Stellar Teacher Podcast: A Podcast for Upper Elementary Teachers

Writing instruction is crucial in every 3rd, 4th, and 5th-grade classroom. But with limited time in an already packed literacy block, how do we cover everything students need to know? The solution is simple: integrate writing instruction into all content areas. In this episode, my goal is to inspire every teacher to see themselves as a writing teacher, no matter the subject they teach.&n...

I remember back-to-school time being both exciting and exhausting. It's a new school year filled with fresh possibilities. It's also extremely busy with classroom setup, planning, organizing, and meeting students, parents, and new teachers. To lighten your load, I'm sharing 3 important literacy lessons to teach at the beginning of the year to set your students up for literacy success. As literacy...

We've discussed how challenging it is to fit all the necessary skills into your literacy block with limited time. But what if I told you that focusing on fluency doesn't have to take extra time? It can be seamlessly integrated throughout your day. Game changer, right? In today's episode, my special guest, Aylin Claahsen, shares practical reading fluency activities you can incorporate int...

I loved teaching genre when I was in the classroom, and now I love talking about it. I view teaching genre as the cornerstone of a literacy block. Genre is something that you can talk about in both reading and writing, so anytime you talk about genre, it can have an impact on all areas of your literacy block.  Genre categorizes books and texts by specific attributes. When students understand...

Today, we're focusing on social and emotional learning (SEL) with Abby from Mrs. Mo's Modifications. Abby, a behavior specialist and former special education teacher, is passionate about helping teachers incorporate social and emotional learning into their classrooms. In our conversation, she explains what SEL is and its importance, emphasizing the need to explicitly teach and practice these skill...

As a new school year approaches and you prepare your literacy lessons and schedule, I want to share some advice on teaching word study. In this episode, I'll discuss 5 things to do and 5 things to avoid in word study instruction. Expanding students' vocabularies is crucial in upper elementary, so incorporate a daily word study activity. This should be a shared goal across all subjects, not just EL...

I’ve shared on the podcast before that it’s impossible to teach every single unknown word to your students. So, with that in mind, what can you do as a literacy teacher to help your students learn and understand the meaning of new words? You need to provide them with the tools to figure out word meanings, and one way to do that is through teaching morphology. In today’s episode, I’m explaining wha...

As elementary teachers plan their small groups, they think about the lessons they’ll be teaching, activities for students to engage in, and the number of students in each group. And while those are important components of a successful small group, there’s one major aspect teachers don’t often think about: the rest of their class! This is such a challenge for teachers that the number one question I...

As we conclude our Science of Reading Summer Series, I want to share some tips for planning your literacy block for next year. We know fitting everything into a literacy block can be challenging, so here are some key components to include: word study, reading comprehension, whole group lessons, writing, small group lessons, independent practice, and transitions. The good news is that these compone...

Being an upper elementary teacher means that we put a bigger focus on getting students to write a five-paragraph essay by the end of the year. And as we’ve talked about recently on the podcast, students need to have a foundation of good sentence writing first. Once students have that solid foundation, they then learn how to write strong paragraphs. So, in today’s episode, I’m sharing five tips tha...

The Simple View of Reading highlights that reading comprehension requires proficiency in both decoding and language comprehension. If a student struggles with decoding, effective comprehension instruction won't help them understand the text because decoding is a crucial part of reading. In this episode, I share a straightforward process to help your students read and decode multisyllabic words. To...

A common misconception upper elementary teachers often make with sentence writing is that students don’t need to practice or develop this skill. Since teachers are so focused on the end result of a five-paragraph essay, sentence writing is often ignored or not prioritized. However, that’s not benefiting students and their academic success at all. Instead, this foundational skill needs to be incorp...

In this episode, we shift our focus from instructional strategies to an often overlooked yet crucial aspect of literacy instruction: the classroom environment, specifically the classroom library. While effective teaching practices are essential, how we organize our learning spaces can significantly impact our students' reading experiences and development. As the new school year approaches, I...

One of the ways for students to be successful readers and have excellent reading comprehension is if they have a good understanding of words and their meanings. This is why vocabulary instruction is an important aspect of your literacy block, or really during any content area. However, vocabulary instruction is more than just introducing new words to your students. So, in today’s episode, I’m shar...

One major goal in upper elementary education is to help students become fluent readers. But what does that really mean? Fluency goes beyond speed; it encompasses the ability to read words, phrases, and entire sections of text quickly, accurately, and with understanding. Reading fluency serves as the bridge between decoding and comprehension. Strong fluency skills improve both decoding and comprehe...

When tackling a new approach to your instruction, it takes a lot of research, dedication, and implementation to find success with your students. After hearing about the science of reading, my guest, Meghan Hein, dove head first into learning all she could about it and has since made small changes to her literacy block to align with its practices just this past school year. So, in this episode, Meg...

Scarborough's Reading Rope highlights the necessity of both word recognition and language comprehension for developing skilled readers. In this episode, I focus on effective vocabulary instruction, a crucial component of language comprehension. I will discuss both implicit and explicit vocabulary instruction methods and their role in enhancing students' vocabulary and reading comprehension. Explic...

Happy 200th episode, my friends! While I love reminiscing on milestone episodes, which I do at the beginning of this episode, I thought the best way to celebrate was to do what I started this podcast for. And that is to continue to support teachers in areas of struggle. After recently sending out a survey to my Stellar Teacher community, I once again saw the need for more support in the area of te...

I often describe text structure as a roadmap for reading. Understanding how texts are organized is crucial for enhancing language comprehension, which plays a significant role in reading. Deciphering text structure aids in identifying key concepts and understanding the relationships among ideas, people, and events in a text. It also prepares students for what to expect and how information will unf...

I’ve talked on this podcast before about the science of reading, the major components of it, and why it’s such a major topic in the field of education right now. And while I’ve researched and surrounded myself with all the information I can on it, there’s still so much to unpack and learn. Thankfully, my guest on today’s episode, Katie Egan Cunningham, is an expert on the topic. So, in this episod...

I'm thrilled to launch our Science of Reading Summer Series by discussing how activating prior knowledge and building background knowledge enhances reading comprehension. Effective comprehension extends beyond decoding words to deeply understanding text through language comprehension. Our aim is not to teach a long list of standards, but to empower students to deeply understand the topic of t...

I’ve always been fascinated with how students learn to read, so when I first heard about the science of reading, I couldn’t get enough. I read all the books and did countless hours of research, all to learn this knowledge and share it with my listeners. Starting this Thursday, we’re kicking off our Stellar Teacher Science of Reading Summer Series, where I address one aspect of the science of readi...

I’ll be honest: when I was teaching in the classroom, I knew very little about the work Speech Language Pathologists, or SLPs, did in schools. I knew they pulled students to work on speech services, but not much beyond that. After my conversation with today’s guest, Hallie Sherman, I gained a deeper understanding of the role of an SLP and how they help students with their language, which affe...

After talking with teachers and sending out surveys to the Stellar Teacher community, it’s clear that everyone is struggling with the same thing: how to teach writing. If I’m being honest, this was definitely a struggle for me when I was in the classroom. I wasn’t confident in my skills, therefore I didn’t know how to teach my students. But I don’t want that for you! So, in today’s episode, I’m sh...

Being a first year teacher, there are so many things on your mind and your to-do list before entering your classroom in the fall. But like most first year teachers, they don’t want to wait to get started on all things teaching and are so eager to get started now. Well, if you’re a first-year teacher, you’re in luck! In today’s episode, I have guest Dr. Lori Friesen, who is sharing five things teac...