How to Ace the Teacher Interview
Do you have an elementary teacher job interview scheduled at your dream school? We know you've got the skills, passion, and heart to be an amazing teacher for your students, but even teachers with years of experience still get the jitters when it comes time to...
Teaching Author’s Purpose in 2nd grade
2nd grade is an amazing time of growth for young writers. They are growing into their own writing style, and are starting to have strong opinions about which types of books they like to read best. But do they understand the author's purpose, both when they are...
All About 2nd Grade Reading Comprehension
Reading is a big deal in K-2. Yes, there's math, science, social studies, art, and music but reading instruction looms over all other subjects. It makes sense, it ties into all the other topics. Between Kindergarten and 2nd grade, students' reading abilities...
15 Fun Literacy Activities For 2nd Grade
We all know there are SO many ways to engage students in literacy lessons. This post is a round up of our favorite fun literacy activities for 2nd grade. AND we wanted to show you exactly how to do these activities, so read on for a look into a fun literacy classroom!...
How to Teach Math Word Problems in 2nd Grade
Your students have mastered their math facts. They understand basic operations. Now it's time to tackle some word problems! Read on to discover strategies and resources to help teach word problems to 2nd grade learners. Why is it important to teach word problems? Why...
Teaching Kids to Find The Moral of the Story
I don’t know about you but I’ve always had a few learners who just struggle with moral of the story. It seems to be a skill that some kids grasp quickly and others need a lot of repetition. A story like, "The Emperor’s New Clothes" is interpreted by some students as,...
Father’s Day Crafts for 2nd Grade
Celebrate the wonderful men in your students' lives with these fun Father's Day crafts! The ideas for the craftivities featured in this post were shared by creative teachers in our Lucky 2nd Grade Teachers Facebook Group. Best of all, they are easy enough for 2nd...
Tips and Timesavers for Back to School Set Up
The school year is wrapping up, books are being packed up and papers recycled. As teachers around the country pack up their current classrooms, many begin to think about how to set up their classroom differently next year. (Yep, teachers can't help thinking that far...
3 Steps To Teaching Articles In Grade 2
Grammar skills in general can get lost in the crazy shuffle of our classrooms. That's okay! Teaching articles in grade 2 can seem like something so tiny but it makes such a big difference in our student's writing and speaking. Read on for a simple and engaging way to...
12 Interactive Telling Time Activities for 2nd Graders
Time flies when you're having fun - learning about time with our interactive math notebooks, that is! Our Interactive Math Notebooks feature 12 different telling time activities for second-grade students. Get ready to rock around the clock with these awesome...
Math Graphing Worksheets For 2nd Grade
A teacher sits down at her computer. She searches the phrase, "math graphing worksheets 2nd grade" and is not blessed with easy to use resources, strategies or ideas. Team Lucky Little Learners is here to change that! Keep reading for math graphing lesson ideas (and a...
Teaching Subject Verb Agreement in Second Grade
Teaching subject-verb agreement is an important grammar skill, but it can be a tricky one for students to master. How can we make sure that the subject and verb are always in agreement in a sentence? Everything runs more smoothly when we all get along, don't you...
Using 2nd Grade Math Worksheets to Teach 3-Digit Subtraction With Regrouping
Subtraction with regrouping can be an incredibly tricky skill for 2nd graders to master but we all know it’s definitely an important one. This set of 2nd grade math worksheets that feature 3 digit subtraction with regrouping can help your students make incremental...
10 Teacher Desk Organization Hacks
Teachers start the beginning of the year with a super cute, ultra organized desk area. However, as we all know the days, weeks and months of the school year tend to add "debris" to this area. Having an organized system AND tools to keep this important classroom area...
Decodable Text: How & When to Use It
With all the chatter around Science of Reading, there’s a lot of new vocabulary being thrown around. Two of the topics you may be hearing about a lot are decodable text and leveled readers. So what are decodable texts and leveled readers? How and when do you use...
5 Easy Mother’s Day Gifts to Make With 2nd Graders
Celebrate the wonderful women in your students' lives with quick and easy Mother's Day gifts to make in the classroom! The ideas for the five craftivities featured in this post were shared by creative teachers in our Lucky 2nd Grade Teachers Facebook Group. Best of...
Classroom Restaurant Transformation
Have you seen all the fun classroom transformation ideas floating around online teacher groups? The reason classroom transformations are so popular is they create lasting memories for the students (and teacher) and are a break from the day to day. They also offer a...
Riddle Bags to Count Down the End of the Year
Have you tried riddle bags to count down the end of the school year yet? This is one of the most fun and easy ways to celebrate the count down to the end of the school year! How do Riddle Bags Work? Each day when students arrive at school, a new riddle bag will be on...
Everything 2nd Graders Need to Know About Verbs
Teaching verbs in 2nd grade can be SUPER fun! There are so many engaging resources and activities that can be used to help students master this skill. Check out this post for engaging verbs resources that are meaningful and ready to use! (PLUS a freebie!) What are...
Build Fine Motor Skills With These 2nd Grade Activities
Messy handwriting. Difficulty drawing or coloring. Low stamina for typing. Frustration when cutting with scissors. Does this sound like one of your students? Fine motor skills play an important role in academic and personal success. What can teachers do if they...
35 Opinion Writing Prompts for 2nd Grade
Truly, is there anything kids (and adults) like more than giving their opinion? Opinion (or persuasive) is some of my favorite writing to do with students because with engaging and kid-friendly opinion writing prompts, you can pull in even the most reluctant...
How to Teach Heart Words
I know you're here to learn how to teach heart words but before we get into the nitty-gritty of how to let's start with some basics. The term “heart words” is used to describe high-frequency words. They are words that we want our students to know by heart. If your...
More Than Just a Worksheet – Math Money Exercises for 2nd Grade
Looking for math money worksheets for 2nd grade? Look no further! You can bet your bottom dollar that students will love these math worksheets and activities. We have money worksheets to practice coin counting, money addition and subtraction, making change, and money...
Spring Math Centers for 1st and 2nd grade
Spring is here! Time to freshen up your math centers with these fun, hands-on activities for 1st and 2nd grade learners. The end of the school year is just around the corner! Take time to switch up classroom math centers to strengthen math skills, supplement student...
Teaching Addition & Subtraction Within 1,000
Addition & Subtraction are the biggest math concepts teachers cover in the primary grades. Read on to learn about our most loved strategies for teaching 2nd grade addition and subtraction. Addition Strategies Addition is almost always taught before subtraction....
Teaching Narrative Writing: Introductions
If you are a second grade teacher, at some point in the school year you are likely teaching kids about narrative writing. One of the hardest parts for kids when it comes to this type of writing is crafting a strong introduction. Stick with this post to find some great...
Best Books for Teaching Phonics Skills
When teaching phonics, teachers are always looking for new and engaging ideas. Are you ready for the newest idea from Lucky Little Learners? Using poems & picture books to aid in engagement, fluency and mastering phonics sounds. This post will share more about our...
15 Earth Day Read Alouds and Activities for 2nd grade
Taking care of our Earth is a big job. Celebrate Earth Day on April 22 with these Earth Day read alouds and activities for the 2nd grade classroom. These lessons and activities make it easy to celebrate Earth Day every day! All About Earth These books take a look at...
Poetry Read Alouds and Collections for the 2nd Grade Classroom
April is National Poetry Month. To celebrate, we rounded up some of our favorite poetry picture books, poet biographies, and poetry collections to share with young readers. Keep reading to find out how you can incorporate the joy of poetry into your 2nd grade...
How to Teach Students to Read Multisyllabic Words
Multisyllabic words are intimidating. Even students who’ve received great phonics instruction can fall back into ineffective habits. This is things like guessing, relying on cues from pictures, or simply skipping the word. All of this has a big impact on comprehension...
Teaching Pronouns in 2nd Grade
Here we are with another post to add to our grammar teaching post series! This time, the focus is on teaching kids pronouns! Kids usually are able to catch on to what nouns are pretty quickly, but pronouns can be a bit more difficult. Read on for tips & tricks to...
Decoding Multisyllabic Words in 2nd Grade Text
By now, I hope you and your students are starting to feel confident about those decoding skills! I know I’ve said it before but decoding multisyllabic words can be such a big hurdle for our 2nd grade learners and beyond. This is the fourth post in the Decoding...
5 Resources for Teaching Irregular Plural Nouns & Irregular Verbs
If you look up "irregular" in the dictionary, you'll find a definition something like this: "not conforming to the usual pattern". Ok, so how do we teach students something that doesn't follow the usual grammar patterns (like irregular plural nouns and verbs)? Keep...
Characters in Fiction Responding to a Challenge
Teaching students about characters in fiction stories can be really fun. There are so many creative ways to do this whether it be through readers theater, a deep character study or art. When looking at a character it is important to study how they respond to a...
A Weekly Routine to Build Fluency Using Phonics Poems
Are you ready for a new way to incorporate your weekly phonics sound into your lesson plans? Do you want it to be a routine kids will love and look forward to? How about if it lasts all week and builds fluency AND phonics skills at the same time? If this sounds too...
Springtime Read Alouds and Activities
Spring is in the air! We've got read alouds and activities to help you hop into spring. This season is filled with plenty of celebrations to weave into your everyday math and ELA lessons. Check out this list of favorite springtime read alouds and activities! This post...
Twos Day Showcase
Twos Day was a big hit in the classroom this year! Whether teachers celebrated all things TWO on 2/2/22 or 2/22/22, the creative ideas were sure flowing. Check out these innovative ideas for Twos Day from teachers all across the world. Thank you to our teacher...
Morning Meeting Conversations
Peer-to-peer sharing is a commonly used practice in elementary classrooms. Many teachers utilize "think-pair-share" or "turn and talk" during core classes. But what if encouraging student-to-student conversations in a relaxed way could improve student learning...
Blending Routine for Multisyllabic Words
Multisyllabic words are a big milestone for students. Supporting them as they become more skilled and confident is an important job and I know you’re up for the task! Luckily, there are short and effective routines we can add to each of our student’s toolboxes to help...
An Easy Routine for Syllable Division
So your students are cruising along confidently reading CVC, CCVC, CVCe words, and - Boom! They hit a multisyllabic wall. Before your students start getting into the habit of guessing, let’s build good habits and use syllable division to sound out words! With this...
How to Introduce Vowel Teams Using a Sound Wall
Ready to teach your students about vowel teams? Interested in learning how to teach vowel teams with the aid of a classroom sound wall? Here at Lucky Little Learners, we just so happen to have a sample lesson ready for you! So, grab a snack, sit back and read all...
The Benefits of Social Learning Routines
A lack of appropriate peer interaction has created a social development drought for some students. The “normal” expectations of behavior have changed and it’s time for our instruction to change with it. Read on to find out how to use social learning routines to...
How to Teach R Controlled Vowels
Teaching sounds can be fun, especially when it comes to r-controlled vowels! These 5 sounds (ar, or, er, ir, ur) can be introduced and reviewed using several engaging strategies and resources. Read on for tips, tricks and jokes to make your r-controlled vowel lessons...
How to Introduce the 6 Syllable Types
I equate teaching syllable types to learning the steps to a new recipe. Initially, I’ll look at the picture of the final product and think, “well, I can’t make that.” That’s how our struggling readers feel when they come upon multi-syllable words. “I can’t read that....
Teaching Strategies for Stretching and Expanding Sentences
Your students have mastered basic sentence writing skills. That's great! Help your young writers take their composition skills to the next level with these tips for stretching and expanding sentences. What is an expanded sentence? An expanded sentence is when...
14 Valentine’s Day Read Alouds and Activities
This list of 14 Valentine's Day read alouds and activities are perfect for celebrating friendship and kindness in your classroom this February, or at any time of the year! Roses are red Violets are blue We love to read How about you? Here at Lucky Little Learners, we...
Teaching Linking Verbs
When it comes to grammar, verbs are my absolute favorite to teach. There are so many ways to make them multi-sensory and fun. However, I am definitely guilty of spending more time on action verbs than the all too important linking verbs. What are Linking Verbs? Here’s...
Mental Math Strategies and Resources
"Use your mental math strategies" is a phrase heard around the world in classrooms. But just what IS mental math? And how can students get confident in using it? Cozy up and keep reading to find some tried and true (teacher backed) strategies to get your little...
Building Phonological Awareness with Literacy Center Activities
Picture it: it is time to start reading centers in your classroom. You have a classroom full of learners with diverse phonological awareness needs. How can you meet each student where they are at? By using a few of Lucky Little Learner's 1st grade literacy center...
Free Math Game – Counting Money
Money, money, money! Looking for a new counting money game to reinforce coin counting skills? Look no further than the Money Math Toothy Game! In this fun math game, students will practice counting money in different amounts and arrangements. They'll be tallying up...