LITERACY
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
Spelling Activities for the Science of Reading Classroom
The Lucky Little Learners Spelling Activities pack is a wonderfully effective and flexible resource to add to your literacy block. It has no prep worksheets and centers. These can be used to combine your spelling routine with the science of reading. Spelling and...
Science of Reading: Sample Literacy Block Schedule
If you’re ready to dive into a science of reading (SoR) aligned curriculum and trying to figure out how to structure your literacy block this is the post for you. A daily science of reading schedule will vary based on student needs and age. This sample schedule is...
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...
Resources to Teach The Science of Reading Components
You know that Brady Bunch episode where Jan gets upset because she’s not getting the attention? She cries, “Marcia, Marcia, Marcia.” In my head, that’s what’s been happening the last few years in the world of literacy. Science of reading, or SOR, is on every reading...
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...
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...
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...