Have you ever listened to a student give a thoughtful, detailed answer at your small group table... only to get one sentence back on paper? You know the thinking is there. So where did it go?

In this episode, Emily is breaking down what’s happening when a student can tell you the answer but can’t write it. Drawing on the Simple View of Writing from researcher Virginia Berninger and her colleagues, she explains why writing asks so much more of students than talking does. Then she walks through the three places an answer can get lost between a student’s head and the page: handwriting and spelling, composition, and executive functions.

You’ll also hear a simple way to figure out where the breakdown is happening, plus strategies that fit right inside the curriculum you already have. These include verbal rehearsal with a writing partner, the Say It, Step It strategy from Melanie Meehan and Maggie Beattie Roberts, and a keyword sticky note that holds onto a student’s ideas while they write.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• Why writing is so much harder than talking, and what the Simple View of Writing tells us about it
• How to use the “say it, then write it” check to find where a student’s answer is getting lost
• What erasing, run-on sentences and answers that trail off can tell you about the breakdown
• How brief handwriting fluency practice can free up mental energy for ideas
• How a word list or speech to text can support students when spelling is the roadblock
• How verbal rehearsal and Say It, Step It help students build sentences that stand on their own
• Why working memory, cognitive flexibility and inhibitory control all play a role in writing
• How a keyword sticky note helps students hold onto their answer from start to finish

If you have a student whose great ideas never seem to make it onto the page, the good news is that the thinking is already there. Try Emily’s challenge this week: pick a few students, compare what they say with what they write, and you’ll have a clear place to start supporting them.

Resources Mentioned:

⭐ Free Sentence Writing Routine Sample: Stellarteacher.com/sentence

⭐ The Stellar Literacy Collective: Stellarteacher.com/join

⭐ Foundational Skills for Writing by Melanie Meehan and Maggie Beattie Roberts

Small group instruction is probably built into your literacy block—but have you ever stopped to ask: What is the actual purpose of small groups?

For years, Emily knew she was supposed to teach small groups, but she wasn't always sure what students should actually be doing once they got to the teacher table. Like many teachers, she focused on creating groups, planning rotations, finding leveled texts, and managing the rest of the class. But the most important question often got overlooked: What do these students need to practice with my support?

In this episode, Emily breaks down the real purpose of small group instruction and shares a simple mindset shift that can completely change the way you plan. Small group isn't a curriculum or a specific type of lesson. It's an instructional structure that gives students more opportunities to practice a targeted skill while you observe, provide immediate feedback, and adjust your instruction based on what you notice.

You'll also learn why strong small group instruction starts with specific student needs (not reading levels) and how using multiple layers of data can help you pinpoint exactly what students need to practice.

In this episode, you'll learn:

• The real purpose of small group instruction—and why it's not simply getting every student to the teacher table
• Why small group is an instructional structure, not a curriculum
• How small groups increase opportunities for meaningful student practice
• Why immediate, precise feedback is one of the biggest benefits of teaching students in a smaller setting
• The planning shift from “What am I going to teach?” to “What do my students need to practice with my support?”
• Why effective small groups should be flexible and responsive to what you notice about your students

Next week, we're wrapping up our Small Group Success series with a special guest! You're not going to want to miss that!

Resources Mentioned:

Small Group Success Checklist: stellarteacher.com/smallgroup

Small group instruction is a regular part of many literacy blocks—but what actually makes a small group effective? And do you really need to meet with every student every day?

In this episode, Emily is joined by Dr. Julia Lindsey to rethink some of the traditional ways teachers approach small group reading instruction. Instead of starting with rotations, reading levels, or the pressure to get every student to the teacher table, Julia encourages teachers to start with something much more important: the specific needs of their students.

Julia shares why small group instruction is most powerful when it gives teachers an opportunity to differentiate instruction, provide immediate feedback, and target the skills students need additional support with. She also explains why small groups don't have to look the way they've always looked—and why it's okay if every student doesn't meet with you every day.

You'll also hear practical advice for using assessment data and informal observations to make instructional decisions, managing the rest of your class while you're meeting with a group, and designing a small group schedule around your students rather than trying to fit your students into a predetermined schedule.

In this episode, you'll learn:

• Why effective small group instruction starts with student needs, not a predetermined schedule or rotation
• How small groups give teachers an opportunity to differentiate instruction and provide immediate, precise feedback
• Why you don't have to meet with every student every day for small group instruction to be effective
• How to use assessment data and informal observations to identify targeted skills for small group practice
• Why reading comprehension is complex—and what that means when you're deciding what to teach in a small group
• How a triage approach can help you prioritize which students need additional teacher support
• Why knowing your readers is one of the most important parts of making small group instruction more effective
• How to rethink traditional small group structures and create an approach that works for the students in front of you

If small groups have ever left you feeling like you need to do more, meet with more students, or somehow fit more rotations into an already packed literacy block, this conversation is your reminder that small group instruction is a tool you can use—not a structure you have to serve. Focus on knowing your students, identifying what they need, and designing your instruction from there.

Resources Mentioned:

Small Group Success Checklist: stellarteacher.com/smallgroup

Check out the Stellar Literacy Collective: stellarteacher.com/join