Whether you’re teaching second grade for the first time or you’re a longtime vet, we’ve got you covered! We’ve collected 50 of the best tricks and tips for teaching 2nd grade from our teacher friends on the WeAreTeachers Helpline, our favorite bloggers, and inspiring articles here on WeAreTeachers. If you need ideas for your second grade classroom, you’re in the right place!
Setting up Your Classroom Space
1. Pick an inspiring theme for your classroom.
Themes our second grade teachers love include: butterflies, black paper with polka dots, chevron, sock monkeys, Dr. Seuss, owls, orange and teal, minions, and superheroes.
SOURCE: Schoolgirl Style
2. Find teacher deals on the cheap.
Stores with serious discounts on classroom items recommended by our Facebook followers include: Target, dollar stores, Mardel, Walmart, local teacher supply stores, Staples, Michael’s, Jo-Ann, Oriental Trading, Amazon, NAEIR.org, NationalSchoolProducts.com, and TeachersPayTeachers.com.
“Office Depot will match prices plus give an additional discount.” —Kitty R.
“Don’t be afraid of seeking donations. I once got a case of copy paper donated by a grocery store.” —Carmen B.
“Yard sales are a great place for prize-box toys and for games for your rainy day closet.” —Sandie N.
Be sure to check out 75 Brilliant Dollar Store Hacks for the Classroom.
3. Try different classroom layouts.
Long gone are the days of straight rows of desks lining the classroom. Throw out your seating chart and try one of these ideas instead.
4. Consider alternative seating.
Bean bags, saucer chairs, and pillows make for inviting alternatives to traditional desk-and-seat formations. Get 13 more ideas here.
SOURCE: Setting Up for Second
5. Set your classroom up to support literacy.
Creating a literacy-rich environment takes careful planning. Emphasize skills and content with these tips.
Creating a Classroom Community
6. Draft a class constitution.
After learning about the Constitution, students can apply their knowledge by creating their own class constitution called “We the Kids!”
SOURCE: Kreative in Life
7. Create a culture of kindness.
Read How Full is Your Bucket? (For Kids) and brainstorm a list of bucket-fillers together to inspire acts of kindness in class.
SOURCE: Simply Second Grade
8. Build your students’ social-emotional skills.
Use these read-alouds to talk about everything from kindness to courage to trying your best.
9. What does a “model citizen” look like?
After discussing what makes a good citizen, construct a “model citizen” on poster paper for your classroom. Students can write their ideas about the great qualities a model citizen should have and stick them on the poster to complete the picture.
SOURCE: K–2 is Splendid
10. Encourage good behavior—without giving out treats.
11. Have a procedure for everything.
“It’s really important, in second grade, that you have procedures for everything! My first year, I had procedures for the big things but not the smaller things, and that was a mistake. Tattling and drama were big in my class. Not starting off with a policy and procedure for addressing it took from instructional time initially.” —Donella H.
12. Post your students’ morning routine.
Having the routine illustrated and easy to see will help your second graders remember how to start each day independently.
SOURCE: The Colorful Apple
13. Make lining up easy!
Make a line of painter’s tape that students can use to line up quickly and easily every day. Eventually, pull up the tape to show your second graders that they can line up perfectly on their own!
SOURCE: Soaring Through Second
14. Set up cues to keep class noise down to a low roar.
Use a chart like this to help students understand when to use different voice levels. Use cues like “spy talk” to signal when voices are getting too loud. Make a class goal of going from a five to a three. For more great ideas, read “27 Good Attention-Getters for Quieting a Noisy Classroom.” Or, try out the free Too Noisy App recommended by Elementary Nest!
15. Use Class Dojo for classroom management.
“I LOVE it. It was highly motivating for my second graders. I use it as a reward system. My parents love getting notifications that their child was recognized for something they were doing right!” —Angie S.
16. Get the wiggles out.
Even grown-ups can’t sit still and listen all day! Get your kids up and moving with awesome three-minute brain breaks from Minds in Bloom.
Music is a great way to mark transitions, teach multiplication facts, or set the tone for quiet reading time. Check out these kid-friendly Pandora stations.
18. Read to them every day.
Here are 50 awesome 2nd grade books, including read-alouds and independent texts, for your class to read.
19. Use anchor charts to teach reading comprehension.
Check out 25 of our favorites here.
20. Teach with superheroes.
Your second graders will never forget that verbs are action words once they meet Vicky Verb, action hero extraordinaire.
SOURCE: Second Grade Smarty
21. Create an inviting reading nook.
Who wouldn’t want to snuggle up and read in one of these cozy spaces?
22. Give your students a voice!
With Kid Blog, students can write their own blogs and express themselves—safely!
“I love Kid Blog!” —Andrea M.
23. Fire up your little storytellers’ imaginations.
Create a story jar and let their imaginations roam.
Research is part of the Common Core standards for second grade. Here, teachers share excellent tips for approaching this seemingly complex topic.
25. Introduce your second graders to small-moment narratives.
Break down the process with this handy anchor chart and then watch them go to town writing.
SOURCE: Buggy for Second Grade
Be sure to use this helpful guide to help kids distinguish those small moments from larger contexts.
SOURCE: Buggy for Second Grade
26. Teach annotation with “thinkmarks.”
Encourage students to actively engage as readers by printing or having students create “thinkmarks” they can use to annotate text as they read.
SOURCE: Simply 2nd Resources
27. Track the writing progress of each of your second graders.
Use this pencil chart to help students keep track and recognize the steps of the writing process.
SOURCE: Second Grade Style
28. Make alphabet picture books.
Different editions could include parts of speech, antonyms, synonyms, and homophones, etc. Create a class library of these! It’s a great way to showcase student learning. —Swimming into Second
29. Creatively teach time.
Students can draw different times on a dry-erase clock—just a hula hoop taped on your whiteboard.
30. Build a number of the day.
Students can build the number of the day by selecting the correct numerals, words, and units.
SOURCE: Turnstall’s Teaching Tidbits
31. Play Addition Jenga.
Write (or label) addition problems on the Jenga pieces. As students play the game, they solve the problems on each piece they pull.
SOURCE: Second Grade Style
32. Let your students lead.
“I give my kiddos about 10 minutes to complete morning math problems. Then I choose a student to come up to ‘teach’ the first problem by sharing strategies and solutions. That student asks if everyone agrees or disagrees and chooses another student for the next problem, if everyone agrees. If there is disagreement with his answer, they discuss alternatives. The students are in charge for the first 30–45 minutes of the day! My favorite time of the day!” —Stacey S.
33. Write in math journals every day.
With math journals, students learn to solve mathematical problems using pictures and words. Check out free entry examples on the blog.
34. Use rhymes to make math more fun.
Remembering how to subtract will be much easier with this cute poem!
SOURCE: The Colorful Apple
35. Teach the water cycle with this fun experiment.
Demonstrate how it rains with water, blue food coloring, and shaving cream. Then create a colorful report about the water cycle.
SOURCE: Simply Second Grade
36. Teach states of matter with this simple demonstration.
Conduct this hands-on experiment to help students recognize and understand the different states of matter.
37. Conduct gummy bear experiments.
In the category of snackable tips for teaching 2nd grade … watch what happens when you soak gummy bears in liquid over a period of days. Find the full experiment—complete with freebie handout—on this blog.
SOURCE: Second Grade Shuffle
38. Set up centers to teach STEM.
Kids will love rotating through fun stations like the tinker workbench, building station, nature table, and more!
39. Teach an early lesson on economics.
”Set up a classroom economy! I give my students plastic ‘banks’ from the dollar store. They earn money for specific things throughout the day: one penny for copying down homework, 10 cents here and there. Just keep it consistent and don’t overuse it. Otherwise, they’ll be ungrateful for those random dimes and want quarters instead. On Fridays, they get to go shopping!” —Jacqueline Q.
“My Classroom Economy is a great resource for help getting started.” —Renee J.
40. Introduce your second graders to American symbols.
This awesome mini-book is FREE!
41. Learn about heroes.
Teacher tips for staying organized.
42. Rock your teacher planner.
Read these tips for keeping your day, week, and year beautifully organized.
43. Manage work submissions with clothespins.
Having students clip their papers will help quickly distinguish whose handed in homework and who hasn’t.
SOURCE: 2nd Grade Stuff
44. Use an uncommon organizing method for the Common Core!
Create separately labeled folders for each standard then file activities that align with each standard in the appropriate folders. Genius!
45. Avoid nameless homework.
When students highlight their names before handing in work, you’ll never receive a name-free paper again!
SOURCE: Spectacular 2nd Grade
46. Make informal assessments easy with these exit slips.
Create a Show What You Know board. Use speech-bubble-shaped whiteboards for kids to write their lesson takeaways on or have them write on sticky notes and stick them on their designated bubbles. As a follow-up class activity, students can look at everything their classmates learned!
SOURCE: First Grade Nest
47. Find better uses for everyday objects.
Keep markers organized at stations and cooperative groupings with water bottle ice cube trays. For loads more classroom organization tips, read 50 Tips, Tricks, and Ideas for Classroom Management.
SOURCE: Flamingo Fabulous
Bridging the Gap Between Home and School
48. Build positive relationships with parents.
Here are ten tips for making working with parents the easiest part of your job.
49. Welcome parents into your classroom.
Read this for tips for getting the most out of parent volunteers.
50. Have students write this fun Who Am I? paragraph for Back to School Night.
Students can describe and draw themselves. Then parents can guess which child is theirs during Back to School Night festivities. Lifting the drawing will reveal a picture of the student holding their name.
What are your top tips for teaching 2nd grade? Come in share in our WeAreTeachers HELPLINE group on Facebook. WeAreTeachers HELPLINE is a place for teachers to ask and respond to questions on classroom challenges, collaboration and advice.
Looking for another grade level? You can find all of our 50 Best Tips series here.