Second-grade teachers Linda Querni and Patricia Greco used Play-Doh as a "get to know you" activity at the start of school. Students used the Play-Doh to answer the prompts and then discussed with their classmates to learn about each other.

Hana Nudelman, a universal literacy coach at PS 34 in Manhattan, uses this chart in her literacy centers to help develop phonemic awareness in early learners. Students say the picture word out loud and then use the different colored Post-its to represent each sound in the word. 

The students in teacher Donna Griebel’s pre-K class celebrated their identities by mixing paints to create a color that matched each child’s unique skin tone.

Math teacher Lauren Cosides from the Family School in the Bronx has discovered a fun way to teach the making of 10 in math to her 1st-graders.

"The decor and ambiance in my classroom have little touches to make it feel like home — things like curtains on the windows, beanbag chairs in our carpeted area and decorative lights. I try to address all five senses, like using air freshener to make sure it smells good. I like the classroom to be clean and organized, and my students have jobs, like engineer and janitorial staff, to help us maintain that organized environment."

As a class, we read the book “Just Ask!: Be Different, Be Brave, Be You,” by Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor. We learned about how everyone is unique even if you don’t see it.