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.
Ending Sounds Matching Game. Teach phonemic awareness and build vocabulary. This is a Literacy Center that is fun for your emergent readers! Students match the ending sound of the picture on their game card to one of 6 pictures on their game boards.
Included materials:
Game Sign for Center (Slide 1)
Directions for Center (Slide 2)
Game boards: 8 for variation of play (Slides 4-12)
Game cards: 60 (Slides 13-23)
Manage Your Literacy Center:
Print out materials on cardstock.
Laminate materials for durability.
Materials can be stored in large gallon zip lock freezer bags.
Model the game for students and emphasize ending sounds by stretching them out.
Demonstrate how to clean up the center when the game is over.
State Standards: Supports Phoneme matching: Final sounds. Builds vocabulary and phonemic awareness.
•Game Board 1 - stop, bed, sock, shell, ear, elf
•Game Board 2 – dog, key, cave, crib, broom, bag
•Game Board 3 – penguin, bus, nose, worm, bib, tent
•Game Board 4 – lollipop, turtle, box, lemon, carrot, goose
•Game Board 5 – school, chick, knife, car, pig, hose
•Game Board 6 – shoe, sun, ram, truck, fish, giraffe
•Game Board 7 – chair, ship, eye, badge, yellow, nickel
•Game Board 8 – fruit, brush, mouth, match, cry, five
Students (non-readers) may name their pictures with similar items. ( for example, lamb = sheep)
Apple Sled Kite Deer Elephant Fan
Tire Crab Violin Watch Frog Zoo
Gum Harp Lion Jet Kitten Lamp
Map Nut Ostrich Paint Brush Rat Flag
Abacus Cake Exit Tooth Thumb Butterfly
Fox Guitar Horse Jug Fridge Mop
Pie Olive Pumpkin Rose Scarf Wolf
Umpire Magnet Vet Yard Web Avocado
Tomato Wood Piano Yogurt House Tree
Watermelon Train Drum Camel Scissors Tack
Rake Brush Bridge Ball Cash Radish
Try this fun Getting-to-Know-You activity for Back to School All. It's an All About Me Graphic Organizer. This is a great way to learn your students’ names at the beginning of the year, and your students will love making their special graphic organizer about themselves. Make enough copies for everyone in your class. Card Stock is best. Take photos of your students and attach them to the center of the graphic organizer. Your students can then fill it out with their best attributes, family, friends, interests, etc. There is a Character Traits list included so students can have a reference for their writing.
These make a great display, but don’t stop there. You can have students present them to the class, create a writing assignment based on their graphic organizer, use them to create lessons based on their interests.
You can do this activity as a whole group, giving an example to the class of your own personal graphic organizer to introduce your students to who you are. You can also have them complete them in groups or use them in centers.
- HappyEdugator
This word wall book also makes a great ABC Book - alphabet book for students to create their own. Fun for back to school or at the end of the year. Use with a word wall and many other vocabulary activities. Younger students can draw pictures to represent each letter, while older students can use the books as a review of a story, social studies or science unit, vocabulary activity, etc. Each page has an uppercase and lowercase letter at the top, a picture to represent the beginning sound, and a drawing box to write the letter. Lines for writing 12 different words. You can also use as a summarizing activity and have students find words that begins with each letter for their lesson, unit, novel, or even the whole year in review! Enjoy!
One of my favorite Easter activities is reading The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter. It is a children's classic that is especially fun to read at Easter time. This PowerPoint will help your students understand the vocabulary in the story. Great story for Easter or Spring. Share this classic with your students, and use the PowerPoint slides to discuss difficult vocabulary as you read. The slides are in alphabetical order, but you can reorder the slides if you wish to present them in the order of the story. Each slide has the word, a definition, a graphic, and a sentence from the story. Use them before, during, or after reading to increase comprehension and expand vocabulary. Includes a link to the story if you don't have a copy.
March Craftivity: Lion and Lamb Mobile. Here comes Spring! Directions on how to make a cute mobile decoration for the Month of March with a lion face made from a paper plate, and cute little lambs that hang down made from Dixie cups, cotton balls, and pipe cleaners. March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb, so the saying goes. Your students can take this mobile home and hang on their porch to catch the March wind.
- HappyEdugator
REINDEER Writing Paper - Lined Paper - Reindeer Theme. Eight different reindeer designs, two different sizes of lines for writing at different ability levels. Students will have fun writing with some cute little reindeer to inspire them. - Enjoy! HappyEdugator
SANTA Writing Paper - Lined Paper - Santa Theme. Eight different Santa designs, two different sizes of lines for writing at different ability levels. Students will have fun writing with cute little Santa to inspire them. - Enjoy! HappyEdugator
ELF Writing Paper - Lined Paper - Elf Theme. Eight different Elf designs, two different sizes of lines for writing at different ability levels. Students will have fun writing with cute little elves to inspire them. - Enjoy! HappyEdugator
Christmas Gift Writing Paper - Lined Paper - Christmas Present Theme. Eight different Christmas gift designs, two different sizes of lines for writing at different ability levels. Students will have fun writing with cute little gifts and presents to inspire them. - Enjoy! HappyEdugator
Chalkboard and Burlap Word Wall Headers and Sight Words. Decorate your classroom this school year with this chalkboard and burlap alphabet Word Wall. Includes Fry and Dolch Sight Words. Dolch words Pre-Primer through Grade 3, and the first 100 Fry sight words. With the blue trim, they will go with a nautical theme or shabby chic, too! You can also use the letters to make welcome signs, or create other messages.
Includes:
26 pages chalkboard and burlap headers - two styles, circles and rectangles, and with two blank ones for each style
82 pages of chalkboard and burlap sight words - Dolch through Grade 3 and Fry 100 Most Frequent
- HappyEdugator
This set includes 26 Burlap and Chalkboard Accountable Talk Posters, and 26 duplicate posters in black and white if you need to save ink. The set includes an editable poster for each style, so you can add your own wording! Use these posters to remind students what to discuss in a group, and hold them accountable to get the work done.
You can also give each group a set of these as cards to work with. When you print, go to settings, select four slides per page. Print, cut out, and laminate. You can save them in dollar store soap boxes, ziploc baggies, bind them into little booklets, or put them on a ring. - HappyEdugator
Phonics PowerPoint Bundle. Includes 8 PowerPoints to help students with decoding and sounding out words:
Letter Sounds PowerPoint.
Short a Sounding Out Words PowerPoint
Short e Sounding Out Words PowerPoint
Short i Sounding Out Words PowerPoint
Short o Sounding Out Words PowerPoint
Short u Sounding Out words PowerPoint.
Word Families PowerPoint.
Word Families.
- HappyEdugator
FREE Months of the Year and Days of the Week Abbreviations. 2 Posters. Print these out and display or project them on your whiteboard. Includes a poster for the months of the year and their abbreviations, and a poster for the days of the week and their abbreviations. Great for student notebooks, too. Valentine Heart themed background. Good for test prep. Enjoy! HappyEdugator
Christmas Gift Coupons and Bookmarks! A variety of gift coupons that you can give to your students as a Christmas gift, along with six different styles of bookmarks that you can use to give students, parents and other staff members this holiday season! Merry Christmas! - HappyEdugator
Following Directions TEST - A Tricky Following Directions Lesson. FREE Fun for April Fool's Day, too! Give this following directions test to your students, and try not to laugh too much when they are taking it. If they don't read the directions first and do what the directions say, they will be shocked at the end to find out they only had to do number one...write their name! Great test preparation activity to get kids ready for exams too! Enjoy! - HappyEdugator
