Christmas Writing Activity - Revising the lyrics of Christmas Songs. Get students engaged in some creative writing before the holidays. Fun! Students can rewrite some of their favorite Christmas songs, such as White Christmas, Jingle Bells, and The Grinch. Three writing templates to get them started. Fun practice for expanding vocabulary...finding synonyms in a thesaurus, experinmenting with words. Photographs of projects done in class. Have fun! - HappyEdugator

The Gift of the Magi PowerPoint. Animated PowerPoint on The Gift of the Magi by O. Henry, a classic Christmas story that is a good resource for the holidays. Focus on figurative language. Complete lesson with before, during, and after reading activities. Includes background information about the author, twelve critical vocabulary words, review of foreshadowing and suspense, and a link to read the story online. Students close read to find foreshadowing and suspense, and focus rereading on discovering figurative language. Includes definitions and examples of figurative language in the story, such as metaphor, simile, personification, hyperbole, and idiom. Discussion questions, explanations with examples of irony and allusion, and concludes with a short story writing activity with a 100 point rubric. Includes a quick interactive comprehension check. - HappyEdugator

Adjectives PowerPoint - all about adjectives with practice slides including: What is an adjective? Descriptive Adjectives Limiting Adjectives Nouns Used as Adjectives Proper Adjectives Articles - Definite and Indefinite Degrees of Adjectives - Positive, Comparative, Superlative Review of Common and Proper Adjectives Compound Adjectives Classifying Adjectives Demonstrative Adjectives Coordinate Adjectives Cumulative Adjectives 58 slides. - HappyEdugator

Christmas Counting math and literacy sheets. Numbers 1 - 20. Students have to count Christmas trees and Christmas ornaments. Match them to the number word, then write the number in the box provided. They can also trace the number words and write the matching numbers.Christmas ornament counting cards included or use mini candy canes or Christmas tree shaped candy and have your kids count them out as they complete the sheets. Fun math activity for Christmas. Supports math, reading, and writing skills. Supports common core state standards! - HappyEdugator

Robert Frost - Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening PowerPoint. Poetry analysis for a close read of the poem and writing activity. Includes slides about the author, setting, characters, figurative language, alliteration, metaphor, end rhyme, internal rhyme, structure, meter, different interpretations (including a Christmas one), and a writing activity based on common core standards that requires citing text evidence. 27 slides. Enjoy

Diary of Anne Frank - Forget Me Not Video Quiz. This video quiz or viewer's guide goes with the 1996 movie "Forget Me Not - The Story of Anne Frank." The eight question quiz is doubled up on one sheet so it can be easily copied and save paper. Includes answer key

Owls - Fun Facts About Owls PowerPoint. All about owls! Facts about the life of an owl; covers various species. Use in science to discuss owl pellets and owl behaviors. Informational text for reading practice. Build background knowledge for reading books with owls, like "Owl Moon" by Jane Yolen or "Hoot" by Carl Hiassen. Use to introduce an owl unit of study to engage students. Good for any owl theme. 17 slides. - HappyEdugator

Sequencing Activity Using Recipes. LF based lesson plan focuses on "How are following directions and sequencing events related?" This is an Activity Sheet with Essential Question and Activating Strategy, Activity Directions, and Exit Ticket Summarizer included, and a set of blank recipe cards for students to complete. Students will work with a partner and find recipes in a cookbook or on the internet and copy them down on their blank recipe cards. They will then complete two different activities with the cards. With the first card,they will identify directions and transition words and discuss what would happen if these got mixed up or out of order with their partner. With the second card, they will copy the directions onto sentence strips, mix them up, and give to another group to put in order. They will then write about their experience and turn in their summary. Ticket out the door included. - HappyEdugator

Drama Terms and Test. Elements of Drama. Includes a study guide and a test of common drama terms in a matching format. In addition, you will get a higher level comprehensive list of drama terms, which you can decide to use in a variety of ways, such as independent study, enrichment, etc. Also included is a handout on the Elements of Drama. - 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.

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. -

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 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.

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