I have a total of 27 years teaching experience . After I received my M.Ed. from the University of Florida (hence the name "HappyEdugator"), I began teaching in elementary school, where I taught pull-out remedial classes for grades 2-5 and a section of K-1. Then I taught Pre-K for 5 years, before I went up to Middle School, where I have been in 6th, 7th, and 8th grade. Last year, I went back to 1st grade in a private setting. I have traveled worldwide and am also fluent in Spanish.
I have a total of 27 years teaching experience . After I received my M.Ed. from the University of Florida (hence the name "HappyEdugator"), I began teaching in elementary school, where I taught pull-out remedial classes for grades 2-5 and a section of K-1. Then I taught Pre-K for 5 years, before I went up to Middle School, where I have been in 6th, 7th, and 8th grade. Last year, I went back to 1st grade in a private setting. I have traveled worldwide and am also fluent in Spanish.
Fourth of July PowerPoint. July Fourth - Independence Day - 4th of July. How and Why We Celebrate the Birth of our Nation. Great for summer camp. The Declaration of Independence made simple, Flag etiquette, Popular summer outdoor and indoor games and activities, Traditional food, How to make an American Flag cake, and Fireworks safety. American July 4th traditions for everyone to enjoy, for young and old, foreign or not. Goes with any Fourth of July unit. Great for introducing the summer activities of the Fourth to ESOL students and foreign high school students and adults as well. 15 Review Questions and Answer Key for self check.- HappyEdugator
Christmas Holiday Sensory Writing Practice Worksheet. A Christmas or winter holiday writing worksheet. Ten different Christmas writing prompts for sensory writing, to create imagery with a holiday twist. Students will need to show, not tell, using words that utilize the five senses. You may use the worksheet in centers. group work, or individual instruction. You may wish to have them complete all the exercises, choose some, or assign them individually. Includes three pages of sensory words for students to use if needed. - HappyEdugator
Snow Activities for Fun! Need some fun things to do this winter? Here are some activities your students can do! Includes a sheet to go with the story There Was a Cold Woman Who Swallowed Some Snow, and also a maze, a snowflake creative writing sheet, a snowman acrostic, directions for an art activity with soap flakes, a dot to dot snowman, a snow globe coloring sheet, Snow Word Family sheet, and even a snowman Venn Diagram. Enjoy! - HappyEdugator
Beginning of the Year Healthy Snack Suggestions Handout. Good nutrition is important for success. Just in time for back to school. Here is a list of healthy snacks you can handout to parents or students to help them make wise nutritional choices. Helps parents decide on what nutritious snacks they can send with their child to school. You can pass this out at Open House or Parent Night, or send it home on the first day of school. - HappyEdugator
Biomes of the World PowerPoint. An overview of the different biomes of the world. Includes rain forest, temperate grassland, savanna, tundra, taiga, temperate forest, mountain, desert, and three major aquatic biomes- freshwater, saltwater, and estuaries. Average temperatures, rainfall, and interesting facts about the diversity of life in each. 34 slides. Enjoy! - HappyEdugator
Writing Paper - Seasonal Packet. Handy to have at the beginning of the year or at the end of the year. 25 different styles of lined writing paper for different times of the year. Dashed lines help develop handwriting. Fall, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Valentine's, St. Patrick's, Spring, Birthday, and more. Students will love writing poems and stories on these decorative papers.
- HappyEdugator
Halloween PowerPoint! A fun Halloween Mad-Lib activity! Use this Halloween Mad Lib to practice parts of speech...project it on your whiteboard. Students can number one through twelve on their own paper and come up with names, nouns, and other parts of speech as per the directions, and then volunteers read the following slide with their substitutions to make silly Halloween stories. Lots of fun, and students get to use their knowledge of parts of speech as well! Happy Halloween!- HappyEdugator
Back to School Parent Letter from Reading Teacher. Give out at Open House, on the first day of school, Back to School Night, or Parent Night. An editable letter to middle school parents for back to school from a reading teacher, encouraging parents to participate in helping their children enjoy reading, and offers parents tips and ideas on how they can help. May be used for upper elementary asa well. Just fill in date, your name, and your contact information, and sign it. Ready to go with great tips for parents. 2 pages - Happyedugator
Icebreaker - Back to School People Search Handout. Use this at the beginning of the year as an icebreaker and getting to know you activity. Find someone who...Give this to the students, and give them time to find people on the grid and have them sign the box when they do. It's fun, and a good way for students to get to know each other. Afterwards, they will do a writing activity about the experience. You will end up not only getting to know your students, but you will have a work sample as well. Teacher directions included. - HappyEdugator
Earth Day Cooperative Learning Activity - Committee to Reduce Environmental Pollution. Works well as a post reading activity for The Lorax by Dr. Seuss or The Wump World by Bill Peet. Students will meet in groups (or committees) to analyze several different scenarios and to determine which type of polluter is the most destructive to the environment. Students will compare their individual results with their group results, and then the groups will compare their results with other groups in the class. The final activity is to see if the class can come to a consensus. Extension activity - discuss possible solutions.
Thanksgiving Counting Turkeys math and literacy sheet. Numbers 1 - 10. Students have to count the turkeys, draw a line to match them to the number word, then write the number in the box provided. Use turkey or feather shaped candy and have your kids count them out as they complete the sheet. Fun math activity for Thanksgiving. Supports math, reading, and writing skills. Supports common core state standards! - HappyEdugator
Writing Activities - 21 Writing prompts for engaging narrative, expository, and even poetry about trash. Reduce, reuse, recycle writing ideas. Fun to use anytime, but also a good Earth Day project or when studying ecology or conservation. Differentiated writing activities that can be used in various ways for whole group, cooperative learning, or as a literacy center. You can show the individual slides to a whole group as a class writing activity. Also, you might prefer to print the slides and divide the activities between small groups, and give students a selection of cards to choose from. In addition, the slides can be printed out on index cards and laminated to be used in a literary writing center. If you make a center, consider putting a trash can in it filled with interesting junk to inspire writing ideas. However, you decide to use them, I hope you will enjoy the wonderful writing your students will create, and that they will enjoy writing and be proud of their accomplishments. A rubric is included on the last slide. Enjoy!
- HappyEdugator
Valentine's Day. Valentine Activity Fun Pack for Primary Grades. Valentine's Day activities for math and language arts, puzzles, bookmarks, bracelets, and a Valentine story with comprehension questions. Enjoy! - HappyEdugator
Monkey's Paw by W. W. Jacobs - Short Story Unit. Includes Anticipation Guide, Vocabulary, Plot Summary, Use Your Vocabulary sheet with key, About the Author, Comprehension Quiz with key, Essay Questions and Short Answer Questions that require students to use evidence from the text in their answers to support common core.The Monkey's Paw is a great spooky ghost story! A good read for Halloween or anytime. Enjoy!
Beginning of the Year Student Survey and Poster. Beginning of the Year or First Day of School print and go handout. Includes an 8 question student survey about classroom expectations from a student perspective, and a poster you can hang about new beginnings. This that will help you get to know your students and help them focus on what is important. Share results of the survey with your students and discuss how they fit in to classroom rules and procedures. - HappyEdugator
Earth Day Bookmarks! Three colorful bookmarks based on an earth or world theme that you can give to your students as a gift for special days! Nice for Earth Day, but can be used anytime. Great Spring gift. Print out, cut out, and laminate.
- HappyEdugator
Open House Parent Sign In Sheet Spreadsheet. Beginning of the Year, Back to School Night parent sign in sheet created on an Excel Spreadsheet, which makes it easy sort your data. Editable sign-in sheet for your parent night has a place for a school mascot picture, name of school and date of Open House, teacher name, student name, parent name, and contact information. You can print out and use as a hard copy, or even better, you can have parents sign in on a computer if you wish, and then you have everything typed in and you won't have to decipher messy handwriting! - Happyedugator
The Christmas Coin Reader's Theater - Script based on a Swedish folk tale. Fun part of a Christmas Around the World unit. Five character reading parts. It can be produced as a skit or a play for a Christmas presentation. Story is about two little Swedish children who try to make an old woman happy by bringing her Yule cakes. The old woman tells them how much she misses her son, who left ten years before. When the children try to help a stranger, they get a big surprise when they find out he is her son! Because of their gift of love and kindness, the children end up with a special unexpected blessing... a magical Christmas coin. Revised and edited for typos in the first version. - HappyEdugator
Poinsettias - Christmas Symbol PowerPoint. Christmas Poinsettia PowerPoint - the legend of the poinsettia, history, and symbolism of this beautiful holiday plant. Ready for the winter holidays? Brighten December! Great Christmas or winter holiday background builder. Learn interesting information on how Congress set aside National Poinsettia Day on December 12, the structure of the plant, myths about toxicity, plant growth, and fast facts about its cultivation. Informative and a good introduction to use before crafting construction paper poinsettia paper flowers or felt napkin rings for the winter holidays.
- HappyEdugator
St. Patrick's Day Interactive PowerPoint. A St. Patrick's Day cloze activity for March fun and learning. No prep needed! A fill-in the blank short story about St. Patrick to project on the Smartboard...or print. Learn the history of St. Patrick's Day while building reading and vocabulary skills. May be used at individual computer stations or project on whiteboard for the whole class. Students copy 15 words from the word bank on their paper (or print out word bank slide or accompanying worksheet), and then read the story and match the words to the correct blanks. It is self-checking, or you may wish to print out the answer key at the end. Good homeschool activity, too. - HappyEdugator