K-2 Primary

Explore and share tips, strategies, and resources for helping students develop in elementary school grades K-2.

How Learning Happens
Learning Problem Solving and Growth Mindset in a Makerspace
Makerspaces build students’ cognitive abilities while fostering independence, perseverance, and self-regulation.
Brain-Based Learning
Helping Students Develop Executive Function Skills
Simple classroom strategies can assist students with deficits in executive function skills like time management and active listening.
Project-Based Learning
Chickens and Checkbooks
A teacher shares what she and her third graders learned from their first experience with project-based learning—a chicken coop.
Culturally Responsive Teaching
Creating a Diverse Classroom Library
An interaction with a student prompts an elementary teacher to revamp her classroom library to make it more inclusive.
Creativity
Making an Event out of Art
After celebrating her school’s 20th annual Arts Week, an elementary school teacher shares how to put on an event like this.
Social and Emotional Learning
Building a Strong Community of Young Learners
An elementary teacher reflects on what grief taught her about the value of social and emotional learning and seeing the whole child.
Bullying Prevention
Building a Supportive Classroom Community in Early Childhood
Preventing bullying in the early grades starts with fostering an environment that is safe for all students.
Critical Thinking
Using Folktales to Teach Logical Reasoning
Having young students write a pourquoi—an origin folktale—is a great way to cultivate problem-solving and divergent thinking.
Brain-Based Learning
Teaching Self-Regulation in the Early Grades
Activating young students’ natural bodily rhythms helps them regulate their nervous systems and prepare for learning.
Family Engagement
Parent Workshops: Strengthening the Learning Community
During in-school workshops, parents learn what their kids are studying and how to support it at home.