LITERACY
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...
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!...
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...
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...
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...
Fall Early Finisher Activities
A teacher just finished a well planned, thought out lesson. She heads to her desk to take a sip of coffee while her students work on their independent work. She plans on walking around the room and assisting several students with skills they need to work on. But then,...
Seasonal and Holiday Projects for 2nd Graders
With so many subjects and skills to teach, it can sometimes be a struggle to squeeze in high-quality science and social studies instruction. We get it! That’s why we created the Monthly and Seasonal Projects All Year Bundle. Teachers love this bundle as a way to...
No Prep Daily Phonics Review in 2nd Grade
It's that time of year again! The back to school buzz is in the air. Teachers are figuring out their schedules, setting up their oh-so-cozy classrooms and prepping academic activities to keep their students learning and engaged. One academic area of great importance...
Reading Centers for 2nd Grade
Back to school time is here! That means it's time to plan all the things! One thing we know teachers work extra hard to do to create engaging and meaningful independent tasks for their students. (If students are engaged and working independently, teachers get to work...
Free Daily Phonics Activities for 2nd Grade
Phonics is a subject area that can be challenging to keep engaging and entertaining for students. Students often need to complete phonics activities independently while teachers run small groups. Lucky Little Learners has a nice library of phonics and literacy...
Daily Grammar Practice Freebie
Want some quick and engaging daily grammar practice to add to your ELA block? Grammar Day by Day is a no-prep way to give your students their daily dose. No more stressing about how to incorporate meaningful grammar practice into your lessons. These free daily grammar...
Tips for Teaching Syllables
There's no doubt about it - teaching syllables is an important part of reading instruction. After all, this skill shows up in primary grade level standards - regardless of where you teach. But how do you get your students to understand what syllables are, and what are...
Editable Sight Word Activities For Any List
Are you tired of searching for sight word activities that will align with the specific sight words you teach? Dolch? Fry? District adopted sight word list? We've got you covered! Our Sight Word Worksheets with Autofill make creating and selecting sight word activities...
13 First Week of School Read Alouds and Activities
The first week of school sets the tone for the rest of the year. Build connections and community in the classroom with this list of read alouds to share during the first week of school. From time-tested classics that teachers return to year after year, to newer...
2nd Grade Literacy Centers
Finding all of the activities needed to run engaging and standards-based literacy centers can feel like a monster task! The Lucky Little Learners 2nd Grade Printable and Digital Literacy Center Bundle is a great option for teachers who want high-engagement and totally...