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11 January Morning Meeting Activities to Energize Your Students
January Morning Meeting is the perfect time to reset, reconnect, and bring fresh energy back into your classroom after winter break. Starting the new year with engaging, low-prep activities helps students ease back into routines, rebuild classroom community, and review important skills—without adding more to your already full plate. Whether
How To Effectively Assess and Teach Sight Words
Building students’ sight word fluency is a key part of reading instruction. Did you know about 150 common words make up 50% of written text? These high-frequency words are essential for reading fluency because they appear so frequently in everyday reading. Developing a strategic plan for assessing and teaching sight
3 Easy No-Prep Activities for After Thanksgiving Break
Let’s be real: coming back after Thanksgiving break is rough—for everyone. The kids are still in turkey-coma mode, you’re surviving on leftover pie and caffeine, and that Monday morning energy? Yeah, it’s not giving. But instead of jumping straight into assessments or new units, try easing back in with a
5 New Year’s Activities for Ringing in 2026
Although we might not quite be ready for that first school day of the new year, it’ll be here before we know it. So, while I’m sorta, kinda dreading it (sorry, not sorry), I’m napping… I mean, prepping. Here are 5 New Year’s activities for ringing in 2026 in the
Easy November Classroom Activities to Fit in a Short Month
November always feels like a blink-and-it’s-over kind of month. Between days off, parent-teacher conferences, and Thanksgiving break, it can be tough to keep routines consistent — and even tougher to keep students engaged. What you need are some easy November classroom activities. I love using simple, purposeful activities that make
Fun & Free Halloween Math And Writing Activities For 2nd Grade
Halloween season is full of sugar highs and spooky chaos, but that doesn’t mean your lesson plans have to be scary. I’ve rounded up my favorite fun and free Halloween math and writing activities for 2nd grade — all teacher-tested, kid-approved, and low prep. Let’s make October a little more
Affordable (and FREE) Decodable Texts That Actually Work
As a former 2nd-grade teacher, current reading intervention specialist, and mom of two growing readers, I’ve seen firsthand how powerful decodable texts can be. In the classroom, they help build confidence and fluency. At home? They’ve become a regular part of our bedtime routine—right alongside Oliver Jeffers and Jory John.
How to Set Up Magnetic Letter Boards for Phonics Instruction
How to Set Up Magnetic Letter Boards for Phonics Instruction Letter boards are a simple, effective tool to support explicit, hands-on phonics instruction. Whether you’re working one-on-one, in a small group, or during independent centers, having a ready-to-go board can make word building seamless and engaging. Let’s walk through exactly
How to Teach Addition with Regrouping so Students Get It
If I’m being completely honest, teaching how to carry over or regroup wasn’t exactly my favorite math lesson. When I started teaching 2nd grade, the math curriculum we used taught 2-digit addition with regrouping before place value. Seriously? Who does that? Once we rearranged the math curriculum chapters (because obviously,
4 Activities to Build Working Memory to Support Reading
Ever feel like your students’ brains are full of open tabs, and they keep clicking on the wrong one? Working memory is the secret weapon behind strong readers—it helps them hold onto sounds, blend words, and actually remember what they just read. But here’s the catch: if working memory is