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#030: What's the difference between phonological and phonemic awareness, and why are they so important for reading success?Learn exactly how old our readers should be when they develop phonological awareness.Find out why phonemic awareness helps build a sight word vocabulary.Begin to understand orthographic mapping and the science of reading.

#029: Writing workshop is the best way to teach writing across the grades. But it's not without its challenges! How can you meet every writer's needs? Learn how to confer with more students (in the limited time that you have)Discover a quick end-of-the-week routine that will help you stay up-to-date on your writers' progressLearn my favorite books and resources that will help you become an incredible writing teacher

#028: Do your students constantly interrupt you during writing conferences? Get five tips for helping your class be independent while you give one-on-one conferences.Discover the value of butterfly conferences.Learn to set boundaries (and stick to them!).Learn a fun, interactive way to teach kids to solve their own writing challenges.

#027: Have you ever asked your students to revise their writing and heard something like this, "But I like it the way it is! I like what I wrote the first time!"We need to help our students see that revision isn't about fixing bad writing; it's about making good writing even better!In this episode you will:Learn how to help your students revise as they write (not just when they're "finished")Discover the four types of revision that even our youngest writers can doLearn age-appropriate revision strategies

#026: "I'm done!" These innocent little words may be the writing teacher's least favorite. Too often, we hear these words very soon after we've begun our class writing time.We'll address this common problem in today's episode.Learn how starting the year with a different genre can help solve this problem.Discover how to use oral language to help students develop their ideas.Fill your toolbox with easy strategies to help students add to their writing!

#025: Have you ever had a tail behind you during writing workshop ... a long line of students asking for help with spelling? That's what can happen if we don't teach our students independence with spelling.But how does that work when many of them can't spell most of the words they want to write?In this episode you will discover:How to encourage your students to spell according to their abilityHow to support students who are afraid to write words they can't spellThe importance of having high expectations for all our spellers

#024: You want your students to love writing time ... but some of them don't. And their refusal to get started is starting to make you dread writing time as well! How can we help our learners who just won't write?In this episode you will discover:Why it's not that surprising that some students won't writeThe one goal you should have for each of your studentsSimple strategies that will give struggling writers the support they need

#023: Raise your hand if you can't wait to teach your students face-to-face! Until the pandemic has passed, many of us find ourselves teaching our students from a computer.  It's less than ideal, to be sure! But you can still take everything you know about teaching writing and adapt it for the virtual classroom.In this episode we will:Look at different options for teaching mini-lessonsLearn how to support parents as they become their children's writing coachesConsider a unique way to approach sharing time

#022: You know teaching writing is important, but you keep running into roadblocks. Your students are at such different places ... can you really meet all their needs? This episode kicks off an 8-part series about teaching writing. We're going to tackle those roadblocks head-on! In today's episode you will learn important do's and don'ts for teaching writing in K-3. You will also discover:The best approach for teaching writingAn important tip to follow when writing in front of your studentsWhen to schedule writing time

#021: How can kids possibly get better at reading when they don't like to read?There's hope! In this episode you will discover:How to make time for learners to read (and insist on it)How to find books your students will enjoyMy TOP strategy for getting kids to enjoy reading

#020: How can we help struggling readers build fluency?In this episode you willlearn how to teach what it means to be a fluent readerdiscover the best texts for students to use when partner readinglearn what texts help students build fluency during independent readingFind the show notes here

#019: It's one of my least favorite experiences as a teacher or parent. I have a child who is halfway through a book; I ask them about it, but they look at me with a blank stare and can't tell me anything about it.There's hope! In today's episode I'm sharing 10 things you can do to help kids remember what they read.You will learnhow to help learners find the right chapter bookhow to teach kids monitor their comprehensionthe tools you can give kids to help them keep track of what they're readingthe secret to productive conversations about the books your learners readFind the show notes hereGet my ultimate set of early chapter book lists and response sheets here

#018: What can you do when learners can't remember those tricky sight words ... no matter what you try?Today I'm sharing five tips that will help! You will learn how to teach new words explicitly, how to practice the words both in context and in isolation, and how to make sight word learning multisensory. Find the show notes here. 

#017: Is "sounding it out" just not clicking for some of your learners? These tips will help!Learn the pre-reading skills kids need before they're ready to sound out words.Discover the power of oral blending.Learn three different approaches to teaching kids to sound it out.Get even more tips for helping kids find success with this important skill!

#016: Did you know that a child's level of phonemic awareness is the greatest predictor of future success in reading?Learn exactly what phonemic awareness is.Discover how much time you need to teach phonemic awareness daily (hint: it's not much!).Learn how to teach the four elements of phonemic awareness.Get real-life examples for teaching phonemic awareness to the whole class and small groups.

#015: Do you have learners who struggle to remember letter sounds?Discover two daily activities that will make the biggest impact.Get ideas for teaching letter sounds in small groups.Learn how to teach letter sounds with resources you already have. Check out my brand new (free!) intervention tool to help kids learn letter sounds.

#014: Do you have learners who are in PreK or kindergarten and are struggling to remember the letters of the alphabet? This episode is for you! Learn how to get started with letter learning.Discover what to look for in an alphabet curriculum.Get links to free printables for teaching the alphabet.Find out about my new collection of alphabet activities and games that make letter learning more fun than ever!Find the show notes here.

#013: Teaching struggling readers is immensely rewarding, but it's not without its challenges. Are you using these five strategies? Sponsored by Teaching Every ReaderFind the show notes here.

#012: Teaching writing isn't easy for anyone - not even for trained teachers! But it's so important ... and these tips will help!Get answers to these questions:How often should your child write?How should you handle spelling?Should you teach your child the writing process?How can you help your child write for authentic purposes?Find the show notes here.

#011: How do you help your kids with their math homework when it's different from the way you learned it?  What math games (that you may already have in your house) build math skills?What are simple ways to build math skills in everyday life?And what's a fun, free online tool that you and your kids will fall in love with?Listen and find out! Find the show notes here.