

Stellar Teacher Podcast: A Podcast for Upper Elementary Teachers
Sara Marye, Literacy Teacher, Elementary Teacher
Welcome to the Stellar Teacher Podcast! We believe teaching literacy is a skill. It takes a lot of time, practice, and effort to be good at it. This podcast will show you how to level up your literacy instruction and make a massive impact with your students, all while having a little fun!
Your host, Sara Marye, is a literacy specialist passionate about helping elementary teachers around the world pass on their love of reading to their students. She has over a decade of experience working as a classroom teacher and school administrator. Sara has made it her mission to create high quality no-fluff resources and lesson ideas that are both meaningful and engaging for young readers.
Each week, Sara and her guests will share their knowledge, tips, and tricks so that you can feel confident in your ability to transform your students into life-long readers.
For printable and digital resources, head to stellarteacher.com. Connect with Sara on Instagram @thestellarteachercompany
Your host, Sara Marye, is a literacy specialist passionate about helping elementary teachers around the world pass on their love of reading to their students. She has over a decade of experience working as a classroom teacher and school administrator. Sara has made it her mission to create high quality no-fluff resources and lesson ideas that are both meaningful and engaging for young readers.
Each week, Sara and her guests will share their knowledge, tips, and tricks so that you can feel confident in your ability to transform your students into life-long readers.
For printable and digital resources, head to stellarteacher.com. Connect with Sara on Instagram @thestellarteachercompany
Episodes
Mentioned books

Aug 21, 2023 • 23min
155. Get INSPIRED To Teach Writing This Year!
One of my goals this year was to incorporate more writing content into the podcast and available resources in The Stellar Literacy Collective because teaching writing can be challenging for upper elementary teachers and overwhelming for students. However, I want to ditch the negative stigma surrounding writing and provide you with a new mindset. I’m sharing 3 things you can do that will help you successfully teach writing to your students this school year!Grab my Sentence Writing Routine Free Sample here!Check out my Free Literacy Workshop. For more information, click here. Sign up for my FREE private podcast, the Confident Writer Systems Series, here!Join us in the Stellar Literacy Collective Membership: stellarteacher.com/join To check out all of the resources from this episode, head to the show notes: https://www.stellarteacher.com/episode155

Aug 14, 2023 • 24min
154. My #1 Tip for Creating a Strong Classroom Community and Culture
Talking about literacy is a passion of mine and is what the content of this podcast is based on. However, in today's episode, I'm talking about something different but directly related to how your students learn and improve their literacy skills. There's a phrase that says, "Students don't care how much you know until they know how much you care." I've found this quote to be incredibly true, and it all starts with a strong classroom community and culture. In order to develop your classroom community, I'm sharing why establishing core values helps you accomplish that in your classroom. Check out my Free Literacy Workshop. For more information click here. Sign up for my FREE private podcast, the Confident Writer Systems Series here!Join us in the Stellar Literacy Collective Membership: stellarteacher.com/join To check out all of the resources from this episode, head to the show notes: https://www.stellarteacher.com/episode154

Aug 7, 2023 • 41min
153. Simple Strategies to Strengthen the Language Domains for Your ELL Students with Beth Vaucher
As you prepare for back to school and the beginning of the year, it’s possible that you might have some ELL (English Language Learners) students in your classroom. Having multiple different groups of students in your class can be overwhelming and stressful to prepare for. However, my guest on today’s episode, Beth Vaucher, is here to tell you how to simplify it. Beth is discussing how to strengthen the language domains for your ELL students with simple and effective strategies.Check out my Free Literacy Workshop. For more information click here. Sign up for my FREE private podcast, the Confident Writer Systems Series here!Join us in the Stellar Literacy Collective Membership: stellarteacher.com/join To check out all of the resources from this episode, head to the show notes: https://www.stellarteacher.com/episode153

Jul 31, 2023 • 29min
152. The 3 Steps to Take This School Year If You’re Always Saying “I Wish I Had More Time”
The one thing teachers wish they could have more of is time. Time to plan, time to teach, time to make copies, and time to have fun with their students. The day goes by so quickly that it’s hard to fit everything in, but one thing that helps with that is time management. In order to help you gain some time back in your classroom, I’m sharing 3 tips that are effective and help free up brain space.Download my Free Mini-Lesson Plan and Sample Slides here!Check out my Free Literacy Workshop. For more information click here. Sign up for my FREE private podcast, the Confident Writer Systems Series here!Join us in the Stellar Literacy Collective Membership: stellarteacher.com/join To check out all of the resources from this episode, head to the show notes: https://www.stellarteacher.com/episode152

Jul 24, 2023 • 16min
151. 5 Myths About Small Group Instruction (And What to Believe Instead)
The task of implementing small groups can be daunting and overwhelming, especially with all the misconceptions surrounding it. However, I’m here to tell you that small group instruction can be manageable and effective no matter what type of strategy or instruction you choose to use. To help convince you of that, I’m sharing 5 myths about small group instruction and the truths to believe instead. Check out my Free Literacy Workshop. For more information click here. Sign up for my FREE private podcast, the Confident Writer Systems Series here!Join us in the Stellar Literacy Collective Membership: stellarteacher.com/join To check out all of the resources from this episode, head to the show notes: https://www.stellarteacher.com/episode151

Jul 17, 2023 • 17min
150. 3 Mistakes That Teachers Make When Creating a Literacy Block Schedule
The number one question I get asked the most is How do I fit everything I need to in my literacy block? And while I wish I could grant you all the time you need, I can’t. However, being in the classroom myself, I made some mistakes that I hope to share with you that you can learn from going forward. So in today’s episode, I’m sharing the 3 mistakes teachers make when creating their literacy block schedule.Check out my Free Literacy Workshop. For more information click here. Sign up for my FREE private podcast, the Confident Writer Systems Series here!Join us in the Stellar Literacy Collective Membership: stellarteacher.com/join To check out all of the resources from this episode, head to the show notes: https://www.stellarteacher.com/episode150

Jul 13, 2023 • 19min
149. Give Students a Framework for Making Inferences [Small Steps to S.O.R. Part 7]
Our goal as literacy teachers is to have confident and skilled readers and a way to achieve that is aligning your instruction to the science of reading. Throughout this series, I’ve emphasized Scarborough’s reading rope and different strategies and tips that improve a students’ word recognition and language comprehension skill set. The last component of the series, I’m sharing how providing a simple framework helps students with inferential thinking. Check out my Free Literacy Workshop. For more information click here. Sign up for my FREE private podcast, the Confident Writer Systems Series here!Join us in the Stellar Literacy Collective Membership: stellarteacher.com/join To check out all of the resources from this episode, head to the show notes: https://www.stellarteacher.com/episode149

Jul 10, 2023 • 21min
148. 4 Things to Do If You Don’t Have a Writing Curriculum (or it Doesn’t Meet the Needs of Your Students!)
We know that writing can be difficult for our students, but on the flip side, teaching writing can also be difficult for teachers. This can be particularly prominent if your school doesn’t have a writing curriculum or if the curriculum provided doesn’t meet the needs of your students. But don’t worry! I’m sharing 4 things for you to do that improves your writing curriculum, or lack thereof.Check out my Free Literacy Workshop. For more information click here. Sign up for my FREE private podcast, the Confident Writer Systems Series here!Join us in the Stellar Literacy Collective Membership: stellarteacher.com/join To check out all of the resources from this episode, head to the show notes: https://www.stellarteacher.com/episode148

Jul 6, 2023 • 17min
147. Teach Syllabication [Small Steps to S.O.R. Part 6]
Over the last six weeks, I’ve discussed in every episode about Scarborough’s Reading Rope and its importance to the science of reading. In order for a student to be a skilled reader, they need both language comprehension and word recognition skills. I’ve often focused my attention on language comprehension, but in today’s episode, I’m shedding some light on a skill that’s needed to gain word recognition skills, which is teaching syllabication.Check out my Free Literacy Workshop. For more information click here. Sign up for my FREE private podcast, the Confident Writer Systems Series here!Join us in the Stellar Literacy Collective Membership: https://learn.stellarteacher.com/waitlist To check out all of the resources from this episode, head to the show notes: https://www.stellarteacher.com/episode147

Jul 3, 2023 • 21min
146. Get More Out of Your Literacy Block With a Strong Whole Group Lesson Routine
This summer I’m doing my best to answer your questions on your biggest challenges as teachers. While I could do four individual episodes on these four questions, each of them can actually be answered with the same common response: creating a strong whole group lesson routine. In this episode, I’m sharing a sample routine you can use in your classroom and 7 reasons why routines should be a significant part of your school day.Check out my Free Literacy Workshop. For more information click here. Sign up for my FREE private podcast, the Confident Writer Systems Series here!Join us in the Stellar Literacy Collective Membership: https://learn.stellarteacher.com/waitlist To check out all of the resources from this episode, head to the show notes: https://www.stellarteacher.com/episode146