What is Poetry - an introduction to any Poetry Unit. Start off your poetry unit by asking What is Poetry? and What is a Poet? On the handout provided, students will read what T.S. Eliot had to say about it, and then come up with their own answers. Also included in this file are several pages of introductory materials a teacher can use to start students thinking about poetry. - HappyEdugator

Literary Terms for Fiction TEST. Elements of Literature multiple choice test on 33 critical literature terms or story elements of literature that are important to student understanding of fiction texts, such as plot, theme, conflict, setting, etc. 10 pages, including key. It is based on my literary terms for fiction handout which is also available to use as a study guide. - HappyEdugator

Parts of Speech: The Eight Parts of Speech quiz. Three different parts. Part A - This is a short fill in the blank quiz on the eight parts of speech. Students have to write the part of speech that matches the definition. Part B - Students have to identify nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs in sentences. Part C - Students have to identify pronouns, prepositions, conjunctions and interjections in sentences. Use one, or all three. Simple and easy to grade. - HappyEdugator

4 Types of Sentences Worksheet. The four types of sentences - definition of and example of each given. Declarative, Interrogative, Imperative and Exclamatory Sentences with definitions and examples, and then students practice converting one type to another, and learn a little about a couple of South American landmarks as well. Good for quick review for test prep, too. - HappyEdugator

End of the Year Superlative Questions: Most Likely To Succeed as ... Printable ballot with 32 great "Most Likely to" questions for end of the year activities - perhaps a classroom fun filler, an assembly, or to use when creating a yearbook. - HappyEdugator

Awards Certificates - Twenty Unique Awards for All Occasions. Includes a cute Good Earth Day Award! End of the year awards! These end of the year award certificates (or use them anytime) are designed to help you show your students that you appreciate them in many ways. Rewards for Volunteers and Helpers, Outstanding work, Organization and Neatness, Earth Day, Birthday, etc. Reward good behavior or give rewards for academic success. From academic growth to the smallest act of kindness, you will have some positive reinforcement ready! Awards are useful to give to teachers, parents, and custodians, too. Great for the end of the school year! Includes a total of twenty different and unique awards.Suggestions for their use is included in the slide notes. Editable for your classroom use. Enjoy.

End of the Year Summer Wordsearch: a fun end of the year activity, or use for summer camp or other summer activity. Challenging end of the year word search with summer words that can be a fun filler activity! Very engaging. 20 words in this wordsearch which are ONLY found on the diagonals. Key included. - HappyEdugator

Collective Nouns of Animal Groups PowerPoint. Lists the collective noun names for different animal groups. For example, a congregation of alligators, a sleuth of bears, and a murder of crows are just a few of the unusual group animal names found in the English language. Useful when introducing subject-verb agreement with collective nouns. Discuss whether they are singular or plural. Students are also challenged and encouraged to try to come up with their own collective nouns at the conclusion of the slide show. 20 Informative slides. Fun addition to a parts of speech unit. Supports common core!

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.

Reading Test Prep. Reading comprehension practice using an excerpt from the short story The Corrector of Destinies by Edward Wellen. Includes excerpt of story, vocabulary fill-in the blank activity, graphic organizer for story elements, and 12 multiple choice questions about the story setting, characters, plot, author's purpose, theme, and figurative language. Questions support standards tested on standardized tests. Supports the rigor required of common core. Can be done independently or as guided practice. Good for a substitute activity as well. Key included. Grades 7 - 12. - HappyEdugator

Noun Clauses PowerPoint. What is a noun clause? What is the differentce between a phrase and a clause? This is a short 8 slide practice Powerpoint on noun clauses. Students will learn how noun clauses are dependent or subordinate clauses, and signal words to look for when identifying noun clauses. Explains how noun clauses can act as a subject in a sentence, or as a direct object. Practice sentences for students to work with. Key is on the last slide. Updated July 2015. - HappyEdugator

Past verb tenses PowerPoint. More than 30 slides on the four past tenses students often get confused: the past, the past progressive, the past perfect, and the past perfect progressive. Grammar rules are given for each tense, with plenty of examples for positive statements, negative statements and questions. Sound and animation added to keep it lively. Best used in chunks.

Vocabulary Builder - Pump Up Your Vocabulary in Ten Easy Steps PowerPoint. Going back to school? Give students vocabulary strategies that will help them build a strong vocabulary for reading and writing. Interactive PowerPoint lesson. Ten vocabulary builders. The ten steps for building vocabulary include: Pronounce words correctly Use a dictionary Use a thesaurus Make word cards Use mnemonics Use context clues Distinguish between multiple-meaning words Learn word origins Study word parts and Distinguish connotation and denotation 33 slides with activities for practice and answers. Materials required: a dictionary for each student or group of students, and 4 index cards for each student.

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

Sentences; All About Sentences PowerPoint. Animated. Sentence types and sentence structure. Interactive. Describes kinds of sentences (such as declarative, interrogative, exclamatory, and imperative), subjects and predicates (simple and compound), fragments and run-ons, simple, compound, and complex sentences, and adverb and adjective clauses. Great test prep! Has everything students need to know about sentences and sentence structure and gives short practice exercises which can immediately be checked. Teaches common core standards. Students can also copy notes on each lesson, and a list of subordinating conjunctions, and more. Each of the thirteen sections with practice and feedback can be a separate minilesson! - HappyEdugator

Standards based persuasive writing rubric: use to measure students ability to write an argument persuasively by engaging the reader, stating a clear position, supporting details, excluding irrelevant information or arguments, creating an organizing structure, anticipating counter-arguments, providing closure, and following writing conventions. - Happyedugator Supports common core standards for writing an argument.

Homophone Match Worksheet. This is a challenging homophone matching activity for upper grades. Have students work in individually or in groups with a dictionary to look up unknown words. Words and definitions are chunked into groups of six. - HappyEdugator

Cinquain Poem PowerPoint. The step-by-step formula on how to write a cinquain poem, that provides examples for students to understand how the writing process works for these kind of poems. Includes a graphic organizer that you can print for the students to write on. One great way to use cinquain formula poems - students can write a cinquain poem for Mother's Day, Father's Day or Grandparent's Day. 12 slides. Enjoy! Updated April 2015. - HappyEdugator

Brain Teaser Sheet - Critical Thinking. Fun Brain Workout. Letter equations. May be challenging, but students will love trying to figure them out! A letter equation is a common combination of letters and numbers that are abbreviated. The trick is to figure out what the abbreviation means. For example, 7 d. in a w. is 7 days in a week. 22 brain teaser equations and key included. Good activity to get minds working for test prep. Exercise for the brain. Enjoy! - HappyEdugator

Swimmy by Leo Lionni Retelling Activity. After reading the book, retell the story again with this “real life” underwater photo story. Project the story on your whiteboard or SMARTBoard, OR print out the slides. Your students will love to see Swimmy and his friends come to real life. Supports common core. Enjoy!