I know some teachers that can get away with using the same five center activities all year. That seems so simple and straight forward… but I’m always looking for something new to put in the rotation! My students seem to enjoy some variety as well. So here are some word work/spelling center ideas: Look, Cover, Write,…
Whether you’re new to literacy centers or you’ve been doing them for a while, it’s always fun to get some new ideas and kids definitely enjoy some variety. Here’s is a collection of centers I’ve had success with for word work, writing, reading, spelling, and grammar: Magnetic Words There are lots of…
Inside: Find out how to teach parts of speech so that kids remember what they have learned! I’m sharing my favorite ideas and activities. You’ve talked about pronouns for several weeks. You’ve given homework and review. You’re in the middle of your pronoun assessment and a student raises their hand and asks “What’s a…
One of my favorite activities for starting the year in 2nd grade is counting to 1000. Imagine this classroom scene – Instructions have been given, materials have been passed out, and everyone is working silently…at least for a few minutes! I know when I have those rare moments in class that I have found an…
Improve math fact fluency for addition and subtraction by teaching first and second graders how to choose the best math strategy for a fact. Matching Strategies to Equations Problem: I’ve taught my students lots of math fact strategies but how do I get them to put those strategies to use?!? Solution: Learning HOW to…
Problem: It’s like pulling teeth to get my kids to edit their writing. They frequently turn it in, saying they’ve edited, and I still find lots of mistakes I know they could have corrected on their own. Solution: Shake up your editing routine! Here are some ideas for making editing fun: Rainbow Editing Coloring coding makes…
Problem: I’m concerned about my students losing ground over the summer. Solution: Send home a fun summer packet for them to work on! Here is a FREE sample of my 2nd grade packet: And here are full packets for both 1st and 2nd grade:
Problem: I would love to study poetry with my class but I’m not sure how to go about it. Solution: Read on! Here is a way to structure a week-long study of poetry: Preparation – Choose a few poems for you kids to work on all week. For 2nd graders I would choose 4 to 7…
Problem: I want to introduce my students to a wider range of poetry than just the typical Shel Silverstein funny stuff. Solution: Branch out into songs as poetry, even hip hop as poetry! One of my students’ favorite poems to study all year is “Rapper’s Delight” by Sugar Hill Gang. The classroom scene goes something…
