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Second Grade Smiles

A Teaching Blog by Amanda Taylor

back to school

Storage Solutions for Multisensory Word Work Materials

Multisensory word work practice plays an important role in developing fluency with sight words and phonics patterns, but center rotations go by quickly. When my students visit the word work center, I want them to get to work quickly and engage with the materials in a focused and meaningful way. This can be difficult to […]

Filed Under: Advice for Teachers, Back to School, ELA, Learning Centers, Multisensory Learning 2 Comments

Multisensory Sight Word Centers with Visual Directions

When I first started teaching it took a lot of coaching and repeated practice to teach my beginning readers and language learners to work with multisensory materials like playdough, letter stamps, and magnet letters appropriately and independently. I couldn’t write out directions for them because they couldn’t yet read them. I ended up missing out […]

Filed Under: Back to School, Creative Teaching Ideas, ELA, Learning Centers, Multisensory Learning 6 Comments

Tips for Stress-Free Learning Center Activities

I love that running daily learning centers in my classroom gives me the opportunity to work with small groups and differentiate my guided reading instruction. It also encourages my students to build independent and partner work skills. Over the years, I’ve learned that thoughtful planning and routines are key to setting up my classroom for […]

Filed Under: Advice for Teachers, Back to School, Learning Centers 2 Comments

Building Relationships with Students Beginning Those First Weeks of School

You’ve heard it before – building relationships with students is key to both your students’ academic success and successful classroom management. It makes sense. Students perform better and behave better for teachers who they feel a connection with, the people they know care about them and have made an effort to get to know them. […]

Filed Under: Advice for Teachers, Back to School 2 Comments

Back to School with Guided Discovery of Materials

Appropriate use and storage of all your classroom materials – from pencils to glue sticks to tablets – goes a long way in helping your classroom to be safe, organized, and smoothly run. Knowing where things are when you need them and being able to trust that they will be in good condition saves time. […]

Filed Under: Back to School Leave a Comment

Math Manipulatives You’ll Need to Teach Second Grade

There are so many options out there for teaching second grade math using hands-on manipulatives. It’s easy to feel like you need it all, but if you’re like most teachers, you’re on a budget. Here are the math manipulatives I couldn’t live without and some tips for making your own or finding them at affordable […]

Filed Under: Advice for Teachers, Back to School, Math Leave a Comment

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