The Literacy Teacher's Life

The Literacy Teacher's Life

This podcast is for teachers and parents who are dedicated to helping young readers and writers thrive. Children are naturally curious and it’s our role as parents and teachers to provide them with support so they learn to love reading and writing. Between national standards and outside influences, there is a significant amount of pressure on teachers and parents around teaching young children to be successful readers and writers. My goal with this podcast is to support and provide guidance for new and continuing teachers so that they can design and implement literacy instruction that will inspire enthusiasm in young readers and writers. For parents of elementary-aged readers and writers, I hope that this podcast will demystify the process of teaching reading and writing. I will introduce the terms and practices that teachers use so that you will be in a better position to support your children’s love of literacy. With this podcast, I aim to provide guidance, reassurance, and confidence so that children - both at school and at home - are building the literacy foundation that they need to empower them throughout the rest of their lives. This is the podcast that will benefit teachers and parents so they can confidently take control of their role in nurturing tomorrow’s readers and writers.

Episodes

March 12, 2026 39 mins
Have you ever wondered how writers and illustrators work together? Well, today's episode answers that question! Joining Elizabeth on the podcast are Laurel Snyder and LeUyen Pham - the author and illustrator of the book Shrinking Violet that is coming out at the end of March.Laurel shares how she came up with the idea for Shrinking Violet, and LeUyen talkes about how she interpreted the words in the illustrations.At the end of the ...
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Welcome to the mini episodes! This is where Elizabeth shares a tip, a trick, or a strategy to take your kids from just reading to actually wanting to read.Today's tip is to make searching for or finding books for your kids to read an adventure. Rather than buy a book for your child, take your child with you to the library or a bookstore to search for books -- and, you can make it extra special by adding in an extra stop! Learn more...
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How we speak to ourselves is so important. Today's guest, Caitlin Santomauro is the author of the amazing book, The Language of Self-Affirmations: A Magical Practice of Manifesting Personal Power.Caitlin begins by explaining what a self-affirmation is and why they are so important to include in our daily lives. She explains how self-affirmations can support kids - she talks about how she has used self-affirmations with her own stud...
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Today's reading tip is to talk to your parents about the books that they are reading.Elizabeth explains why talking to kids about the books that they are reading is so supportive. These conversations can be short and informal, but they are effective because they help increase reading confidence and they help support comprehension.Check out today's episode for the final tip of the month to support kids with reading at home - in smal...
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This month is focused on tips for helping kids read in 2026. And, today's episode is about not making reading a fight. What do you do when you do not like the books that your kids are reading?Elizabeth explains what you can do if you are not loving the books your child is reading. She ends with a story from a recent article about why it's so important for your kids to be reading. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.f...
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Happy 2026!To get the New Year started, Elizabeth is sharing tips and strategies that can be easily included when reading with kids - both in the classroom and at home.In today's episode, Elizabeth shares the first tip which is to use OR Statements when reading with kids to support their knowledge of new words and keep the story moving along.Check out today's episode to learn more about the different types of vocabulary words and t...
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This episode is wrapping up 2025! It's the time to stop and take a few minutes to think about your teaching so that you have an idea of what is going well and what changes you might want to make after the winter break.In this episode, Elizabeth gives three areas to think about with guided questions. She also talks about what worked well with her teaching this fall and what changes she wants to make in the spring semester.There is a...
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This week's episode is about using reader's theater to address fluency with kids. Elizabeth just used reader's theater in her classes to show current and future teachers how scripts can support fluent reading -- and comprehension. Her students had a lot of fun and saw the benefits of using this teaching practice with kids - at all grade levels (not just elementary school).The episode begins with information about fluency and then E...
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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 o...
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November 6, 2025 21 mins
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 T...
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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 read...
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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 secon...
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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...
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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 ...
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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 requir...
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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! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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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,...
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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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit ...
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Lea Anne Borders is the founder of Bookelicious, a digital tool that connects kids’ interests to books that they may enjoy reading. She joins me on today's episode to talk about the features of Bookelicous and we discuss how it can be used by teachers and parents to help children find books that they are interested in reading. This is a great tool to explore - especially at the start of the summer - so that kids can find books the...
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In today's episode, New York Times Bestselling Author, Jen Calonita comes on to discuss her books as well as why she loves writing for the middle grade and young adult kids. She shares why it is so important to meet kids where they are and why connecting to kids' interests - at any age - is so important to get and keep kids reading. Jen is the author of many books, including The Lost Legend series, 12 to 22, The VIP series, and Is...
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