Small Groups in the Science of Reading Classroom with Malia Hollowell [episode 129]

May 28, 2024

Click below to listen to “Small Group in the Science of Reading Classroom with Malia Hollowell”

Listen on Apple Podcasts | Listen on Spotify | Watch on YouTube

Key themes about the Science of Reading, small groups, and literacy centers:

The importance of grouping students into small groups based on needs
Small Groups vs. Literacy Centers- what they are and how to implement them into your classrooms
Science of reading resource recommendations and how to utilize tools and materials available to you

Mastering Small Groups and Literacy Centers: A Science of Reading Approach

In episode 129 of “Educate and Rejuvenate: The Podcast,” Malia Hollowell sheds light on the importance of small groups in the science of reading classroom. With over 67% of 4th graders in the United States reading below grade level, implementing effective small groups becomes crucial. Malia is a science of reading expert, and emphasizes the significance of aligning small group instruction with the science of reading principles. Let’s delve deeper into the strategies and tips discussed in the episode.

Importance of Small Groups in Reading Instruction

Malia emphasizes the need to create small groups based on students’ needs. By conducting assessments to identify specific phonics skills students are struggling with, teachers can tailor their instruction to address those needs effectively. Grouping students with similar needs allows for focused instruction and personalized support, making learning more efficient and engaging for students.

Integrating Science of Reading Principles

Incorporating science of reading principles into small group instruction involves daily practice of phonics skills and phonological awareness. Malia stresses the importance of consistent practice to help struggling readers internalize these foundational skills. By engaging students in activities that reinforce phonics and phonological awareness daily, teachers can build the necessary foundation for effective reading fluency and comprehension.

Choosing Appropriate Reading Material

When selecting reading material for small group instruction, it is essential to ensure that the texts align with the phonics skills being taught. Malia suggests examining classroom resources to match the phonics lessons and spelling patterns. For teachers using leveled readers, it is advisable to supplement with targeted passages that reinforce specific phonics rules, enhancing students’ ability to apply newly learned skills in context.

Strategies for Effective Literacy Centers

Transitioning from small groups to literacy centers requires clear expectations and structured routines. Malia recommends starting with one center and gradually increasing the duration as students become more adept at independent work. Establishing explicit guidelines, providing visual cues, and setting a time limit can help foster a productive and organized literacy center environment, allowing teachers to focus on their small group instruction effectively.

Empowering Teachers with Practical Tools

To support educators in streamlining lesson planning and small group instruction, Hollowell introduces a 4-step system aimed at saving time and enhancing the effectiveness of phonics lessons. By simplifying the planning process and providing templates and checklists, teachers can optimize their teaching practices and elevate student outcomes. Additionally, Malia’s Phonics Toolkit offers comprehensive resources to facilitate targeted instruction and reinforce essential reading skills in the classroom.

Incorporating small groups and literacy centers into the science of reading classroom can significantly impact student learning outcomes. By aligning instruction with phonics skills, practicing phonological awareness, and selecting appropriate reading materials, teachers can create a supportive learning environment conducive to reading success. As educators implement the strategies shared by Hollowell, they empower themselves with the tools and knowledge needed to nurture proficient and confident readers in their classrooms.

In essence, mastering small groups and literacy centers with a science of reading approach fuels student growth and cultivates a love for reading that transcends the classroom.

Resources mentioned:

Connect with Malia

Connect with Kelsey:

Read the transcript for Small Groups in the Science of Reading Classroom with Malia Hollowell:

You are listening to episode number 129 of educate and rejuvenate the podcast. Small groups in the science of reading classroom with Malia Hollowell. Did you know that over 67% of 4th graders in the United States read below grade level? That is why today, I brought on science of reading expert, Malia Hollowell, from PLATO to PLATO to share how we can implement small groups in the classroom, both how to effectively teach the small groups and manage the rest of the students in their literacy centers, all while keeping the science of reading in mind. Welcome to educate and rejuvenate, the podcast to help you revitalize your teaching, renew your spirit, and reignite your passion for life. I’m your host, Kelsey Sorensen, a former teacher, current homeschool mom, published author, and certified life coach. Whether you are a teacher in a traditional classroom, homeschool from your kitchen table, or anywhere in between, I am on a mission to help you not only survive as an educator, but thrive. Get ready to up level your skills with incredible insights from guest experts and discover the missing piece, rejuvenating yourself. Are you ready to both educate and rejuvenate? Let’s go.

Speaker A 00:01:21 – 00:02:18

Let me tell you, it has been a little bit of a challenge to rewire my brain into saying educate and rejuvenate the podcast instead of wife, teacher, mommy the podcast. But I’ve been so excited about this rebrand, and I’m so glad that everybody who we’ve gotten feedback from has been all in with it too and excited about it. I just think it’ll be so much more inclusive for everybody and really describes what we’re doing here, which is helping you to both learn and educate your students or your children or whoever you’re teaching and rejuvenate yourself. Because before we can be the most effective educator we can be, we need to make sure that we’re taking care of ourselves too. And that’s what I, as a certified life coach, am really the most passionate about. But I also love bringing on experts on topics that can help you uplevel your skills as a teacher as well. So today, I brought on Malia Hollowell, who I am so excited to have on the show. I followed her on Instagram for a long time and actually Pinterest even before that.

Speaker A 00:02:18 – 00:03:13

And now I’m publishing my book using the same publisher that she used, Teacher Goals Publishing. And she released her best selling book, The Science of Reading in Action. And shortly after I signed my book deal with Teacher Goals Publishing, I was like, I should probably grab her book and kinda see, like, what the quality of the actual book is like and the layout and kinda the length and what they’re expecting a little bit. But when I read her book, I was like, this is so good. I feel like it just breaks down the strategies of the science of reading, the research behind it, how you can implement it in a not so overwhelming way. She also includes a ton of really great resources for free for everybody who has her book, and those really show that she knows what she’s talking about when it comes to the science of reading. And that’s why I’m so excited that she’s here today on the educate and rejuvenate podcast to share her knowledge with you right here, so stay tuned. We have had a lot of questions on the podcast about small groups.

Speaker A 00:03:13 – 00:03:56

And when Malia submitted her form on different things she could talk about, of course, the science of reading is on there, but she also has small groups. And that has just been brought up a whole lot. And I thought, why not talk about both on today’s episode of the podcast? And so that’s what we’re doing for you today. We brought it for you. You’re gonna get get some really great tips on how to help your kids learn phonics, help them learn the science of reading, how to start your small groups or revamp them, and how to manage the other kids while you’re doing your small groups. So good. And I’m also really excited because Malia is one of our speakers at educate and rejuvenate this year. She’ll be sharing a little bit more about what she’s talking about, but it has to do with small groups and the science of reading.

Speaker A 00:03:56 – 00:04:21

I am so excited that she’s speaking educate and rejuvenate this year. If you’re not sure what I’m talking about, if you’re new here, educate and rejuvenate is our virtual conference. Well and, actually, it’s the whole brand now. But, originally, that name was just for our virtual conference. So we are in our 3rd summer virtual conference. We have thousands of teachers joining us every time. It is so much fun. And Malia is on with all of our reading sessions and so excited that she said yes.

Speaker A 00:04:21 – 00:05:03

I was thrilled that we got her as a speaker this year. So all of our attendees are in for a treat with that, and you’re all in for a treat on the podcast here today too. Okay. So before we get into today’s interview, I’m going to share Malia’s bio with you. Malia Hollowell is here so that 67% of 4th graders in the US won’t read below grade level anymore. It doesn’t have to be that way. Malia is on a mission to empower teachers with the science backed, brain friendly tools and strategies that they need to help all children learn to become thriving readers. She is a national board certified teacher, author of The Science of Reading in Action, and the founder of the groundbreaking 4 week course called The Reading Roadmap.

Speaker A 00:05:03 – 00:05:14

Okay. Let’s get into today’s interview. Emily, I’m so excited to have you on the podcast today. How are you?

Speaker B 00:05:14 – 00:05:16

I am doing great. How are you?

Speaker A 00:05:16 – 00:05:34

Good. We are so excited to have you on the show today talking all about small groups and the science of reading. How we can tie that into it as well. But before we dive in, can you tell us a little bit about how you started out? How you got so passionate about teaching about reading, and just a little bit about yourself.

Speaker B 00:05:34 – 00:05:58

Yes. I actually started teaching back in 2003, And it was my very first day of school. I will never forget, I was in my 2nd grade classroom, and I was so excited because I loved teaching reading. And I assumed all of my 2nd graders were going to be walking into my doors on that very first day of school reading fluently. And we would just get to dive into magic treehouse books and all the books

Speaker A 00:05:58 – 00:05:58

I loved.

Speaker B 00:05:59 – 00:06:46

But what I quickly discovered was that more than half of them were really struggling to connect the dots, and they had a difficult time reading very simple words like cat and dog. And then, unfortunately, I had an elementary ed degree, but I’d only had one literacy class in my teacher prep program. And that class could basically be summed up with a single sentence, which is put good books in kids’ hands, and they will figure out the rest. So to say that I had no idea how to help them is an understatement. I had no idea how help them. And I felt like a failure that 1st year of teaching. I dreaded parent teacher conferences because I knew I was failing their kids. And I decided right then and there that I was going to figure out this thing called reading, and I have been obsessed with it ever since.

Speaker B 00:06:46 – 00:06:59

I’ve spent the last 2 decades researching and optimizing and figuring out a system that works and helps kids learn to read the easier brain friendly way. And I’m excited to share some of those things with you today.

Speaker A 00:06:59 – 00:07:22

Well, we’re so excited to hear them. And I will also mention that she has an incredible book. It’s called The Science of Reading in Action, which I read and I was like, this is so good. So you should all definitely grab that. Today, we’re chatting about small groups. So how do you recommend getting started with or revamping? Let’s say they’re doing small groups. I’ve had a lot of people in our community say like, small groups they’re just a disaster.

Speaker B 00:07:22 – 00:07:24

You know? And then what do

Speaker A 00:07:24 – 00:07:35

I do with the other kids and everything? Or, like, then sometimes new teachers, like, don’t even know how to get started with small groups. So either way, how do you recommend getting started with or revamping small reading groups?

Speaker B 00:07:35 – 00:08:16

Well, let’s talk about this in 2 different buckets. So let’s talk about small groups first, and then I’m happy to give you tips on literacy centers because that is a whole other ball of wax. But for small groups, my number one tip is to create groups based on students’ needs. And what I mean by that is we often give beginning of year assessments. So we will test students and see what kind of phonics skills they know. And that is really powerful information for us because we can take students who are working on similar skills, and we can put them into small groups. So we always want our small groups to be based on student need. Once we sort students, it’s kind of like sorting Skittles.

Speaker B 00:08:16 – 00:08:48

If you were sorting Skittles, you put all your reds together and all your greens together and then all of your yellows. So once we have our students sorted into groups based on their need, then we can save a ton of time because we can create just a couple of lessons. So we can pull out a digraph lesson for the kids who need to digraphs, and And we can pull out a blend lesson for kids who need to work on blends. But we’re not having to create 25 personalized, individualized lessons. So sorting kids by need is gonna be our number one tip.

Speaker A 00:08:49 – 00:09:11

I love I love that. I think that just makes it so much more helpful than, like, I think a lot of teachers when we get started, and we think we need to meet all these students, we think, oh, like, 25 different lessons or whatever. And we we don’t need to do that. If you can group the kids by level, it helps so so much. So how, when you do this, do you keep, like, science of reading in mind?

Speaker B 00:09:11 – 00:10:07

So there are so many different, tips and tricks that you see floating around on the Internet. But I’d say if I could just pick a top three top three tips and tweaks that you can make to make your lessons more science of reading aligned. Number 1, practice phonics every single day. The research is really clear that for most students, especially our struggling readers, they need to be practicing those phonics skills that they’re learning every single day in order to make it all stick. When you’re teaching a lesson on the c h, we want to have kids then practice c h words by writing down words like chip and chat. And we’re gonna have them play games. You can make really fun games for them, even using a simple game like tic tac toe. Have each child pick a c h word out of a little bowl, and then that will be their x or their O, and they’re competing against each other to try and get 3 in a row.

Speaker B 00:10:07 – 00:10:51

You can have kids read CH passages, So stories that are filled with different CH words. There are just a ton of different options for us, but the most important thing is we want kids to be practicing those phonics skills every single day. So, that’s tip number 1. Tip number 2 is to practice phonological awareness every day. And just in case that term is new to you, I’m gonna give you a little tip that will help it stick. So, phonological starts with fawn, which sounds a lot like phone. So when we’re on the phone talking to a friend, we hear them talking to us. So when we’re practicing phonological awareness, we are hearing the sounds in words and they could be big word parts, like an entire word.

Speaker B 00:10:51 – 00:11:25

We could say, how many words are in a sentence? I can read. That would be I can read. So that could be 3 words. Or it could be very, very small word parts, like the individual sounds and words. For example, I might say to you, how many sounds do you hear in bun? Buh n. So that’s 3. So we can practice phonological awareness with big word parts or small, but we wanna practice it every day because research has shown that kids have this natural superpower for spoken language. And we want to use that to our advantage.

Speaker B 00:11:25 – 00:11:48

We want to help them develop the parts of their brain they need to be able to hear the sounds and words so that when it comes time to connect those sounds to the letters that are used to spell them, the process is really simple. And just by having them practice every day, they’re gonna be able to create all of those brain tools in their brain that they need to be able to do that. So that’s tip number 2.

Speaker A 00:11:48 – 00:11:50

Okay. I love those tips. Did you say there were 2 tips or 3?

Speaker B 00:11:50 – 00:11:51

Well, I did say 3.

Speaker A 00:11:51 – 00:11:57

You did say 3. Yeah. You can keep going. I’m like, I wanna hear all of them. I’m like, I remembered.

Speaker B 00:11:57 – 00:12:41

That was really good. I’m impressed. Okay. So tip number 3 is we I mentioned this earlier. We really wanna make sure that students are reading text that includes the phonics skills they’re practicing. Tip number 3 is taking a look at the books that you’re having kids read, and check to see if those books are actually filled with the words that they are working on. If you are using leveled readers, if you are using Fontus and Pinnell, if you’re using most of the books that are in classrooms right now, and they’re called leveled books, you likely have books that are filled with a huge range of different spelling rules and phonics rules. Every single page is a different smorgasbord of stuff.

Speaker B 00:12:42 – 00:12:56

And that is just too confusing for brand new readers. They really need us to be intentional about what we’re having them practice. So, tip number 3 is take a look at your books and just double check that they actually are matching the lessons that you’re teaching.

Speaker A 00:12:57 – 00:13:23

I love that because, yeah, I feel like a lot of the books in the classroom, like, that I used were those books. They were the leveled readers. And it was after, like, after I wasn’t even teaching anymore, once I’ve been homeschooling when I read your book. And I’m like, oh, wow. Like, this is different. But I realized that there were things I was doing, but there was just part that I wasn’t, and it clicked. And I feel like using those strategies with my kids, I’m like, okay. This is what we needed to be doing all along.

Speaker B 00:13:23 – 00:13:56

Well, and that’s what it’s all about, really. Research has has shown that only 25% of teacher training programs actually provide teachers the knowledge they need to teach all of the essential brain friendly tools and strategies they need to teach reading effectively. And so if only 25% of our teachers are graduating with the knowledge they need, that obviously demonstrates that so many of us, you and me included, were just not empowered to be successful. So it’s no wonder that we found reading to be such a struggle.

Speaker A 00:13:56 – 00:14:30

Oh, for sure. And then the one thing I want to add too, like, as a life coach myself, I’ve seen a lot of teachers, then they feel, like, guilt or they feel bad, like, I did it wrong or whatever. And like you said, if you don’t have that training, if you don’t know what you’re supposed to be doing, then of course, we’re all doing the best we can with the information that we have. Right? And it’s also going to take time to learn like new strategies too. So just make sure that if you’re listening to this and you’re like, oh, I’ve been using those leveled readers or I’ve been doing this. I mean, I even have resources I’ve made, like, for my TPT store 10 years ago. Then I’m like, oh, yeah. That is not science of reading aligned.

Speaker A 00:14:30 – 00:14:50

Or just like friendly with it, you know. So it’s like, we don’t need to give ourselves a hard time about it. We can just now take this information and be, okay, what can I do today? What is one little thing I can do to, you know again, those little tips you shared, like, practicing phonics every day. Right? Just little steps can help us go a long way.

Speaker B 00:14:52 – 00:15:39

I’m so glad you mentioned that because so many teachers I talk to talk about that guilt and shame and even blame. There can be a lot of anger and frustration pointed toward the literacy curriculum developers or the teacher training program specialists who put together these curriculums and, you know, didn’t actually include the information we need as teachers to be successful. And we talk about how we have this battery of energy. And if we’re taking all of our energy to feel guilty Mhmm. And we’re directing it toward anger and blame, then we don’t have energy left to actually learn the new tools and strategies we need to be successful. And that’s what the that’s where the progress is going to be made is when we actually are focusing on learning and leaning into this work and just doing better.

Speaker A 00:15:40 – 00:16:14

Exactly. And if you do feel guilt and shame or those feelings, we’re also not telling you just, oh, just push it away. You know, you don’t feel that. Because obviously, if you’re feeling it, you’ve got you need to lean into that and feel and process that emotion. But we’re just telling you that, you know, just try not to stay there. Right? Like feel it, heal it and then let’s get to reading reading your book, going through your training. Whatever they can do to help them learn more about the science of reading and how they can apply it a little step at a time. 100 percent.

Speaker A 00:16:14 – 00:16:36

Okay. So, I feel like we got a little out, like, on a tangent there, but I love it. We always love that when we’re recording. So earlier, we also talked about, like, small groups versus literacy centers. So now can you explain one for the brand new teacher when like, small groups versus literacy centers? And then a little bit more about what you do with your literacy centers, specifically.

Speaker B 00:16:36 – 00:17:25

Yes. This is one of my happy, magical places. The difference between a small reading group and a literacy center is that when you are leading a small reading group, you have students sitting in front of you. You are giving them instruction. You are leading a lesson. When you have literacy centers, you that’s what you’re having the rest of your class work on during that time. So, it’s really important that you have your classroom management dialed in on those literacy centers because you need to be able to focus your time and attention on the kids who are sitting in front of you and looking to you to give a really solid lesson. So, one of my favorite tips for anybody who is new to literacy centers or anybody who feels like that time of day is stressful and chaotic is go back to the basics.

Speaker B 00:17:25 – 00:18:18

And the basics are 1 literacy center. So, pick 1 and have your entire class work on it. And what we wanna do here is we really wanna make sure we are being crystal clear about what our expectations are. What does great behavior look like? It can be as detailed as where do we find the supplies that we need? What tone of voice, what level of voice volume are we using when we’re talking to our neighbor, what are we doing when we’re cleaning up our supplies. We really want to get in the weeds here because so often as teachers, we just assume our kids can read our minds and they know what is expected of them. And many times they don’t. So we want to make sure that we’re laying it all out for them. And then we’re giving them a chance to practice by actually having the entire class work on that literacy center at the same exact time, and we want them to be able to succeed.

Speaker B 00:18:18 – 00:19:07

So I also recommend you set a timer for just 3 or 4 minutes because most likely your class will be able to stay on task and focus for those 3 or 4 minutes. And that’s great for you because then at the end of the time, you can pile on the kudos and the praise, and you can call out students for making really great choices and following those expectations so you can reinforce what you said you expected them to do at the beginning. So just by starting small and having kids practice, you’ll be blown away by what a difference it makes. Do that for 3 or 4 minutes that first day. The next day, if you feel like you can stretch them, add on 1 more minute. The next day, add on one more minute. But keep the threshold low, until you know that they’re ready to go the entire time.

Speaker A 00:19:07 – 00:19:37

Okay. I just love that idea, 1, of what you mentioned at the beginning of having them do one thing. Because I feel like when I was a new teacher, you know, I jumped in. I’m like, I wanna have all the different centers and have them rotating and all of that. And we can work up to that. But I do think, especially if you’re first like, starting out teaching or if, let’s say, you need to really work on the classroom management, like, it’s okay to go back to that too. Like, okay, we’re gonna just have everybody do this. And I love the 3 to 4 minute timer.

Speaker A 00:19:37 – 00:20:08

So it’s like you can because again, that calling out students really does help. Especially, if you can notice things about those students. So, like, maybe are the ones who need a little more direction, but you’re like, oh, you did it really well that time. And when you praise them in front of the rest of the class, that is just really helpful. And I love positive reinforcement whenever possible too versus more like punishment for classroom management. Right? So I love how it’s just working up, adding on a little more time as they get the capacity for longer periods of time. So I I love that tip.

Speaker B 00:20:08 – 00:20:11

Yes. Good. I’m glad. Yeah. We talk we talk about going slow to go

Speaker A 00:20:11 – 00:20:11

fast.

Speaker B 00:20:11 – 00:20:30

And that’s exactly what is talking about is, yes, we want to have 6 stations running in the classroom. But in order to actually get there and feel like a sane human who has a really calm class that is empowering us to actually focus on our small group, we have to go slow. So

Speaker A 00:20:31 – 00:20:49

For sure. Okay. And then when you’re doing a small group, so you divide them up by leveling. Right? By what they need support with. And then, what are I mean, I guess you kind of went over the tips of the phonics, like the science reading things. But is there anything else you have to add about what you do with those small groups? With those kids when you pull the ones to work with?

Speaker B 00:20:49 – 00:21:33

Yes. So you’re going to be teaching a lesson. Again, let’s pretend we’re doing c h. So you are you’re going to introduce the sound first, which I know can sound a little weird. Like, why would I be focusing just on the sound that these letters are making? But, again, we know that humans have a natural superpower for spoken language. So, we want to start from their place of strength. And you can ask very simple questions of the kids like, what is your mouth doing when you make that sound? Have them actually you can even give them a little handheld mirror. Have them look at their mouth and see, are their lips together? Are they apart? Are they buzzing? You know, what is happening with their their lips? You can ask them what their voice is doing.

Speaker B 00:21:33 – 00:22:25

If they put their fingers on their throat, they can actually feel if their fingers are vibrating or not. So by asking these very simple questions, it really focuses students’ attention and helps them hone in on the characteristics of this special sound. And then now that they’re starting from something they know so well, then you can say, this sound is in so many words. Let’s brainstorm words that have this sound in it. Come up with a big list. Write down every suggestion the kids think about, and then circle the ch sound in each of those words and ask them if they notice something. And what you’ll be amazed by is many times they can notice, oh, you know what? In all of those words that we came up with, that sound is spelled with CH. And when they are the ones who are making the connection and it’s not you, then their learning is just going to be off the and it’s not you Mhmm.

Speaker B 00:22:25 – 00:22:26

Then their learning is just gonna be off the charts. Yeah. So powerful when they can do

Speaker A 00:22:26 – 00:22:59

it themselves instead of us just telling them everything. Right? I love that. And then, this is circling back because because we talked about it and then we brought it back. So rather than like the leveled readers, you mentioned wanting the books that have the sounds that they’re teaching. But if what they have in their classroom is those leveled books, what are your recommendations for if they’re like, okay. Well, I’m teaching the ch sound. What do I need to do? Just get a whole bunch of books and look for the like, in there? Like, what would you recommend for them? Do you have a resource or what what is it they need to look for?

Speaker B 00:22:59 – 00:23:33

Yeah. The never ending rabbit hole of Google searches that just makes you wanna, yeah, pull your head out. No. I do not have to do that. We yes. We’ve we actually have made this really easy because we’ve just we my team and I thought, you know what? We are so tired of having to pull these resources together ourselves. So we’re just gonna take the phonics lesson plan, and we’re gonna put right behind it a passage that practices that skill. And then the very next page is gonna be a couple of literacy centers that teachers can print out and use in their classroom right away.

Speaker B 00:23:33 – 00:24:06

So we’ve created this massive library of phonics lessons that we’re calling the phonics toolkit that really gives you everything you need. So if you are looking for something that is definitely an option for you. And I also would say if you have leveled readers in your library or classroom library, don’t throw them out. Walk upstairs or down the hall and go to your 3rd, 4th, or 5th grade teachers and see if they want the books. Because their kids, most likely, hopefully, will have learned all of those spelling rules and phonics patterns. And so they will be able to read

Speaker A 00:24:07 – 00:24:19

them. I love that. Because, yeah, it’s not like, oh, these books are garbage. Right? They’re just like they might not be ready for those sounds yet. So once they have, then they’re great. Love that suggestion. Alright. I I’ve loved everything you shared here.

Speaker A 00:24:19 – 00:24:28

I know you have so much more to share as well, and you’ll be presenting at our educate and rejuvenate conference. So what will attendees be getting from your session?

Speaker B 00:24:28 – 00:25:04

Yes. I am so excited to pass along even more teaching tips and tools to your to your listeners. What I’m gonna be talking about is the 4 step system that has saved me 100 of hours of planning time and it’s saved other teachers around the world the same. It’s 4 simple steps that you can follow. And once you put them in place, it makes lesson planning for your small groups really quick and easy because you just rinse and repeat. So I’m gonna be passing that along to your listeners along with some helpful checklists and templates that they can use to just print off and get going right away.

Speaker A 00:25:04 – 00:25:28

I love that. I cannot wait for your session. It’s going to be just so good. And the the event isn’t happening until July though. So if they’re listening, they’re like, I wanna get started. Or they listen to your session, but they’re like, well, I want more. What else do you have available that they can go to right away where we can link to it in the show notes where they can learn more about small groups or the science of reading or your resource vault or anything else?

Speaker B 00:25:28 – 00:25:39

You can always find me on Instagram at play doh 2. That’s number 2, play doh. You can find me on play doh 2 Play Doh, t o Play Doh. We have a whole lot of keys.

Speaker A 00:25:39 – 00:25:41

I love it. In our world. And, of course,

Speaker B 00:25:41 – 00:25:50

you can have yeah. You can grab my book, The Science of Reading in Action, it which is available on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, all the places.

Speaker A 00:25:50 – 00:25:57

Amazing. So so happy to have you here. Thank you so much for your time. Anything else you wanna share before we go?

Speaker B 00:25:57 – 00:26:39

I will leave you with one last tip because, again, I could just go on forever, but I’m gonna give you one more. If you have a sight word list or a spelling list and you’re finding that your students are having a really hard time learning those words, try this. Take your list and sort it by phonics rule or by spelling pattern. For example, put all of your short a words in one pile and teach those short a words when you teach your short a phonics lesson. Take all of your digraph c h words and put them in a different pile. Once you sort your list, you’re gonna be blown away by how much easier it is for your students to learn those words simply because they can focus a 100% of their brain power on one rule.

Speaker A 00:26:40 – 00:26:56

I love that idea. Such a great tip. See, even just these little tips here and there, they can just make such a big difference. And sorting by spelling rule makes it so they don’t have to try to learn all these different rules at the same time. I love that. Less overwhelm for them, less overwhelm for us. Right?

Speaker B 00:26:56 – 00:26:56

Exactly.

Speaker A 00:26:56 – 00:27:01

K. Well, thank you so much for your time today. We appreciate all of your expertise and your time for being here.

Speaker B 00:27:01 – 00:27:03

Thank you for having me.

Speaker A 00:27:05 – 00:27:49

If you enjoyed this episode, please hit subscribe so you don’t miss the next one. And if you’re hungry for more, be sure to check out the book that I wrote. It’s called Educate and Rejuvenate, a 3 step guide to revitalize your teaching, renew Your Spirit, and Reignite Your Passion For Life. It is scheduled to be released in the summer of 2024. This book takes all the life coaching skills we talk about here on the podcast and puts them together in one easy to understand guide. Plus, when you pre order, you’ll receive a PDF workbook and additional resources to deepen your understanding and application of the concepts we’ve covered on the book and on this podcast. You won’t find these resources anywhere else. Visit the link in the show notes to join the wait list and be the 1st to know when the book becomes available for pre order.

Speaker A 00:27:49 – 00:27:53

0:01 – 27:54

Let’s continue this journey of growth and rejuvenation together. Until next time.

2 Responses

swemfinger says:

June 24, 2024 at 9:44 am

I loved all the tips in this podcast! Thank you

Reply
1. Rachael Kimball says:
  
  June 24, 2024 at 10:09 am
  
  Thank you for joining us on the podcast! Malia has such great insight and we’re so grateful she shared all her tips with us here!
  
  Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Educate & Rejuvenate is the virtual teacher conference that you can not miss! Find out more about our summer and winter events.

Inside Educate & Rejuvenate Club, you will get access to our weekly teacher-life coaching AND our Pre-K to 6th grade resource library to achieve more of a work-life balance.

Hey there, new teacher bestie! I’m Kelsey, and I created Educate & Rejuvenate just for YOU! I blog about teaching and create elementary school and homeschooling resources to make your life easier. Be sure to sign up for my FREE email newsletter!

Then, follow me on Instagram and join the Facebook community to stay connected. I can’t wait to connect with you!

Oh, and don’t forget to listen and subscribe to Educate & Rejuvenate: The Podcast.

Let's Connect

Sign Up for Free Sub Plans!

Grab your FREE sub plans and you’ll be subscribed to get news about upcoming events, blog & podcast updates, subscriber deals, and more via email. You also agree to our privacy policy.