Every year during testing season the days seemed longer and tougher. Looking back now I can only imagine that my students were impacted by my feelings during those times, and not for the better. 

I knew that testing season was inevitable every year, but I also knew I had to figure out ways to make testing season more manageable for myself and my students. By teaching and reinforcing strategies I saw my students grow and tackle the hard topics with ease. These strategies were beneficial for all of us! 

In this episode, I share some of my best practices when it comes to reading and preparing students for tests so you don’t feel the way I did years ago.

These tips that I share are not only meant for those students that are behind. Each and every student in your class will benefit from knowing these strategies and having them at their disposal.

SHOW NOTES: https://theliteracydive.com/test-prep-tips

Resources Mentioned:

• Context Clues Task Cards
• Context Clues FREEBIE
• Episode 53: 7 Context Clue Strategies Every Student Should Know
• Episode 54: How to Teach Context Clues

Connect with me:

• Check out my TpT Store
• Subscribe to my E-mail list
• Instagram Posts
• Blog Posts
• Facebook Posts
• Watch my YouTube channel 

If you are enjoying The Literacy Dive Podcast, please follow, leave a rating, and a helpful review! It is much appreciated and thank you for listening!

Last week I spoke about National Poetry Month and ideas to spark reading in your classroom. I want to continue the conversation about poetry because it is such an interesting genre that students really enjoy learning about! In this week’s episode we are diving into ideas that will engage your students in writing with a big connection to poetry. 

SHOW NOTES: https://theliteracydive.com/favorite-writing-unit/

Resources Mentioned:

• Join the Waitlist 
• Figurative Language Anchor Charts and Posters
• Poetry Month Reading and Writing Activities
• Episode 25, 5 Tips for Teaching Poetry

Connect with me:

• Check out my TpT Store
• Subscribe to my E-mail list
• Instagram Posts
• Blog Posts
• Facebook Posts
• Watch my YouTube channel 

If you are enjoying The Literacy Dive Podcast, please follow, leave a rating, and a helpful review! It is much appreciated and thank you for listening!

Did you know that April is National Poetry Month? This is a genre that your students will love to explore! This week, we are going to dive into ways that you can incorporate poetry into your school day that promotes reading. These ideas can be embedded into your daily schedule or you can give Poetry Month its own special block. If you’re anything like me you love any and everything that promotes reading! 

National Poetry Month truly comes at the perfect time of the year. Routines are established, they’ve recovered from the holiday break, and they’ve worked hard learning literacy skills for more than six months now. Let’s be honest, it’s testing season and there’s truly no better time for them to be able to explore their creativity. There’s no better time to make reading fun while still practicing those important skills you’ve been teaching.

SHOW NOTES: https://theliteracydive.com/national-poetry-month

Resources Mentioned:

• Free Poems
• Poetry Month Informational Texts
• Episode 25: 5 Tips for Teaching Poetry

Connect with me:

• Check out my TpT Store
• Subscribe to my E-mail list
• Instagram Posts
• Blog Posts
• Facebook Posts
• Watch my YouTube channel 

If you are enjoying The Literacy Dive Podcast, please follow, leave a rating, and a helpful review! It is much appreciated and thank you for listening!

We may be approaching the spring season, but it is truly never too late to try new classroom management strategies. Bringing structures and systems into your classroom will not only bring you less stress, but it's going to bring success to your students. 

On today’s episode, I am chatting with Dr. Lori Friesen from the podcast Beginning Teacher Talk. She will be sharing seven classroom management hacks every teacher should try!

Dr. Lori Friesen is a wealth of knowledge when it comes to education. She has taught multiple grade levels in multiple countries. She has a PhD in elementary education with a specialization in language and literacy and has published the Beginning Teachers Handbook for Elementary School.

SHOW NOTES: https://theliteracydive.com/classroom-management-hacks/

Resources Mentioned:

• Grab Lori’s free Ultimate Classroom Management Checklist
• Learn about the R.E.A.D.Y. for School Academy
• Follow her on Instagram: @beginningteachertalk
• Listen to Dr. Lori’s Podcast: Beginning Teacher Talk

Connect with me:

• Check out my TpT Store
• Subscribe to my E-mail list
• Instagram Posts
• Blog Posts
• Facebook Posts
• Watch my YouTube channel 

If you are enjoying The Literacy Dive Podcast, please follow, leave a rating, and a helpful review! It is much appreciated and thank you for listening!

This episode is brought to you by test prep! Whether we like it or not, it is among us and likely the exhaustion has set in. Let’s be honest, the exhaustion has set in for both teachers and the students. Spring is right around the corner and it’s time to take all the lessons from the year and put them to practice. Our students are such good sports during this time of the year and so I want to focus this episode on ideas to give them the break they deserve. 

• Break ideas involving movement, direction, and thinking
• How brain breaks strengthen other aspects of learning
• Tips for identifying when to incorporate brain breaks
• Ways you’ll know if your brain breaks are achieving the results you want
• A no-prep brain break idea for upper elementary students

SHOW NOTES: https://theliteracydive.com/give-your-students-brains-a-break

Resources Mentioned:

• Creative Writing Boggle Boards
• Art For Kids Hub
• Brain Break Slides

Connect with me:

• Check out my TpT Store
• Subscribe to my E-mail list
• Instagram Posts
• Blog Posts
• Facebook Posts
• Watch my YouTube channel 

If you are enjoying The Literacy Dive Podcast, please follow, leave a rating, and a helpful review! It is much appreciated and thank you for listening!

I am so excited about today’s episode because I’m sitting down with my good friend Sara Marye. We’re having a collaborative conversation talking about all things teams: team dynamics, team planning, and how to get the most out of working with your teacher team. 

Sara Marye is a great friend of mine, who is the voice behind The Stellar Teacher Podcast. We have a long history starting when we were on the same team, two different times, teaching both 2nd and 4th grade. Plus, we started our Teachers Pay Teachers stores at the same time, and have even collaborated on our own businesses, so we found it perfect to provide some tips and strategies on the best ways to collaborate with your teacher team! 

One of the best parts about working on a team is the ability to collaborate, and not only share ideas, but share the workload. Nevertheless, working together can be challenging with all the different personalities, strengths, and weaknesses. We discuss how to use everyone’s differences to your advantage, and how to navigate a funk between your team members. 

In this episode we discuss:

• Why working with a team increases student success
• Benefits to identifying individual strengths, weaknesses, and personality traits
• Finding and building your teacher community
• Practical tips and suggestions to increase effectiveness and fun within your teacher team

SHOW NOTES: https://theliteracydive.com/teacher-team/

Connect with Sara:

• Instagram: @thestellarteachercompany
• Stellar Teacher Podcast
• https://www.stellarteacher.com/

Connect with me:

• Check out my TpT Store
• Subscribe to my E-mail list
• Instagram Posts
• Blog Posts
• Facebook Posts
• Watch my YouTube channel 

If you are enjoying The Literacy Dive Podcast, please follow, leave a rating, and a helpful review! It is much appreciated and thank you for listening!

I am super excited about today’s podcast episode to continue this month’s theme of biographies! Aylin Claahsen is a good friend of mine and no stranger to those of you who have been listening for a while. If you’re new here, head over to episode 57 to learn more about the importance of fluency and how to incorporate it into your busy day. On today’s episode she will be talking about all things related to nonfiction texts.

Aylin Claahsen is a certified reading specialist, literacy consultant, and curriculum designer who loves sharing literacy tips for teaching readers. Specializing in Kindergarten-5th Grade, she can be found sharing literacy tips on her blog, social media, or in her newsletter. Aylin has a huge passion for writing engaging passages and creating engaging literacy resources. She has seen the impact it has on readers of all ability levels and she truly loves helping readers, near and far. Knowing that is one way that she gets to connect with students and teachers all around the world makes her heart so happy.

In this episode I share:

• Where you can teach nonfiction texts
• Ways to get buy in from your students
• How to make the nonfiction genre meaningful
• Opportunities for students to work together with nonfiction texts

SHOW NOTES: https://theliteracydive.com/nonfiction-genre

Resources Mentioned:

• Nonfiction guided reading passages
• Nonfiction fluency passages
• Episode 57, Understanding the Importance of Fluency and Incorporating it Into Your Busy School Day with Aylin Claahsen

Connect with me:

• Check out my TpT Store
• Subscribe to my E-mail list
• Instagram Posts
• Blog Posts
• Facebook Posts
• Watch my YouTube channel