Stellar Teacher Podcast: A Podcast for Upper Elementary Teachers

Small group instruction can be one of the most powerful parts of your literacy block—but it can also be one of the hardest to figure out. In this episode, Sara and Emily are bringing back our Dear Stellar Teacher style episodes and sharing six small group mistakes they made in their own classrooms (and what they would do differently now!).
In this episode, we talk about:
Why too much teacher talk can take away from the practice and feedback students really need.
Why you don’t need to meet with every student in a small group every day (or even every week).
How relying on one data point or fixed reading levels can keep you from identifying what students actually need.
Why small group instruction should focus on the specific skills students need to become stronger readers, rather than simply reteaching your whole group lesson.

If small groups have ever left you wondering, Am I even doing this right?—this episode is for you. We’ve made the mistakes, learned a lot since then, and we’re sharing it all so you can feel more confident with your small group instruction.
Resources mentioned:
Small Group Success Checklist: stellarteacher.com/smallgroups
Reading Intervention Kit: stellarteacher.com/intervention

What does MTSS actually look like in your upper elementary literacy classroom? Understanding the tiers is one thing, but knowing what instruction should look like at Tier 1, Tier 2, and Tier 3 can feel much more complicated.
In this episode, Emily breaks down how to put MTSS into practice with practical examples you can use in your literacy block. You’ll learn what strong Tier 1 literacy instruction should include, how to identify the specific skills students need during Tier 2, and how Tier 3 increases the intensity of support without necessarily requiring an entirely different program.
We’ll also walk through a simple Tier 2 fluency routine and a five-day phonics and decoding intervention routine to help you see what targeted support can actually look like.

Resources Mentioned:
Free Fluency Resource: stellarteacher.com/fluency
Stellar Intervention Toolkit: stellarteacher.com/intervention
Stellar Literacy Collective: stellarteacher.com/join

[Listen Again] 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

If you have a handful of students who need intensive phonics intervention, a few who are reading well above grade level, and everyone else somewhere in the middle, you might be wondering: How am I supposed to meet all of these needs without burning myself out?
The good news is that meeting every student's needs doesn't mean giving every student the exact same support.
In this episode, Sara is breaking down how to support your struggling readers while still making sure the rest of your class is getting meaningful, appropriately challenging literacy instruction. She shares a helpful doctor analogy that reminds us that different students need different types of support—and that different doesn't mean unfair.
You'll also hear practical ways to strengthen your Tier 1 instruction, use partner work to support all learners, make the most of your intervention time, and plan meaningful work for the rest of your class while you're meeting with small groups.
In this episode, you'll learn:
Why meeting every student's needs doesn't mean giving every student the exact same support
Why not every student needs to meet with you in a small group
How explicit Tier 1 instruction can better support struggling readers before intervention even begins
How partner routines like RallyCoach can provide struggling readers with support while deepening learning for stronger readers
A simple five-day intervention framework for making the most of your small group time
How to plan meaningful literacy work for the rest of your class while you're providing intervention
Why it's okay for your intervention students and the rest of your class to be working on completely different assignments

If you're feeling overwhelmed trying to fit every student into a small group or make sure everyone completes the same work, this episode will help you rethink what effective support can look like. Your job isn't to give every student the exact same thing—it's to figure out what each student needs and provide the instruction that will help them grow.
Resources Mentioned:
⭐ The Stellar Reading Intervention Kit: Stellarteacher.com/intervention

[Listen Again] We’re bringing back this episode because it’s just too good not to share again! As we continue talking about supporting struggling readers, this conversation feels just as relevant today. If you missed it the first time—or could use a refresher—we’re revisiting some of the biggest lessons we learned about phonics, intervention, and foundational reading skills in upper elementary.
Many upper elementary teachers know their struggling readers need support with foundational reading skills, but knowing exactly what to teach—and how to fit it into an already-packed school day—can feel overwhelming. In this Dear Stellar Teacher episode, we're sharing our biggest phonics confessions, including the mistakes we made in our own classrooms and what we wish we had known about supporting struggling readers.
In this episode, we're talking all things phonics, phonemic awareness, and reading intervention in upper elementary. We'll share why we didn't always prioritize systematic phonics instruction, why intervention can't simply become someone else's responsibility, and what we've learned about helping older students strengthen the foundational skills they need to become more confident readers.
In this episode, we'll discuss:
The biggest mistakes we made when supporting struggling readers in our own classrooms
Why systematic phonics instruction still matters in upper elementary
Why we wish we had incorporated more phonemic awareness into our literacy instruction
How a lack of knowledge and confidence can make foundational skills instruction feel overwhelming
Why classroom teachers still play an important role in supporting students who need intervention
What we've learned about providing more effective decoding and foundational skills support

Resources Mentioned:
⭐ The Stellar Literacy Collective: stellarteacher.com/intervention