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

In last week’s episode, we learned that writing stamina is built over time and includes more than just an amount of time, but when students are actively engaged in a particular writing task. Since having writing stamina can be difficult for students, I wanted to create a series that provided teachers with strategies that improved a student’s writing stamina and developed their writing skills at the same time. So in the second episode in the series, I’m sharing four ways you can increase writing endurance within your students.

In order to increase writing endurance within your students, several things are required from not only your students but yourself as the teacher. Knowing the role you play in increasing their endurance and developing their skills is going to help your students succeed and become independent writers. I share four ways what this can look like in your classroom or literacy block without taking up an extended amount of time or changing your entire curriculum. 

Getting your students to write in general can be challenging, but especially for an extended period of time while fully engaged. By implementing these strategies to increase writing endurance, you ensure that students will get the practice they need to positively grow their stamina and skills. Stay tuned to next week’s episode, the last in the series, on how to gradually increase the writing time and complexity of which your students are writing.

Show Notes: https://theliteracydive.com/episode160

Resources Mentioned:

• Daily Writing Disguise
• Creative Writing Activities
• Writing Office Folders
• Writing Reference Helpers
• Writing Process Checklists
• Descriptive Writing Anchor Charts
• Episode 159, Writing Stamina: 6 Challenges Students Face and How to Help Them

Connect with Me:

• Join The Daily Writing Disguise Membership here
• Shop my TpT store here
• Receive emails from me here
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• Read my blog posts here

I am passionate about literacy, especially finding creative and engaging ways to get students writing. However, none of that matters if their writing stamina is low. I know from my experience being in the classroom, that so many of my students didn’t have the writing endurance for longer pieces of writing, which meant I had to come up with ways to increase their stamina over time. In the first episode in a series about writing stamina, I’m sharing six writing stamina challenges and strategies that support them to increase their stamina.

When I use the phrase "writing stamina", I’m referring to more than just duration, but having students maintain their writing quality and engagement throughout their writing session. I break down this into three components and discuss why they need to work together to increase a student’s writing stamina. But when it comes to writing, students always face difficulties. Therefore, I highlight six main writing stamina challenges, why or how it’s a challenge, and strategies to implement that support each challenge.

Although making sure a student has good writing stamina might not seem like a big deal, it has an impact on their academic success. This includes standardized tests and their development of writing skills, which is why identifying students’ writing stamina challenges and understanding why it’s necessary to focus on is so important. Stay tuned to next week’s episode where I explore ways to build writing endurance with practical tips.

Show Notes: https://theliteracydive.com/episode159

Resources Mentioned:

• Daily Writing Disguise 
• Creative Writing Activities on TPT
• Monthly Writing Prompts
• Vocabulary Writing Prompts
• Descriptive Writing Anchor Charts

Connect with Me:

• Join The Daily Writing Disguise Membership here
• Shop my TpT store here
• Receive emails from me here
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• Read my blog posts here

Podcasts are one of the fastest growing platforms to gain information in a short amount of time. I obviously love the idea of podcasts and how it can reach so many people with a variety of topics. With the availability that it brings, there are so many opportunities to make listening to podcasts part of your daily life. I want to help you discover new podcasts, so in today’s episode, I’m sharing five teacher podcasts that you should be listening to in 2024. 

I personally love each of the teacher podcasts I’m sharing with you today. I’ve either been a guest on their podcast or they’ve been a guest on mine. Each of these podcasts uplift teachers while providing applicable strategies and tips you can use in your classrooms. After introducing each host behind the podcast, I give a target audience, and a brief summary of a must listen-to episode of theirs. 

There are so many teacher podcasts out there, which is why I wanted to give you a list of five top-notch ones to add to your list. Listening to podcasts directed toward teacher topics is an easy way to gain fresh ideas and ways to streamline your classroom management. So be sure to add these teacher podcasts to make your classroom in 2024 fresh and engaging!

Show Notes: https://theliteracydive.com/episode158

Resources Mentioned:

• Vocabulary Writing Prompts Sampler
• The Literacy Lounge Podcast
• Teacher Approved Podcast
• Wife Teacher Mommy Podcast
• The Resilient Teacher Podcast

Connect with Me:

• Join The Daily Writing Disguise Membership here
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• Receive emails from me here
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• Read my blog posts here

Over the last month I’ve been sharing different ways you can engage your students in that helps develop their simple sentences into more detailed and complex sentences. With this being the final episode in the series, I’m finally covering my favorite way to bring writing to life, which is by using sensory details to create sensory storytelling. 

Using sensory details in your writing engages the reader and paints a clear and vivid picture in your reader’s mind. The way it creates an image is by using descriptive elements that speak to our senses, which are hear, smell, taste, sight, and touch. With this being the target goal for every writer, I dive into the precise steps you need to take in your classroom to best teach this form of descriptive writing. I also share sample sentences you can use directly with your students to show how to add sensory details that bring their writing to life.

It’s no question why this form of descriptive writing is my absolute favorite. By adding sensory details to create sensory storytelling, you are creating an immersive experience for the reader that paints a picture as if they were living it. After listening to this sentence expansion series, I hope it encourages and shows you simple yet effective ways to add details to simple sentences.

Show Notes: https://theliteracydive.com/episode157

Resources Mentioned:

• Vocabulary Writing Prompts Sampler
• Descriptive Writing Charts Bundle 
• Writing Reference Helper
• Episode 156, Enhancing Sentences with Prepositions [Sentence Expansion Series]
• Episode 155, Joining Forces: Combining Sentences with Conjunctions (Sentence Expansion Series)
• Episode 154, Make Writing Come to Life with the 5Ws and H Strategy [Sentence Expansion Series]
• Episode 153, Using Adjectives and Adverbs to Brighten Up Student Writing [Sentence Expansion Series]

Connect with Me:

• Join The Daily Writing Disguise Membership here
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• Check out TDWD Collections here
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We are now well into our series on how to enhance simple sentences using a variety of descriptive strategies. What I love about each new idea is that these are grammar concepts you teach your students, but now you’re able to dive deeper and use them in a whole new way. In today’s episode, I’m sharing another strategy which is using prepositions to enrich simple sentences.

Simply put, prepositions are words that show the relationship between elements in a sentence. While there are over 150 prepositions that we use, there are only a handful that are most commonly used in our language. Not only do I share the most common, but I also provide the different types of prepositions. Knowing the different types is important because it shows how to properly use prepositions in writing that add context and depth to otherwise simple sentences. In order to implement successfully, I provide the exact steps and sample examples for using prepositions with your students in your own classroom.

Prepositional phrases offer a way to add layers of meaning, context, and depth to basic sentences, which is another strategy you can add to your toolbox from this series. At first you may not have connected using prepositions to enhance sentences, but after this episode, you can definitely see the connection!

Show Notes: https://theliteracydive.com/episode156

Resources Mentioned:

• Vocabulary Writing Prompts Sampler
• Descriptive Writing Charts Bundle 
• Writing Reference Helper
• Episode 155, Joining Forces: Combining Sentences with Conjunctions (Sentence Expansion Series)
• Episode 154, Make Writing Come to Life with the 5Ws and H Strategy [Sentence Expansion Series]
• Episode 153, Using Adjectives and Adverbs to Brighten Up Student Writing [Sentence Expansion Series]

Connect with Me:

• Join The Daily Writing Disguise Membership here
• Shop my TpT store here
• Receive emails from me here
• Follow me on Instagram here
• Read my blog posts here

Over the last two weeks, I’ve been discussing different strategies that help with sentence expansion. In today’s episode, I’m sharing the third strategy in this series. Just like the previous two strategies, you might have already talked about and taught this particular skill, but I challenge you to intentionally have your students use it in their writing. Using conjunctions to combine sentences is the topic I’m discussing today, along with the different types and ways to use them in student writing. 

So we’re on the same page, conjunctions are words that link other words, phrases, and clauses together. For students to have success using conjunctions to expand their sentences, they need to have an understanding of what they are and what each conjunction means. Therefore, I highlight three different types of conjunctions and further explain their purpose and examples on how to use them when combining sentences. Just like with the other two strategies, I provide action steps on how to implement in your classroom, along with sample sentences you can directly use with your students. 

In wanting students to develop and grow in sentence writing, using conjunctions is the perfect way to achieve that. Conjunctions combine ideas and allow for more complex expression and communication when speaking or in written form. After today’s episode, using conjunctions is another strategy you can use with your students to help expand their sentences. Stay tuned to next week’s episode for another strategy to add to your toolbox!

Show Notes: https://theliteracydive.com/episode155

Resources Mentioned:

• Vocabulary Writing Prompts Sampler
• Descriptive Writing Charts Bundle 
• Writing Reference Helper
• Episode 154, Make Writing Come to Life with the 5Ws and H Strategy [Sentence Expansion Series]
• Episode 153, Using Adjectives and Adverbs to Brighten Up Student Writing [Sentence Expansion Series]

Connect with Me:

• Join The Daily Writing Disguise Membership here
• Shop my TpT store here
• Check out TDWD Collections here
• Receive emails from me here
• Follow me on Instagram here
• Read my blog posts here

This series is all about how to easily get students to expand their sentences by adding details to their basic sentences. Last week’s strategy was all about adding the 2 A’s, adjectives and adverbs, to create a story and description. But today’s strategy also serves a greater purpose than just sentence expansion. In today’s episode, I’m discussing how to add the 5Ws and H strategy to your students’ sentence writing.

When students write their initial simple sentence, adding in the 5Ws and H strategy helps add information, depth, context, and interest to their sentence. It requires students to answer the who, what, when, where, why, and how about the subject. To assist in implementing in your classroom, I provide four main steps and one additional step that you can easily use with your students to model and practice the 5Ws and H strategy. Additionally, I share three examples that you can put into action when implementing during your writing block.

Not only will students expand their sentences with this strategy, but it also serves the purpose of thinking, questioning, and understanding on how to add details and information. If your students are struggling on how to add details to their sentences, this 5Ws and H strategy can be easily used by your students today!

Show Notes: https://theliteracydive.com/episode154

Resources Mentioned:

• Vocabulary Writing Prompts Sampler
• Descriptive Writing Charts Bundle 
• Writing Reference Helper
• Episode 153, Using Adjectives and Adverbs to Brighten Up Student Writing [Sentence Expansion Series]

Connect with Me:

• Join The Daily Writing Disguise Membership here
• Shop my TpT store here
• Check out TDWD Collections here
• Receive emails from me here
• Follow me on Instagram here
• Read my blog posts here

Happy New Year, my friends! Let's jump-start 2024 with some practical and easy strategies to expand student sentences. At the beginning of the year, our goal is for students to write a complete sentence, but our goal at the end of the year is for them to add meaningful details to those sentences. And while that might seem challenging, I’ve come up with easy ways to make this achievable for your students.

Since I really want you to listen, understand, and actively try the strategies I’m sharing, in this series on sentence expansion, I’m going to be sharing one strategy per episode. This will give you an opportunity to process and implement during your school week before trying another. So in the first episode of this series, I’m sharing how using adjectives and adverbs helps with expanding sentences in student writing.

This simple strategy has a great impact that provides students with concrete ways to add details to their otherwise plain sentences. In order for you to effectively implement this in your classroom, I share an easy five-step process that involves using student sentences as examples and discussions to evaluate the difference. Additionally, I share examples of how to put expanding sentences into practice.

As literacy teachers, we truly want our students to enjoy writing and have their writing come to life and the only way to do that is by adding details to paint a picture. By adding more adjectives and adverbs, students will be expanding sentences independently which ultimately improves their writing.

Show Notes: https://theliteracydive.com/episode153

Resources Mentioned:

• Vocabulary Writing Prompts Sampler
• Descriptive Writing Charts Bundle 
• Writing Reference Helper

Connect with Me:

• Join The Daily Writing Disguise Membership here
• Shop my TpT store here
• Check out TDWD Collections here
• Receive emails from me here
• Follow me on Instagram here
• Read my blog posts here

With this being the last week of 2023, I wanted to take an opportunity to share some reflections I’ve had from this past year. I’ve been open on this podcast about certain things I went through, even resulting in me taking a break from this podcast. With that experience, along with other personal and work related things, I wanted to share some end of year inspiration with you. So in today’s episode, I’m sharing 25 takeaways from 2023 that hopefully you can use going forward in the new year.

When I reflected on the year, I didn’t realize all that I accomplished, learned or adapted to in just one year. Each of my 25 takeaways involve personal and professional growth, ways to take breaks, how to find you authentic community and support, and focusing on the positivity and joy in your life. By sharing my list, I hope to encourage you to make your own list that gives you some end of year inspiration as you embark on another year in 2024!

Show Notes: https://theliteracydive.com/episode152

Resources Mentioned:

• Vocabulary Writing Prompts Sampler
• Episode 140, The Return: Where Have I Been?

Connect with Me:

• Join The Daily Writing Disguise Membership here
• Shop my TpT store here
• Check out TDWD Collections here
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We discuss all the time the difficulty that students have when it comes to writing and getting their ideas out on paper. But now imagine English isn’t your first language. The challenge now becomes greater, but there’s a way to meet their needs. This is through using scaffolds with your writing. In a special episode from Beth Vaucher of the Equipping ELLs podcast, she’s sharing how to use different scaffolding strategies with all language levels.

Beth is an expert in strategies, resources, and tips for meeting the diverse needs of your English language learners. She walks you through three effective scaffolding strategies and how to take one standard and modify the scaffold to support all five language levels. While you have probably heard of these scaffolding strategies before, it’s important to build up your toolbox in order to effectively support your students in the area of writing. 

When you become an expert in these scaffolding strategies, you can start applying them in any language group you’re working with so they can start interacting with the materials. Beth does a great job at sharing the practical application of each scaffolding strategy so you can effectively use with all five language levels if they exist in your classroom and modify them to meet the needs of your students.

Show Notes: https://theliteracydive.com/episode151

Resources Mentioned:

• Vocabulary Writing Prompts Sampler
• FREEBIE: Using Scaffolds to Support Your ELLs
• Episode 31, Writing Strategies to Support Your ELL Students with Beth Vaucher

Connect with Me:

• Join The Daily Writing Disguise Membership here
• Shop my TpT store here
• Check out TDWD Collections here
• Receive emails from me here
• Follow me on Instagram here
• Read my blog posts here