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.
Martin Luther King Day Jumbled Words PowerPoint Game. MLK Day Fun! Martin Luther King Jr. interactive word scramble game; Words related to the MLK holiday will appear in scrambled form for students to try to puzzle out. Click for a clue, then click for the answer. Click again to go to the next slide. Fun activity for Black History Month, Martin Luther King Day, or when studying Civil Rights Movement. 25 slide PowerPoint Skill Level - Medium
- HappyEdugator
Biography Project Rubric. This rubric is for a student written biography project.
Includes assessment of:
Focus on Assigned Topic
Organization
Spelling and Punctuation
Accuracy of Facts
Creativity
Neatness
Illustrations
Room for comments/grade information at the bottom.
- HappyEdugator
Fairy Tales Reading Activity. Elements Chart. Students read 5 fairy tales out of the fifteen suggested choices and mark with an x the elements and characteristics of fairy tales they find in their stories. Students can read the fairy tales online at the suggested website and complete this as a webquest, or you may prefer to provide books for them to peruse. Either way, they will see through discovery that fairy tales have many characteristics in common.
- HappyEdugator
Using Reference Materials TEST - Student research skills assessment. Students must know how to be able to use reference materials (such as guide words in dictionaries), and where to look for information (such as atlas, almanac, or encyclopedia). Questions also on key words, how to find information in an index, Great test prep for state testing. 27 questions, multiple choice with key. - HappyEdugator
New Years Word Search. Happy New Year Word Search Activity. Start New Years with a wordsearch puzzle to get those minds thinking again. Good for first day back from break. Key included. - HappyEdugator
Fairy Tale Homophones. Fun practice sheet identifying homophones in famous fairy tales. Sheet includes ten sentence that have incorrect homophones for students to find and fix. Supports common core. - HappyEdugator
Drama Extension Activities PowerPoint. Includes five extension menu choice boards for differentiating instruction for any drama unit. These were developed originally to be used with the plays "A Christmas Carol" and "The Diary of Anne Frank," but can be used with any play or dramatization. There are extension menus or enrichment activities for author, time period, play comprehension, drama terms and an independent study guide and a menu of reading project ideas for multiple intelligences-auditory, visual, and kinesthetic. Also included is an oral presentation rubric and a peer evaluation form. Useful for gifted students who need extra independent work. You will also have a color slide for each menu for projection on a white board and printer friendly student handout. Editable for your own classroom use. Enjoy. - HappyEdugator
Presidents' Day Word Search. 38 Presidents are hidden in this President's Day word search puzzle. Students need to find the United States Presidents hidden in the puzzle. Fun activity for Presidents Day and other patriotic holidays such as Flag Day, Memorial Day, July Fourth or Independence Day, and Veterans Day! Enjoy! - HappyEdugator
Flowers for Algernon True False Test. 20 question true-false comprehension test for the short story Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes. Key included. - 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
The Diary of Anne Frank. - Quarantine Writing Activity. This activity has students imagine they have been in contact with a highly contagious disease and they have to be quarantined. The students will write about how they would feel if they were placed in quarantine or isolation for two months. In a situation similar to the Franks, they would not have human contact. Even though they would not be in hiding like the Franks, they would be forced to think about how they would feel to be isolated. Then the students can write a diary for a week, and finally, reflect on the difference between their life and Anne's. - HappyEdugator
Children's Book Writing Project Rubric. Story Writing. Have your students write a children's book with PowerPoint, using this rubric as their guide. Help them incorporate literary elements, and make it easy for yourself to grade! This rubric considers the writing process, introduction, organization, problem/conflict, characters, solution/resolution, setting, spelling and punctuation, and specific requirements. - HappyEdugator
Essay Writing - Open-Ended Introductions PowerPoint. How to start writing expository and persuasive essays. Writing essays with a starter. Students will learn how to write an interesting anecdote to introduce their essay and engage their reader. The introductory anecdote is made to be open-ended so it is not dependent on the topic of an essay prompt, so students can create a unique and personal hook to use on a state writing assessment. An example anecdote and how it can be related to different types of essay topics included.
- HappyEdugator
Bell Ringers - Common Core - Sentence Structure. Thirty ways to practice identifying simple, compound, complex, and compound-complex sentences. Quick 5-7 minutes of practice that will help students build writing skill using sentence structure. Includes a couple of slides with information on what sentence structure is and why it is important. Each slide has an activity and an answer slide so they can quickly check themselves. These can also be printed out on index cards and turned into fun task cards. Supports Common Core. - HappyEdugator
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
Bell Ringers - Common Core - Grammar and Usage. Thirty ways to practice sentence editing skills for grammar, punctuation, capitalization, and spelling. Quick 5-7 minutes of practice that will help students build writing skills using correct syntax. Includes a few slides with information on what grammar and usage is and why it is important. Each slide has an activity with two sentences to fix, and an answer slide so they can quickly check themselves. These can also be printed out on index cards and turned into fun task cards. Supports Common Core. - HappyEdugator
Author Studies: March Famous Author Birthdays PowerPoint. To engage your readers and inspire your writers, show them the slides on these famous authors who had birthdays in March:
Theodor Geisel (Dr. Seuss)
Leo and Diane Dillon
Patricia MacLachlan
Dav Pilkey
Mem Fox
Kenneth Grahame
Ezra Jack Keats
Virginia Hamilton
Carl Hiassen
Sid Fleischman
Lois Lowery
Louis Sachar
Each slide tells a little about the classic author and their most famous works. This spring, engage them in reading and writing! Have them choose from three writing assignments about these authors and their works on the last slide. - HappyEdugator
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
Middle School Language Arts Essential Study Guide. Practice questions on author's purpose, principal parts of verbs, subject-verb agreement, context clues, idioms and prepositions, misplaced modifiers, and sentence structure. This six page study guide or practice sheet reviews several areas of concern many middle school students have trouble with in Language Arts. Key included. Good for test preparation!
- HappyEdugator
