Congratulations second grade teacher! Second graders are so excited about school! They are starting to read fun chapter books and they are going to make huge growth in math this year. It’s an exciting time!
Now that you know you will be teaching second grade, you are probably starting to wonder what resources you might want to have in your classroom.
I have compiled a list of my very favorite resources for second grade. I hope it helps!
Books
I’m starting with my book recommendations because I think that books are the most important part of ANY classroom! A good classroom library is a must.
It doesn’t have to cost a fortune though. You can get books from garage sales, used book stores and even from your friends. I highly recommend putting a post on your personal Facebook asking if any of your friends have books that their children have outgrown. It’s a great way to grow your library.
Click HERE to read more about organizing your classroom library.
Chapter Books
- Gooney Bird Greene
- Amelia Bedelia
- Charlotte’s Web
- Magic Treehouse
- Clementine
- The Chocolate Touch
- The World According to Humphrey
Picture Books
I use these for read alouds and mentor texts during reading or writing.
- Peanut Butter and Cupcake
- Nerdy Birdy
- Mother Bruce
- Yes Day
- The Jelly Donut Difference
- Unplugged
- I Need My Monster
Math Resources for Second Grade
Math Centers
Centers and small groups completely changed the way that I taught math. I would NEVER go back to completely teaching in whole group! Math centers and small group instruction make it much easier to differentiate my instruction. Every student doesn’t need the same thing, so why waste time teaching everyone exactly the same way? Plus, math centers are engaging!
If you are looking for more info on how to start and run successful math centers, check out THIS video series that I created.
I highly recommend THESE math centers. They are consistent. The centers will look very similar all year and this means that you don’t have to spend nearly as much time teaching the expectations and directions. Also, you can use the centers in any order that you choose because they aren’t specific to any month or holiday. I love this because we don’t all have the same pacing guide.
Click HERE to read more about these centers.
Interactive Notebooks
Interactive Notebooks are a FUN way to teach and practice math! They are so much better than traditional note-taking, because instead of just copying notes from the teacher, students are interacting with the material, which leads to a deeper understanding.
My Interactive Notebooks involve inserting and moving around flaps, foldables, wheels, charts, and more and students love all of the different visuals. But don’t worry, I designed these for notebooks for busy teachers like you. So the cuts are super-simple, and there’s no unnecessary coloring. Your kids can quickly cut, glue, and go!
I have a total of 10 interactive notebooks to cover all the math skills your second grade students need.
Click HERE to read more about the Math Interactive Notebooks.
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Math Curriculum
My second grade math curriculum is your one-stop-shop for math lessons that are fun, engaging, and easy to prep. These comprehensive units have everything you need to teach all of the second grade standards. The full curriculum includes ten units:
- Back to School
- Place Value
- 2 Digit Addition & Subtraction
- 3 Digit Addition & Subtraction
- Foundations of Multiplication
- Time & Money
- Measurement
- Data
- Geometry
- Review
Each ready to teach unit comes with instructional PowerPoints for each mini-lesson, daily student activities that are effective and engaging, key vocabulary, task cards, a math game, anchor charts, problems sets and homework, complete lesson plans, helpful resources like hundreds charts and number lines, and more! There’s no reason to look anywhere else.
My math curriculum works perfectly with my math centers.
Click HERE to see the second grade math curriculum.
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Writing Resources for Second Grade
Teaching writing can be one of the toughest subjects. Many teachers don’t teach it at all, or just brush over the standards by giving their students a journal prompt during reading centers. I totally get it! Without great resources and training, I had no idea how to teach writing and it frustrated me.
Writing Professional Development Course
First, if you are really looking to transform your writing instruction, I highly recommend taking my online writing professional development course. This course was specifically created for grades 2-5 teachers and it includes 27 different videos. When you complete the videos, you will feel so much better about teaching writing!
You’ll learn how to:
- Keep your lessons and preparation simple: Using the workshop model will save you time because you’ll have a simple routine with minimal prep.
- Increase your students’ standardized test scores: You’ll be training your students to work independently—so they’ll be able to perform higher on standardized writing assessments.
- Maximize your limited class time: You’ll learn how to implement short mini-lessons so you can spend less time lecturing and presenting to the entire class.
- Skyrocket your confidence as a writing teacher: Once you start using a modern writing workshop, you’ll see student growth—fast.
Taking the Masterclass is easy. The course is entirely online. You take it where you want, when you want. And it is self-paced–you can watch it in a weekend or a week or take your time going through the modules. You get lifetime access to the course, so you return to the lessons over and over again.
Throughout the course, you’ll find ongoing support in a private Facebook group where you can ask questions, find inspiration, and share ideas. Plus, you will get to print a professional development certificate. Yippee!!
Registration for the Not So Wimpy Writing Masterclass is currently closed. Be sure to sign up for the Waitlist so you will be the first to know when we open it again. Sign up now so you don’t miss out!
Free Guide to Writing Lessons
Lots of teachers have told me that they just don’t know what lessons they should teach during writing workshop. I put together THIS free guide to make it easier for you to decide what lessons to include when you are planning your mini lessons. Enjoy!
Year-Long Units
Now that you know what to teach, you are ready to create your writing lesson plans. But that takes time. A lot of time. So I decided to create them for you!
My writing units include lesson plans, mentor text passages, anchor charts, student printables and task cards for the entire year. They are so easy to use that you can leave them for a substitute if you need to!
Click HERE to read more about my second grade writing units.
Grammar Resources for Second Grade
Grammar is hard! There are so many rules that our students have to memorize and this can make the lessons rather boring.
Grammar Curriculum
I noticed that most curriculum did not include enough engaging materials and did not break down the grammar skills into small enough pieces. Therefore, I decided to create my own grammar curriculum!
My grammar units include an activity for every day of the week.
- Monday: PowerPoint to introduce the skill
- Tuesday: Interactive notebook activity
- Wednesday: Writing activity
- Thursday: Task card scoot
- Friday: Assessment
I broke down the language standards into very small pieces that will make it easier for your students to learn all of the skills.I currently have a bundle for grammar that covers every third grade standard. Many second grade teachers choose to use these units because our grammar standards are so similar. You may want to supplement with lessons on contractions and punctuation.
Click HERE to learn more about my second grade grammar units.
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Free Grammar Posters
It can be handy to have a resource that students can reference as they learn new skills during the year. You can add a poster to your display each week as you teach the new skills.
Click HERE to grab this freebie!
Reading Resources for Second Grade
Some teachers have a reading curriculum that they love. Many do not. I have created some resources to help you to teach and practice reading skills and standards. I think that the most important aspect of any reading resource is whether or not it helps to increase a student’s love for reading.
Reading Units
These reading units can be used as a supplement to a reading curriculum or they can be used in place of curriculum.
Each unit was designed to be used over a two week time frame. They each include:
- a powerpoint to introduce the skill or strategy
- two interactive notebook activities
- five centers
- three passages with questions that can be used during reading groups or as assessments.
Click HERE to learn more about my second grade reading units.
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Book Clubs
I also love using book clubs. I used book clubs with all of my reading groups. It really helped to increase their love for reading and helped them to choose new books for their independent reading time.
If you want to learn more about how I ran my book clubs, you can watch THIS video.
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Vocabulary Resources for Second Grade
Teaching vocabulary is a must! It will improve your students’ reading comprehension, their writing word choice and their standardized testing scores. That’s big!
I found that adding ten minutes of vocabulary to my daily instruction made a huge difference. I love having a routine!
- Monday: introduce word definitions and sentences
- Tuesday: antonyms and synonyms
- Wednesday: roots, prefixes and suffixes
- Thursday: draw pictures to represent the words
- Friday: play a review game and take an assessment.
I put together a resource that includes everything that you will need to teach, practice and assess vocabulary words. I carefully researched and chose tier 2 words that show up often in grade level text and on standardized tests.
Click HERE to read more about my vocabulary resource.
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Spelling
Our second grade spelling curriculum is a unique concept-based approach to teaching spelling. Each week focuses on spelling rules or patterns to help students understand why words are spelled the way they are. The curriculum is flexible–teach it in as few as 2 days per week (or as many as 5), easy to differentiate (4 different spelling lists each week), and simple to use.
Your students won’t just be memorizing random lists of words, they’ll actually be learning how to spell.
Click HERE to read more about the spelling program.
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Facebook Group
Teaching is tough! Don’t do this alone!I have a Facebook group for second grade teachers. It is the perfect place to ask for suggestions or tips when you are having a tough day.
Click HERE to join the group.
I have shared so many great resources for second grade, but don’t get overwhelmed! Keep in mind that the most important thing that you need in your second grade classroom is a positive relationship with your students. You can do that without centers or anchor charts or reading menus. I believe in you!
Have a Not So Wimpy day,
I also have resource round ups for third grade, fourth grade, and fifth grade.
I have been homeschooling many years but really have a tough time with teaching grammar. Your materials look like they are center guided. Is there is a teacher book that will guide me? Are these supplement materials, or do I need an additional curriculum?