This episode is extra special because our guest is actually a long time friend of mine! Once upon a time, Sara and I even had classrooms right next door to each other. Tune in to hear how Sara and I first met and became teacher besties!   Sara is on the show to talk all about how you can create a classroom community who genuinely loves reading.  This episode will give you the inspiration you need as you intentionally plan for the upcoming school year. Standards and assessments are important, and part of our job, but first we need to determine how we can appeal to our student’s needs and interests when it comes to reading. Sara is going to tell us how!   Sara has over a decade of experience working as a classroom teacher and school administrator. She is now a literacy specialist and the CEO of the Stellar Teacher Company who is passionate about helping elementary teachers around the world grow their students into life long readers. Sara is also the host of the Stellar Teacher Podcast, where she loves to share her favorite literacy tips each week.   In this episode we discuss: -The idea that you are teaching the reader, not the text -Why students lose their love for reading and how we can we change this -Reading picture books for fun without having an assignment attached to it -Empowering our students to have a reading identity and voice -Ways to increase student independence, buy-in, and engagement   Resources mentioned: -Join the Stellar Teacher Membership Waitlist: https://learn.stellarteacher.com/join -Genre Anchor Charts, Reading Passages, and Activities Bundle -Reading Response Choice Boards -Episode 23, Using Centers for Upper Elementary Kids   Connect with Sara: -stellarteacher.com -Instagram: @thestellarteacher -Stellar Teacher Podcast   Connect with me: -TpT Store -Join The Literacy Dive Facebook group! -Instagram -Blog -Facebook Page -YouTube   For full show notes, head to misspsstyle.com/podcast-episode37   If you are enjoying The Literacy Dive Podcast, please subscribe, leave a rating, and a helpful review! It is much appreciated and thank you for listening!