LITERACY
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 3 sounds, spelled 5 different ways (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...
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...
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...
