For a long time, guided reading, where students work in small groups on books matched to their independent reading level, was a staple in many classrooms, mine included. However, research on the Science of Reading has started to cast doubt on its effectiveness,...
How Centers Support Explicit Instruction in the Primary Grades
If you’ve been in any PD lately you’ve heard the term "explicit instruction" thrown around a lot. With the big push for Science of Reading (SOR)-aligned curriculum explicit instruction is getting a lot of buzz lately. For good reason, too. It’s an effective teaching...
Scaffolding Strategies for Guided Writing Lessons
Helping students become authors can be challenging. Many students struggle with content ideas, getting started and lack interest or confidence in writing. However, there is a solution that helps students overcome these writing hurdles: guided writing! Keep reading for...
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...
Student Data Tracking Booklets for Math & Literacy
Student data tracking is useful so teachers have the information needed to drive their plans for instruction. Similarly, it can drive student motivation when they track their own data. When tracking their data, students will take ownership of their learning. Academic...
How to Set Up a Small Group Literacy Binder
Planning and organizing small group reading can be a challenge! Lucky for you, team Lucky Little Learners has all your reading small group needs covered with the Small Group & Intervention Literacy Kit! This post will walk you through the steps of setting up and...
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...
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...
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...
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...