166 episodes

Do you find yourself seeking new implementations when it comes to literacy instruction? Do you crave fresh ideas and engaging lessons to transform your students into skilled readers and writers? The Literacy Dive Podcast was created to provide educators, like you, with actionable steps and strategies to improve teaching reading and writing. 

Your host, Megan Polk, is the creator and owner of The Literacy Dive, a company that creates educational, literacy curriculum that aims to close the gap and support children in reaching mastery. Being a literacy specialist and having over a decade of teaching grades K-5, Megan knows the power of collaboration and working alongside teachers and parents to provide them with the support, confidence, and resources they need to meet students where they are.

Dive in each Monday as Megan and her guests unpack an element of literacy or various topics relatable to educators. Here are some topics covered in this literacy podcast: writing strategies, reading comprehension, the writing process, the science of reading, and small group instruction.

Tune in on your favorite podcast platforms like Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Castbox, Amazon, and more!

If you enjoy this podcast and find the content helpful, please consider leaving a rating, feedback review, and/or sharing this podcast with a friend!

The Literacy Dive Podcast: Reading and Writing Strategies for Upper Elementary Teachers and Parents Megan Polk, Literacy Specialist, Elementary Teacher

    • Education
    • 4.8 • 47 Ratings

Do you find yourself seeking new implementations when it comes to literacy instruction? Do you crave fresh ideas and engaging lessons to transform your students into skilled readers and writers? The Literacy Dive Podcast was created to provide educators, like you, with actionable steps and strategies to improve teaching reading and writing. 

Your host, Megan Polk, is the creator and owner of The Literacy Dive, a company that creates educational, literacy curriculum that aims to close the gap and support children in reaching mastery. Being a literacy specialist and having over a decade of teaching grades K-5, Megan knows the power of collaboration and working alongside teachers and parents to provide them with the support, confidence, and resources they need to meet students where they are.

Dive in each Monday as Megan and her guests unpack an element of literacy or various topics relatable to educators. Here are some topics covered in this literacy podcast: writing strategies, reading comprehension, the writing process, the science of reading, and small group instruction.

Tune in on your favorite podcast platforms like Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Castbox, Amazon, and more!

If you enjoy this podcast and find the content helpful, please consider leaving a rating, feedback review, and/or sharing this podcast with a friend!

    164. Helping Students Manage and Overcome Test Anxiety

    164. Helping Students Manage and Overcome Test Anxiety

    When it comes to preparing for a state standardized test, we tend to focus our energy and time on the content our students need to master in order to get a high-achieving score. We implement daily practice and review for weeks leading up to the test. However, one aspect that we don’t focus on but plays a big role in our students’ performances is test anxiety. In today’s episode, I’m providing you with a variety of information that will help students manage and overcome test anxiety.
    Test anxiety is the emotional component around testing, which can often be difficult to identify in students. Therefore, I’m sharing the signs of test anxiety, some of the major causes or factors that contribute to it, and strategies to help reduce this overwhelming feeling they have. Knowing these signs and factors can help you identify students early on, which will then provide them with the necessary strategies and tools to help them process and manage it to the best of their ability.
    Making sure your students are prepared academically to take the state standardized test is so important, but don’t forget to prepare them for the emotional role it can have on them as well. By addressing test anxiety directly, you will be supporting them by giving them the tools and strategies they need to feel confident and perform as their greatest selves.
    Show Notes: https://theliteracydive.com/episode164
    Resources Mentioned:
    Join The Daily Writing Disguise Monthly Writing PromptsVocabulary Writing PromptsEpisode 163, Response Ready: Tips for Helping Your Students Understand Writing PromptsEpisode 162, Mastering the Basics: Reinforcing Core Writing Skills
    Connect with Me:
    Join The Daily Writing Disguise Membership hereShop my TpT store hereReceive emails from me hereFollow me on Instagram hereRead my blog posts here

    • 21 min
    163. Response Ready: Tips for Helping Your Students Understand Writing Prompts

    163. Response Ready: Tips for Helping Your Students Understand Writing Prompts

    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 PromptsVocabulary Writing PromptsEpisode 162, Mastering the Basics: Reinforcing Core Writing Skills
    Connect with Me:
    Join The Daily Writing Disguise Membership hereShop my TpT store hereReceive emails from me hereFollow me on Instagram hereRead my blog posts here

    • 18 min
    162. Mastering the Basics: Reinforcing Core Writing Skills

    162. Mastering the Basics: Reinforcing Core Writing Skills

    Even though testing season isn’t here tomorrow, it is just around the corner and will be here before you know it. And instead of stressing and trying to prepare your students in a short amount of time, why not get started now? But whether you’re preparing students for a standardized test or wanting to work on different writing skills throughout the year, this episode is for you! Over the next few weeks, I’ll be focusing on different components of writing and sharing quick tips that will ultimately help your students. In this episode, I’m going back to the basics and sharing how to reinforce core writing skills.
    I have found that most students struggle with grammar skills, sentence structure, and paragraph organization, so each of the tips I share focuses on one of those three areas. With each new idea shared, I explain what it is, ways to integrate them into your classroom routines, and examples to show you what they look like. With minimal preparation and materials, you already have access to, and by consistently implementing these core writing skills into your daily routine, you will prepare your students for the test and improve their writing skills.
    These strategies support the core aspects of writing without additional resources or feeling like they’re too difficult to implement in your classroom. Stay tuned to next week’s episode, where I share more writing tips that help your students prepare for the standardized test without feeling the stress.
    Show Notes: https://theliteracydive.com/episode162
    Resources Mentioned:
    Vocabulary Writing Prompts SampleQuick Write ActivitiesWould You Rather Writing ActivitiesDescriptive Writing Anchor ChartsPunctuation ChartsReading Response Sentence Stems
    Connect with Me:
    Join The Daily Writing Disguise Membership hereShop my TpT store hereReceive emails from me hereFollow me on Instagram hereRead my blog posts here

    • 23 min
    161. Strategies for Gradually Increasing Writing Time and Complexity

    161. Strategies for Gradually Increasing Writing Time and Complexity

    Over the last few weeks, we’ve been diving into the topic of student writing stamina. We’ve explored strategies to keep students engaged in writing, challenges students face while they’re writing, and how to build stamina through practices implemented in the classroom. By having all this background information and fresh new ideas on ways to keep them engaged, it’s time to create natural ways to increase the writing time of your students. So, in the last episode of our series, I’m sharing eight strategies that will gradually increase student writing time and the complexity of their work.
    As we talk about how to increase student writing time, it’s important to keep in mind that we’re striving for more than just length of time. This can also mean increasing the number of sentences a student writes, a specific amount of words in their writing, or the types of sentences a student incorporates into their written work. I share that the goals and level of your students determine what you increase during your students’ writing time.
    Each of the eight strategies is designed to increase the time, words, or sentences naturally and slowly over time. With each strategy, I also include specific examples and activities to use with each one to seamlessly implement in your literacy block. 
    Knowing various ways to increase student writing time is going to ensure it’s a natural process as students work towards their own writing goals as it pertains to stamina. By incorporating these eight strategies that are simple and practical, with consistency in a structured, supportive and engaging manner, your students will begin to build their writing stamina and endurance.
    Show Notes: https://theliteracydive.com/episode161
    Resources Mentioned:
    Daily Writing DisguiseCreative Writing ActivitiesMonthly Writing PromptsVocabulary Writing PromptsWriting Process Anchor Charts & ChecklistsEpisode 160, 4 Ways to Increase Writing EnduranceEpisode 159, Writing Stamina: 6 Challenges Students Face and How to Help Them
    Connect with Me:
    Join The Daily Writing Disguise Membership hereShop my TpT store hereReceive emails from me hereFollow me on Instagram hereRead my blog posts a href="https://theliteracydive.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer"...

    • 25 min
    160. 4 Ways to Increase Writing Endurance

    160. 4 Ways to Increase Writing Endurance

    In last week’s episode, we learned that writing stamina is built over time and includes more than just an amount of time, but when students are actively engaged in a particular writing task. Since having writing stamina can be difficult for students, I wanted to create a series that provided teachers with strategies that improved a student’s writing stamina and developed their writing skills at the same time. So in the second episode in the series, I’m sharing four ways you can increase writing endurance within your students.
    In order to increase writing endurance within your students, several things are required from not only your students but yourself as the teacher. Knowing the role you play in increasing their endurance and developing their skills is going to help your students succeed and become independent writers. I share four ways what this can look like in your classroom or literacy block without taking up an extended amount of time or changing your entire curriculum. 
    Getting your students to write in general can be challenging, but especially for an extended period of time while fully engaged. By implementing these strategies to increase writing endurance, you ensure that students will get the practice they need to positively grow their stamina and skills. Stay tuned to next week’s episode, the last in the series, on how to gradually increase the writing time and complexity of which your students are writing.
    Show Notes: https://theliteracydive.com/episode160
    Resources Mentioned:
    Daily Writing DisguiseCreative Writing ActivitiesWriting Office FoldersWriting Reference HelpersWriting Process ChecklistsDescriptive Writing Anchor ChartsEpisode 159, Writing Stamina: 6 Challenges Students Face and How to Help Them
    Connect with Me:
    Join The Daily Writing Disguise Membership hereShop my TpT store hereReceive emails from me hereFollow me on Instagram hereRead my blog posts here

    • 38 min
    159. Writing Stamina: 6 Challenges Students Face and How to Help Them

    159. Writing Stamina: 6 Challenges Students Face and How to Help Them

    I am passionate about literacy, especially finding creative and engaging ways to get students writing. However, none of that matters if their writing stamina is low. I know from my experience being in the classroom, that so many of my students didn’t have the writing endurance for longer pieces of writing, which meant I had to come up with ways to increase their stamina over time. In the first episode in a series about writing stamina, I’m sharing six writing stamina challenges and strategies that support them to increase their stamina.
    When I use the phrase "writing stamina", I’m referring to more than just duration, but having students maintain their writing quality and engagement throughout their writing session. I break down this into three components and discuss why they need to work together to increase a student’s writing stamina. But when it comes to writing, students always face difficulties. Therefore, I highlight six main writing stamina challenges, why or how it’s a challenge, and strategies to implement that support each challenge.
    Although making sure a student has good writing stamina might not seem like a big deal, it has an impact on their academic success. This includes standardized tests and their development of writing skills, which is why identifying students’ writing stamina challenges and understanding why it’s necessary to focus on is so important. Stay tuned to next week’s episode where I explore ways to build writing endurance with practical tips.
    Show Notes: https://theliteracydive.com/episode159
    Resources Mentioned:
    Daily Writing Disguise Creative Writing Activities on TPTMonthly Writing PromptsVocabulary Writing PromptsDescriptive Writing Anchor Charts
    Connect with Me:
    Join The Daily Writing Disguise Membership hereShop my TpT store hereReceive emails from me hereFollow me on Instagram hereRead my blog posts here

    • 38 min

Customer Reviews

4.8 out of 5
47 Ratings

47 Ratings

wlcart ,

Wonderful presentation!

Megan’s podcasts are informative, clear, and full of amazing ideas and resources to supplement any curriculum. She brings a creative breath of fresh air to what can be a drudgery and stumbling block for many students!

Sleepless in Richmond ,

Easy and Effective Strategies!

I just listened to a recent podcast about incorporating DEAR time (and other spin-offs) into instruction. The episode was chocked full of quick and easy tips ready to use today! Can’t wait to listen to more!

Tescher136 ,

Amazing Podcast for Teachers!

Listening to this show always provides me with new tips and strategies to try in my classroom, or reinvigorates me to use those tried and true strategies. I leave every episode excited and ready to try a skill in class that week. I love how the resources are provided in the show notes too! This podcast reaches all teachers and discusses a plethora of topics!

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