Creating a Comfortable Classroom
Ah, home sweet classroom! We see you, teacher. Hustling, working hard, caring, creating, and teaching with heart. Some days you spend more active hours at school than at home. Why not make your classroom a calming, comforting space for yourself? Try adding one of...
How to Fix a Run-On Sentence
You've assigned your students a writing prompt, but when you check on their writing process, you see the following: missing punctuation, no capitalization, and a jumble of words in need of organization! It's time to stop run-on sentences in their tracks! How can you...
How To Use Mini Math Anchor Charts With Students
How’s math instruction going in your classroom? Second-grade math is a pretty mixed bag of abilities. Students are making the transition from a lot of concrete math instruction in Kindergarten and 1st grade into more challenging and abstract concepts. Plus… word...
Using the Phases of Math Mastery to Plan for Small Groups
If your class is anything like mine you know that kids come in at all ability levels with gaps in a hundred different places within math domains. You might have a kid rocking the number and operations domain but working below grade level in algebraic thinking sitting...
Using Assessment Data to Target Small Group Math Instruction
The time of year has come for you to kick off small group math! But, we all know how precious time is in the classroom! So, how do you know which small group math activities will be the right ones to use for targeting the skill gaps your students have? Read on to find...
How To Plan & Teach Math Interventions
So, like an academic progress detective you’ve done that hard part- you’ve identified where the learning gaps are for your students in math. You’ve pinpointed which standards need reinforcement - but what’s the next step? Once you have that data in your hands, what do...
Easy to Make Christmas Gifts for Parents
It's that time of year! The time for teachers to do all the fun Christmas classroom traditions with their students. One of those traditions in many classrooms is making Christmas gifts for parents. However, will all the extra stresses teachers are feeling this time of...
4 Free Activities for Making Math Groups Fun (& Effective Too!)
Students in the same grade, but all working at different levels. Does this sound familiar? It can be a challenge to give each student exactly what they need to develop math skills. But with our Small Math Groups Kit, teachers can easily prep fun, engaging, and...
13 Mentor Texts for Teaching Narrative Writing
Here's the thing about narrative writing- for some students it is completely effortless. The words just flow and they can craft these amazing and creative tales without a ton of guidance. However, in every classroom, you'll find students who are just completely...
How to Introduce Fables, Folktales & the Fairy Tale Genre to 2nd Graders
Fables, fairy tales and folktales are all genre that are very engaging and enjoyable to read. Students love the element of magic in a fairytale and the moral of a story in a fable. Folktales can teach students about cultures of a particular region. If this unit is...
Synonyms and Antonyms Activities
Here's a joke for you: What does a thesaurus eat for breakfast? Answer: Synonym rolls! (We love to laugh at Lucky Little Learners!) Keep reading to discover more amazing, awesome, incredible, marvelous, wonderful activities to teach synonyms and antonyms. What are...
Christmas Read Alouds and Activities for the Classroom
Our festive list of Christmas read-alouds is perfect for promoting peace, joy, and love in the classroom throughout the holiday season and beyond. Enjoy these books on their own, or combine them with our Christmas activity ideas for even more holly-jolly fun! This...
Teaching Vowel Teams
Vowel teams are found in a lot of words! Because of this, it is important for teachers to spend a fair amount of time teaching these sounds. It can be difficult to keep this topic engaging and exciting, but luckily there are SEVERAL great resources available! Take a...
Essential Literacy Centers In First Grade
When we look at our 1st grade students we may sometimes think they're too young for centers. It's a lot of independence and personal responsibility for some of our littlest learners! So why have literacy centers in first grade? Research shows us that centers provide...
Teaching Comparative Endings
A wise teacher knows that comparative endings are an important second grade grammar skill. A wiser teacher understands there are many rules to teaching comparative endings. The wisest teacher turns to Lucky Little Learners to find new strategies and ideas for teaching...
An Easy Way to Introduce Informational Writing in 2nd Grade
We all know 2nd grade students LOVE to share information! However, they often seem to find it harder to get information about a researched topic on paper. A GREAT way to introduce informational writing is through the use of mentor texts. An easy and effective format...
10 Indoor Recess Ideas
Indoor recess, am I right? As a teacher, those two words either make you groan or smile. If you take a look at the comments in our Facebook Groups it seems like most teachers are on the groan side of the spectrum. No matter how you feel, having indoor recess plans is...
Books and Activities to Build Self-Esteem
Picture books are one of the most powerful tools a teacher can use. Literature has a way of reaching students. They can relate to a character or event in a picture book, and it inspires and influences their thinking and behavior. We hope this list of picture books and...
Tools for Teaching Kids How to Use An Apostrophe to Show Possession
New grammar concepts and rules start getting tricky by second grade! One of the trickier rules to teach 2nd grade students is when and how to use an apostrophe to show possession. We want to take the guesswork out of how to teach this skill with some engaging...
13 Mentor Texts for Friendly Letter Writing
Dear Teacher, We love using mentor texts in the classroom to showcase a special skill for our students. This list is filled with mentor texts that model writing a friendly letter. There are even books on the list that make cross-curricular connections with science,...
Thanksgiving Read Alouds and Activities
November is a month for giving thanks. At Lucky Little Learners, we are so thankful for teachers like you who make a difference in the lives of students every day! We hope you enjoy this selection of picture books about Thanksgiving, family, friends, traditions, and...
How to Teach Friendly Letter Writing
Friendly letter writing can be a fun and engaging topic for young writers. There are many resources and strategies that will help students become confident and skilled letter writers! Check out the list below for just some of the ways to help your class become the...
Tools for Small Group Organization
Are you using small group instruction in your classroom? If so, then you'll agree - this is where the magic happens! Students get a targeted lesson to improve their skills in a small, supportive, group setting. But one of the biggest struggles teachers face with small...
Back to Basics: Letter Formation for 2nd Grade
More and more teachers have been talking about how they are seeing student letter formation getting worse and worse. Is this due to missing in-school handwriting instruction? Or maybe it's due to the large amount of tech being used in daily life? Whatever the reason,...
Tools for Planning Reading Interventions
This year is a challenging one in a different way than previous years. Students this year are coming into the classroom working below grade level and needing more remediation than ever. No need to panic! Let's do what we do best and meet our amazing little learners...
Multisensory Phonics Activities
Phonics, phonics, phonics! It can't be stressed enough that a strong grasp of basic phonics is the building block that leads to higher literacy skills. Mastery takes practice, repeated exposure, and modeling. A great way to solidify learning is to use multisensory...
Phonological Awareness Intervention
Normally, the groundwork for phonological and phonemic awareness is laid in Kindergarten and 1st grade. (Although, advanced skills still have a place in regular instruction in 2nd and 3rd grades!) As we all know, the interruptions in learning caused by COVID have...
How to Identify Student Gaps in Phonological Awareness
Every teacher wants their students to grow as readers and writers. Imagine reading acquisition as a tower of blocks: each skill lays a foundation for the next. If there is a gap in the blocks, or one of the blocks is a little wobbly, the whole tower could fall!...
All About Math Exit Ticket Boards
A teacher finishes teaching a math lesson she feels went well, but she wants to assess how well her students understand it. (Without giving a formal test!) This is the EXACT situation where math exit ticket boards come in handy! Read below for math exit ticket...
12 Amazing Virtual Field Trip Ideas
A field trip can be a wonderful capstone experience to a unit of study. The bus ride, the small groups, the feeling of adventure! But who says you actually have to leave the classroom to have an amazing field trip experience? The world is at your fingertips with these...
Halloween Math Game Freebie
If your students are anything like mine, then Halloween is one of their favorite times of the year. Tying my instruction to Halloween instantly makes the content more engaging. That's why I love this digital Halloween math game. It gives your students the opportunity...
Asking and Answering Questions Using Nonfiction
We know that our students are FULL of questions but focusing that energy on asking clarifying questions can be tricky. It can be even trickier to reach the comprehension level necessary to answer questions about a text. Successfully asking and answering questions is a...
20+ Fresh Ideas for Report Card Comments
“I’m writing student report card comments and I’m stuck! Help!” “I need to write 30 individual report card comments and I have no idea where to begin…” “What can I say on the report card so parents will understand their child’s skills?” “How do I write a report card...
New & Fun Ways to Teach Contractions
The time has come to teach contractions! Teaching contractions can be fun and engaging for students (and their teachers)! Read below for tips & resources that will rock your contractions instruction! Tips & Tricks for Teaching Contractions First off, exactly...
Early Finisher Ideas
A teacher has just finished teaching a well planned, engaging lesson. It’s time for students to work independently. She pulls out readers to work with a student one-on-one feeling pride at how well the lesson just went. When suddenly, across the room comes a happy...
14 Mentor Texts to Introduce Opinion Writing
You know that your students have a lot of opinions. Getting them to write those opinions in a logical and succinct way can be tough. One of the best ways to introduce opinion writing is to model how beloved authors share their opinions through the use of mentor texts....
Literacy Screening is Done ~ Now What?!
So you’ve completed your beginning or middle of the year literacy screening, and the results are clear - some of your students are below grade level. But what should you do next? After all, time is limited and it's important to quickly help kids build their skills and...
10 Morning Message Ideas
The classroom morning meeting is one of the most important parts of the school day. It is where students can share, connect, listen, laugh, and learn! A great morning meeting sets the tone for the day. Using a morning message is a fun way to engage your students and...
Hands On Literacy Intervention Activities
Planning for intervention lessons is quick and easy when the materials you'll need are within reach! The activities from our Small Group and Intervention Literacy Kit are designed to be hands-on and engaging for kids, and exactly what teachers need to simplify the...
Teaching Opinion Writing in the Primary Classroom
As teachers, we know that our little learners have A LOT of opinions. Getting those opinions on paper and properly supported can be the tricky part. If you are entering your opinion writing unit or looking for some ways to change things up, you're in the right place!...
What to Do During Literacy Interventions
So you've pinpointed the literacy skill(s) your students need more help with, and you've carved out time for literacy interventions in your schedule. But what should you be doing with students to make the biggest impact on closing their gaps in literacy? Here are our...
Free Literacy Centers!
Literacy is the foundation of the 2nd grade classroom. 2nd grade learners need the practice to master basic early literacy skills. These amazing free literacy centers are here to help! We've got exciting centers for grammar, phonics, reading, and writing. With print...
Practice Writing Sentences with Sentence Scrambles
Are your students struggling with producing complete sentences? Do they just need a little more reinforcement? Try Sentence Scrambles! Sentence Scrambles are an activity that my students love! They are a great way for your students to practice writing sentences and...
How to Help Your Struggling Writers This Year
The buzz in education right now is loud and clear. Teachers are very concerned about their incoming class of students - particularly with their struggling writers. We are hearing a lot of the following... "I can't believe how low these kids are...
How to Teach Editing and Revising
Why teach students to edit and revise their writing? In a nutshell, this important stage of the writing process gives students an opportunity to reflect on what they've written through a reader's eyes. Taking the time to revise will ensure ideas are presented in an...
Teaching Strategies for Common and Proper Nouns
Nouns can be fun to teach! Especially when students realize that nouns are EVERYWHERE! For most students, the concept of nouns is an easy one to grasp. A great starting point is a classroom noun hunt! Once students know what a noun is, they can learn the difference...
Geometry Worksheets for 2nd Grade
If you are looking for some no-prep geometry and fraction practice for your 2nd graders then these geometry worksheets are for you! With over 50 different activities your students will enjoy building on the skills they’ve been learning in class. These worksheets...
Teaching Kids to Use Linking Words
Planning and preparing grammar lessons can be a struggle with a capital S! It can be difficult to keep students engaged in their grammar lessons and centers. One such grammar lesson that can be difficult to get students excited about is linking words. Never fear,...
Morning Work Ideas to Implement Now!
The buses have arrived and students shuffle into classrooms to take their seats. They wander around the room. "Now what?" the teacher asks. What do students do while waiting for the rest of the class to arrive and the day to officially start? Luckily, there is an easy...
Teaching Narrative Writing in the Primary Classroom
Want to know my favorite thing about teaching lower elementary? The stories they tell. Their brains at this age are so creative and wild and hilarious. You can ask your students to write you a story with sea animals and all of a sudden you’re being told an epic tale...