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

I’m so passionate about writing and helping students develop their skills and become better writers. One aspect of writing that is often complex and difficult for students to master is learning how to understand and respond to writing prompts. This is a vital skill because it not only helps students with standardized tests, but it’s a task that can be used with any subject area. So in today’s episode, I’m exploring strategies for tackling and understanding writing prompts so students can effectively respond.

In order for students to fully understand how to respond to writing prompts, there are several steps they need to work through and practice. I help give you the various tools students need to understand writing prompts, know the different types, a few brainstorming techniques, and finally, ways to plan out their responses. These tips might ask you to provide various resources and tools or models and practices for students to fully gain an understanding of how to respond to writing prompts. And since finding ways to seamlessly implement in your own classroom is a big focus for teachers, I also share three ways you can integrate these skills into your daily lessons.

Making sure you intentionally prioritize the learning time and consistently is key to your students mastering and understanding writing prompts. This skill is utilized in more than just the subject of literacy, which is why I encourage you to make developing these skills a priority in your classroom. By doing so, your students will approach writing tasks during standardized tests and in other subject areas with a clear and strategic plan while improving their overall performance and confidence.

Show Notes: https://theliteracydive.com/episode163

Resources Mentioned:

• Join The Daily Writing Disguise
• Monthly Writing Prompts
• Vocabulary Writing Prompts
• Episode 162, Mastering the Basics: Reinforcing Core Writing Skills

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

Last week I brought attention to vocabulary acquisition and the importance of expanding your students’ vocabulary toolbox. But before you start incorporating more vocabulary into your instructional day, I wanted to bring awareness to some common vocabulary myths and misconceptions as you focus on this in your upper elementary classrooms. So in today’s episode, I’m debunking vocabulary myths and highlighting the need for structured vocabulary instruction, along with different ways to embed vocabulary.

Reading and memorization were always the standard ways for teaching vocabulary, but we have since learned those aren’t effective ways to learn new vocabulary words. Instead, incorporating vocabulary in discussions, stories, and explicit instruction will make vocabulary more memorable and meaningful for students. Additionally, I provide examples on how using vocabulary in context creates a deeper understanding of the word.

In order to expand a student’s vocabulary, it’s more than just exposure while reading texts. It’s actually intentional instruction with application as the end result. By knowing common vocabulary myths and how to teach it effectively, your students will have more vocabulary words in their toolbox and use it in other contexts. Stay tuned to next week’s episode where I dive into strategies and actionable tips for vocabulary!

Show Notes: https://theliteracydive.com/episode146

Resources Mentioned:

• Join The Daily Writing Disguise
• Vocabulary Writing Prompts FREE Sample
• Vocabulary Writing Prompts
• Episode 145, Unpacking the Role of Vocabulary Acquisition

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

Our goal as literacy teachers is to develop skilled readers and writers, so we often implement strategies that have students work on those skills. And while those strategies are effective and work, for our struggling readers, it may not be enough. Therefore, by incorporating a think-aloud strategy, your students will be able to hear and see how a skilled reader interprets a text. In this episode, I’m sharing 11 think-aloud prompts that will level up your students’ reading comprehension.

Using a think-aloud strategy, teachers pause and share what they’re thinking while reading a text, which can include prediction, analysis, synthesis, and more. We want students' internal processing to become automatic, which is why it’s important to implement this strategy during times when it’s natural to think critically about texts. During those times, I also discuss what you should model, how to incorporate this think-aloud strategy, and examples that demonstrate how to model it with your students.

Incorporating this think-aloud strategy effectively will require you to be aware of your own thought processes while reading and verbalize them in a way that is accessible to students. By pausing for intentional think-alouds, you can share your thoughts to help all readers think critically about a text and level up their reading comprehension.

Show Notes: https://theliteracydive.com/episode143

Resources Mentioned:

• Join The Daily Writing Disguise
• Monthly Writing Prompts Free Sample

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

As literacy teachers, our goal is to develop skilled readers and writers. And although we want our students to be independent in these areas, providing them support actually helps them master literacy skills to become independent. One of my favorite ways to support my students in writing is through using graphic organizers. In this episode, I’m sharing why using graphic organizers can be used to support quality written responses.

There is so much power in using simple supports that scaffold students into writing about reading. Graphic organizers are an easy support for students while also benefiting them as they structure their ideas to easily craft a written response. In order for you to use graphic organizers in the most effective way, I outline my process as to how I introduce them to students, ways students interact with them, and how it ultimately creates a well-developed written response.

In upper elementary, we want our students to be strong in their written responses in regard to reading. As I’ve established, using graphic organizers is one of the best ways to do that. These visual tools provide a clear framework for analyzing texts and generating thoughtful responses. So, take some time this week and implement and practice written responses using graphic organizers and see your students thrive in their writing skills.

Show Notes: https://theliteracydive.com/episode142

Resources Mentioned:

• Join The Daily Writing Disguise
• Reading Graphic Organizers for Reading Skills and Reading Strategies
• Monthly Writing Prompts Free Sample

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

As literacy teachers we want to create an environment that helps develop students into skilled readers and writers. And although they’re often taught in isolation, both actually compliment each other. One way to incorporate both reading and writing is through read alouds, which has the added benefit of exposing students to a variety of genres. In today’s episode, I’m sharing my very simple 5-step read aloud routine that helps students discover diverse texts.

Most students don’t venture out beyond their comfortability with book genres on their own, which is why it’s our job to expose them to more diverse texts. And since read aloud time is already incorporated into your literacy block, it’s the perfect opportunity to bring in various genres. My quick and easy 5-step routine models what students should do while also piques their interest in new books. Additionally, I share how your chosen read aloud book can be repurposed towards writing skills.

We know that exposing students to different genres can positively impact their reading and writing skills, which is why it’s so important to find an easy way to seamlessly implement it into your day. By choosing diverse texts to highlight during your read aloud time, you will begin to engage students in diversifying their book selections.

Show Notes: https://theliteracydive.com/episode141

Resources Mentioned:

• Join my Daily Writing Disguise

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