PowerPoint on After Twenty Years by O. Henry with before reading activities to preview the story vocabulary, highlights of the author's life, and the literary elements of foreshadowing and omniscient point of view. Includes a link to the story to read. During reading, students must look for clues to how the story ends, and after reading, check their predictions. The following slides are a mini-lesson on independent and subordinate clauses and sentence structure. Students will learn about complex sentences. A writing activity follows in which students are asked to incorporate subordinate clauses into their work. Animated graphics make it fun and interesting. Updated January 2015 -

Analyzing Context Clues PowerPoint. Strategies help students figure out unknown words in text. Build vocabulary and reading comprehension by teaching common context clues. This PowerPoint has explains five different context clues: definition, synonym, antonym, example, and inference. Practice activity at the end with answers. 15 slides. Good for test prep! - HappyEdugator

Poetry Terms Crossword Puzzle. Terms include alliteration, personification, onomatopoeia, imagery, rhyme, rhythm, tone, mood, metaphor and simile...18 terms and clues. Key included. Fun review! - HappyEdugator

Magazine Ad Book Report. This book report assignment has students create an advertisement to encourage readers to get their book. Students produce a colorful advertisement for their book which includes an illustration and 5 sentences that show deep understanding and entice people to read their book. Includes directions for the assignment, on one large sheet or two per page to save copies, and a grading checklist, also two per page. Reading level requirement is left blank to be filled in for differentiation.

Bell Ringers - Common Core - Context Clues. Thirty vocabulary in context warm-ups. Quick 5-7 minutes of practice that will help students build vocabulary and determine meaning of unknown words in text. Two slides with strategies for using context clues that students can apply to their daily warm-ups. Each slide has a passage that students must read and then figure out the meaning of the underlined word. They are given four multiple choice answers. Each slide has an answer slide so they can quickly check themselves. After they check, they are directed to write the word, their own definition of the word, and to create a sentence using the word. These can also be printed out on index cards and turned into fun task cards. Supports Common Core. - HappyEdugator

Sentences - Complex Sentence Worksheet and Handout. The first page of this document is a handout that explains sentence structure, and how to distinguish between simple, compound, and complex sentences by identifying independent and dependent clauses and the use of subordinating conjunctions. The second page lists some common subordinating conjunctions and has fifteen practice sentences to be completed by students to make their own complex sentences. Black and white ink saver and color version included. Also included a key with possible answers for discussion. Print and go. No prep. Supports common core state standards. - HappyEdugator

Mystery Writing PowerPoint. How to write a mystery story. Do your students like detective stories? Have your students write a mystery story using the strategies presented in this PowerPoint presentation with animated graphics. How to write a good beginning, middle, and end, and use clues and a red herring to engage the reader. Start a class detective agency, where students can become detectives and solve the mysteries. Supports common core state standards. Animations and sounds. 24 slides.

Public Speaking PowerPoint - How to write and present a speech. Presentation explains purpose ( Persuade, Inform, and Entertain), points to consider such as subject, audience, personality, and occasion. Discusses the process of planning a speech, including the body, the introduction, and the conclusion, writing an outline, and preparing the delivery. 25 slides.

Punctuation - Punctuating Dialogue PowerPoint FREE! Improve writing by using quotation marks! Punctuation is important! Show students how to use quotation marks in dialogue correctly. 10 slides explain the correct way to punctuate dialogue. Explains split quotations, capitalization, commas, question marks, exclamation marks, and periods. Helpful for understanding where to place punctuation.

Haiku Tanka and Renga Poetry. How to write Haiku, Tanka, and Renga poetry. Includes slides on the history of haiku, famous Japanese poets, descriptions, rules, and examples of each type of poetry, graphic organizers for students to write their own poems, and nature word lists that include 1 syllable nouns, 2 syllable nouns, and 3 syllable nouns to give students ideas for completing the graphic organizers. Enjoy! - HappyEdugator

The Necklace by Guy de Maupassant Short Story Unit. What you need to teach The Necklace: Vocabulary, Comprehension Questions, Cause and Effect, Observing Details, Making Inferences, Dialogue, Word Scramble and Fill-in, Essay Questions. Answer key included. -

Easter Creative Writing Activity - The Very Large Egg. Especially fun for Easter, but enjoyable anytime. Sightings of giant eggs have been reported in various parks in the country. Students will look at the different photographs of the eggs, and then choose one picture to write about. Encourages students to use their imagination as they answer the questions and write a story that really engages readers. This activity can be done as a whole group, by projecting the photos on a whiteboard, and having the students write individually. Activities can be printed for differentiation. Also can be used in centers and for cooperatvie learning groups. - HappyEdugator

All Summer in a Day by Ray Bradbury is a science fiction short story that is rich in figurative language and theme. This PowerPoint with animated graphics introduces three common types of figurative language- similes, metaphors, personification- in before reading activities. Then, during reading, students can look for these types of figurative language and write them down in the chart shown on the screen. (Also available separately as a printable) After reading activities include discussion questions and writing activities. The last slide has links to the online video, and students can make a Venn diagram to compare the movie to the short story

The Hobbit Author J.R.R. Tolkien Biography PowerPoint. Slides give the story of Tolkien's life from his birth in South Africa, through his childhood, schooling, love, war, writing and friendships, fame, and ultimately his death. Useful background information and photos of the author to use when teaching The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, or The Silmarillion by JRR Tolkien. - HappyEdugator

How to Write a Research Report - 6 Steps to Writing a Research Report Poster and Handout. Desribes the basic steps of how to write a research paper. This handout introduces students to writing a research report, and is a useful reference sheet for writing notebooks. The poster can be printed out and hung in your writing center as a reminder of the writing process. The six steps to writing a research report are explained in simple terms, from prewriting to publishing. Students can apply this writing process information to writing their own research report. Also includes step by step report drafting pages, a research paper rubric, a peer review sheet, and a sample research paper for students to see how one is written. Research is a key skill in the common core state standards. Students can keep this handy in their notebooks for a quick reference. Note - some of these items may be difficult for 3 grade, but there are still some useful items in the packet which may be helpful for that level - HappyEdugator

The Great Kapok Tree Rainforest Unit and Resources. Rainforest activities go with the book The Great Kapok Tree by Lynne Cherry. 24 pages includes features of the rainforest, useful websites, art projects, vocabulary, main idea and summarizing activity and graphic organizer, fun facts about the kapok tree, rainforest animals, how can I save the rainforest sheet, chocalate cocoa recipe, math activity, science activity making a terrarium, geography sheet, layers of the rainforest, why rainforests are important and why they are being destroyed, along with a rainforest word search puzzle. Good for Earth Day, too. Cover page includes a bookmark "Reading About the Rainforest." - HappyEdugator

Paraphrasing - Steps to Great Paraphrasing PowerPoint presentation, including what is paraphrasing and why it is important. Stimulate students to think. Strategies to turn what they are reading into written summaries. Helpful when teaching how to research and write notecards and source cards. Students need to know how to paraphrase to avoid plagiarism by putting their research into their own words. Supports common core state standards. Happy writing! - HappyEdugator CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.5.8 Recall relevant information from experiences or gather relevant information from print and digital sources; summarize or paraphrase information in notes and finished work, and provide a list of sources. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.6.8 Gather relevant information from multiple print and digital sources; assess the credibility of each source; and quote or paraphrase the data and conclusions of others while avoiding plagiarism and providing basic bibliographic information for sources. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.7.8 Gather relevant information from multiple print and digital sources, using search terms effectively; assess the credibility and accuracy of each source; and quote or paraphrase the data and conclusions of others while avoiding plagiarism and following a standard format for citation. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.8.8 Gather relevant information from multiple print and digital sources, using search terms effectively; assess the credibility and accuracy of each source; and quote or paraphrase the data and conclusions of others while avoiding plagiarism and following a standard format for citation.

Common Prefixes and Suffixes PowerPoint. Learn what are prefixes and suffixes, why they are important to know, and the most common prefixes and suffixes that are used in English. 25 slide PowerPoint presentation has animated graphics, common prefixes and suffixes, and interactive practice slides with answer keys.

India Travel Brochure Project. Student project with rubric. Students create a travel guide on India on a tri-fold construction paper. Students imagine they are travel guides leading a tour of India and must give their group an overview of India's history, geography, language, government, economy, religion, climate and attractions. Student instructions for the project to handout, teacher directions, brochure template, and a detailed rubric included. Rubric measures use of class time, writing conventions, attractiveness, organization, creativity, relevance of graphics, required elements including sources, and knowledge gained. - HappyEdugator

Summer Outdoor Fun Crossword Puzzle! Fun and free as a thank you to all my wonderful followers We all hate to see summer go, but hopefully it will last just a little bit longer. Enjoy this little piece of summer! - HappyEdugator