Episode 79: The Language of Self-Affirmations with Caitlin Santomauro
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 students.
She gives listeners a taste of the content of her book by sharing a passage.
Check out Caitlin's book on Amazon!
Episode 78: Tips for the New Year that Support Readers: Conversations Build Confident Readers
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 small, but impactful ways!
Episode 77: Tips for the New Year that Support Readers: Don't Make Reading a Fight
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.
Episode 76: Tips for the New Year that Support Readers: Include OR Statements When Reading With Children
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 to hear an example of an OR Statement in action!
Episode 75: Time for a Mini-Reflection & Making Reading Happening Over the Winter Break
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 spotlight on an author and his books and a few fun and low-pressure ideas to keep kids reading over the winter break.
Episode 74: Making Fluency Fun with Reader’s Theater
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 Elizabeth talks about how you can use scripts with kids.
Before ending, Elizabeth shares a parenting tip to help your reader with books that they are reading in school.
Episode 73: Poetry is Fun! A Conversation with Poet, Darren Sardelli
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 encourages kids to check-out one poetry book when they are at the library.
Episode 72: Beliefs About Books and Reading
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 Than Read It, They Are Being Lazy
Kids Need to Read Books at Their Reading Level
Kids Should Not Be Re-Reading Books
If Comprehension Support is Needed, Find Passages & Questions
Graphic Novels are Not as Rigorous as Novels
Episode 71: Connecting Teaching to Writing A Conversation with Former Teacher and Author, Terri Lilga
This episode is such 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. I am thrilled to have her on the podcast to talk about her writing.
In this episode, Terri shares her books with us. She has written the books There’s a Hubbard in My Cupboard and Santa’s Simon. Terri explains how she came up with the ideas for her books - and how she gets ideas in general. She has excellent advice for classroom teachers on how to support children as they are coming up with ideas for their writing pieces because Terri’s stories about how she thinks up ideas are really creative and applicable to children.
Enjoy this episode and check out Terri’s work here.
Episode 70: Relevance is Essential: How Teachers Can Make Literacy Learning Relevant to Our Students’ And Their Futures With Lorraine Radice
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 secondary classroom (these can be applied in upper elementary grades as well).
Check out Lorraine’s new book here. You can also take a look at Lorraine’s work on her website.
Episode 69: Focusing On Mood to Unlock Critical Thinking with Trevor Bryan
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 full of so many lesson ideas that are ready to be used with kids. You will not want to miss this episode - and stay until the end...Trevor has a very special and kind offer for educators!
Check out Trevor's new book Narrative Know-How on Amazon or any other bookseller site.
Follow him on Instagram: @trevorabryan
Episode 68: All About Understanding Narratives with Trevor Bryan
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 comprehend what they read. On today's episode, he will talk about the structure that has created to frame this book and why it can support our students as they are learning to both read and write. Trevor's ideas are so supportive of students - you won't want to miss his ideas!
Check out Trevor's new book Narrative Know-How on Amazon or any other bookseller site.
Follow him on Instagram: @trevorabryan
Episode 67: Making Reading Fun (And a Priority) This School Year
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 require extra work! These can fit right into the school day.
Some ways to accomplish this goal include:
Sharing your reading and love of books with your students
Matching books to students' interests
Reading aloud to students regardless of age/grade level/content area
Reframing the Read for 20 Minutes Each Night assignment for parents
Have fun reading!
Episode 66: Another Summer is Coming To An End Gearing Up for the New School Year – Some Tips for Teachers
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!
Episode 65: Parents, Here's A Tip When Your Kids Do Not Want To Read!
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, but it may just work!
Episode 64: Mid-Summer Check-In for Parents: Have Your Kids Been Reading? If Not, You Have Time!
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.
Episode 63: Matching Books to Readers: A Conversation with Lea Anne Borders
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 they want to read.
Check out Bookelicious!
Episode 62: Getting Kids in Middle and High School Reading with New York Times Bestselling Author Jen Calonita
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 Isle of Ever. She has written many other books as well. And, in the fall her book, The Taylors will be released.
Check out Jen’s work here!
You can also find her on Instagram @jencalonita
Episode 61: Supporting Multilingual Learners with Interacting, Reading, and Listening: Learning More from Susan B. Katz
We are back with the second half of my conversation with Susan! Susan is the author of The Swirl Method: Supporting Multilingual Learners as They Speak, Write, Interact, Read, and Listen. This week, Susan is taking us through her strategies to support multilingual learners with interacting, reading, and listening. She offers excellent resources in each area - so please check them out!
This is the second part of a two-part episode. Please make sure you check out the previous episode to learn more about Susan's work. Today's episode addresses interacting, reading, and writing.
Please check out Susan's work:
Please check out Susan's work:
Episode 60: Ideas and Strategies for Teaching Multilingual Learners with Susan B. Katz, Author of the SWIRL Method
The Swirl Method: Supporting Multilingual Learners as They Speak, Write, Interact, Read, and Listen, written by Susan B. Katz addresses how we can support children who are multilingual learners. In this amazing resource, Susan identifies specific strategies in each area: speaking, writing, interacting, reading, and listening - that can be used in the literacy classroom to help learners thrive.
This is a two-part episode. Today's episode addresses speaking and writing.
Please check out Susan's work: