Teaching grammar in an elementary classroom is an important component of literacy education. Kids are known for hating grammar or ignoring it altogether, especially when explicitly taught.  While kids may intuitively know when to use adverbs vs adjectives, the goal of literacy education to bring this implicit knowledge to the level of metacognition so that kids can learn to play with the language on a more creative level.  The problems of many teaching resources I encountered are not often evident, but the way grammar is treated is either not student appropriate, or exercises on a specific language phenomenon are given in isolation.  Take teaching adverbs vs adjectives example. When adjectives are…

In this article, you will read about some fun alternatives to homework for second, possibly third graders (depending on where your kiddos are) – worksheets for fun. These fun worksheets were born from an idea that I had as a second-grade teacher, and that has been on my mind forever.  Every time the new school year begins, I just start getting overwhelmed by the idea of homework. The truth is I do believe in homework and parents of my second graders want homework too for their kids.  I’ve tried high frequency words worksheets, short reading comprehension stories, word lists to practice spelling and sentence writing, and so did you, perhaps. It all sounds…

Printable outer space coloring pages. Outer space coloring pages have been a hit in my little teacher shop. I don’t know what exactly makes space so attractive for kids, but once there is a coloring worksheet fresh off the print with some bright crayons on the table, children’s imagination runs free and the exploration of planets, aliens, starts, aquanauts, and space shuttles begins. Space coloring sheets keep kids busy in my house as well. My 2nd grader and a toddler can spend good 40 minutes trying out all the colors while carefully filling in all the shapes on the giant space coloring sheet that I print for about $3 at…