Boost Early Literacy with a Children’s Word of the Day

Building a strong vocabulary is essential for young learners, and incorporating a Children’s Word of the Day into your daily routine is a powerful way to expand students’ language skills. High-quality vocabulary instruction helps students improve reading comprehension, enhance writing skills, and develop confidence in verbal expression. This digital Children’s Word of the Day slide deck makes vocabulary instruction engaging and easy to implement as a daily warm-up in primary classrooms.

Grab Your Tier 2 Word of the Day – Year 2 Slide Deck

Designed specifically for early learners, this Word of the Day – Year 2 / 3 instructional resource introduces students to Tier 2 vocabulary words—those essential words that bridge everyday conversation and academic success.

Each slide in this Google Slides or PowerPoint-based deck includes:

• A carefully selected Tier 2 word of the day
• The pronunciation, syllable count, and part of speech of the word
• A child-friendly definition
• A sentence example to provide context
• A simple visual to support understanding

This slide deck is animated so that individual components appear on each slide with the click of a mouse. This is designed to help promote interaction and discussion during your Word of the Day lessons.

We have also included the following printable resources in this resource download. 

• Vocabulary Word a Day Graphic Organisers
• Teacher Instructions
• Alternate Activities for Tier 2 Vocabulary Instruction

You can easily integrate this daily word routine into morning meetings, literacy centres, or transition times to help students build vocabulary naturally over time.

Download Your Daily Tier Two Vocabulary Warmups

This resource is designed to be integrated into your daily vocabulary routine. We have included 140 Tier 2 vocabulary words for second and third year students. We recommend using this resource as a morning meeting option or warm-up activity. To get started using this resource, do the following:

1. Choose a graphic organiser for your students to use (or not, depending on age). Make copies for each student.
2. Download and project the word of the day on the board. Only click once to display the word.
3. Call on a student to read the word, click once, and then have the group clap the syllables and break the word up into its correct pronunciation.
4. Ask students if they know what this word means or how they’ve seen it used before. Have students turn and talk or share directly with the group.
5. Click to display the definition and read it aloud, discussing any new or meaningful words, words that mean the same thing, or alternate meanings for the word. 
6. Ask students if anyone can use the word in a sentence. Have students share out. Click the mouse again to display the sentence and share it aloud.
7. Discuss the part of speech and what it means for a word to be a noun, verb, etc.
8. Leave the slide on display and have students complete one section of the graphic organiser they were provided. 

This resource was created by Lisamarie Del Valle, a teacher and Teach Starter Collaborator.

More Ideas for Morning Work & Year 2 Vocabulary Instruction

Looking for more ideas for morning work? Year 2 students will love their daily warmup activities if you try one of these engaging warmup exercises instead!

teaching resource

Easter Worksheets - Grammar Practise

Practise skills learnt in literacy with this Easter-themed grammar activity pack.

teaching resource

5 Minute Speaking Fluency Activities Warm Up

Improve your students' communication skills with these 5 minute speaking fluency activities.

teaching resource

Year 2 Daily Warm-Up – PowerPoint 1

A 67-slide PowerPoint presentation containing a variety of quick warm-up activities.