Storms - Hurricanes vs. Tornadoes. Paired nonfiction reading with a Venn Diagram- and compare tornadoes and hurricanes. Students read about tornadoes and hurricanes, then compare and contrast the characteristics of hurricanes and tornadoes on this basic Venn diagram activity sheet. Add to your weather unit and have students research facts about storms. Also a good supplemental resource to use when reading books that have hurricanes or tornadoes in them, such as The Cay by Theodore Taylor or Tornado Alert by Franklyn M. Branley. - HappyEdugator

English Words That Come From Spanish. Use word origins to build vocabulary. Notes about Spanish pronunciation makes this useful for an introduction to a Spanish class, too. Animated graphics and sounds will entertain students. It is fun to study word origins! 23 slide PowerPoint presentation will help students build their vocabulary and develop their understanding of where language comes from. These slides explain words like poncho, platinum, and embargo, with definitions and photographs, and an explanation of the etymology. The words can be used for spelling or vocabulary building. All of them come from Spanish or from indigenous languages of South America. Students will be surprised to know that alligator comes to us from Spanish! Slides can also be printed out onto cards for learning center activities. Leads into research...students can discover other words that come from Spanish, too. - HappyEdugator

Smartboard Language Fun With Alliteration and Rhyme. Alliteration game will help students practice beginning sounds. Spin the spinner to choose a letter, think of three words that begin with the same letter, and then write a sentence. Rhyme Time will generate random words and students must try to think of a rhyming word for each one and write it on the board. Room on the board for students to write words, which they love to do! Can be an engaging jump start for some poetry, too! Supports common core reading and writing standards K - 2. - HappyEdugator

Standards Based Technical Writing Rubric. A rubric developed for writing instructions, friendly letters, formula poems, or thank you notes. This rubric, in addition to measuring that the student follows the rules of Standard English, also evaluates whether a student creates or follows an organizing structure appropriate to purpose, audience, and context, whether or not they exclude extraneous and inappropriate information, and if they follow an organizational pattern appropriate to the type of composition. Editable for your classroom use. - 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

Back to School - My Writer's Notebook Organizer. Back to school organizer for a writer's notebook. Owl Themed Dividers. Get your students writing at the beginning of the year, and help them organize their thoughts. Includes a cover page, dedication page, table of contents page, dividers for sections on Writing Ideas, My Writing, Writing Notes, and Writing Goals. Also includes several reference sheets to put in notebook. Print out, and have students use to set up their notebook. Works great with a small 1 inch loose-leaf notebook or binder. Put in page protectors so you don't have to punch holes and the pages will remain intact. You can also print out the cover page and students can put their name on it, and then slide it into the front of their binder. Enjoy! - HappyEdugator

I'm Done! What Will I Do Now? Editable Slide Set. PowerPoint slide poster set which can be printed or projected on your Smartboard. Five different background styles: Solid Blue, Chevron, Rainbow, Blue Sky, and White. Editable, so you can type what you want in the callouts. - HappyEdugator

That's a Fact, Jack! Award Certificate - Camouflage theme. Great award to hand to a student for behavior, academic accomplishments, etc. Great for end of year! Fun Summer Camp Award! Place to write name of student. Print out, laminate, and enjoy! - HappyEdugator

Apples! Apples! PowerPoint. Fall fun! All about apples and Johnny Appleseed. common types of apples, fun facts, the role of apples in our culture, health benefits of eating apples. Includes the story of Johnny Appleseed, and separates legend from fact. Fun fall activity for back to school. Enjoy! - HappyEdugator

Owl Bookmarks - Set of Six bookmarks: Inspiring and colorful bookmarks to give your students anytime to instill a love of reading. Fun way to tell them you love them. Cute sayings like "Owl Keep Your Place." Editable so you can personalize with student names. Print out on cardstock or tagboard and laminate for a bookmark that will last. Nice gift from teacher to student instead of a card. Three per page. Make good last minute Christmas or birthday presents!

Alphabet Bingo. A whole group game. 25 game boards for alphabet bingo, and directions on how to play. Students try to match the letter on their board to the one that is called. Vocabulary builder! Also includes 2 sets of alphabet cards for playing an Alphabet Memory Game, with directions. Each card has a letter in upper case and lower case, a word that begins with that letter, and a picture that represents the word. Students can play this game in a center. The game cards are also useful for other games and instructional purposes. They make great flash cards, reading practice cards, etc. - HappyEdugator

Fiction Unit Study Guide Based on Common Core Standards. This study guide addresses common core skills in Reading and Language Arts addressed in a unit study of fictional literature. Includes a quick review of: theme point of view setting characters plot climax resolution context clues main idea supporting details conclusion genres prediction adjective clause adverb clause independent clause dependent clause prepositional phrase simple sentence compound sentence complex sentence compound-complex sentence comma semi-colon The study guide is a handout students can use to review the above. - HappyEdugator

Logical Fallacies Handout - defines logical fallacies, and helps student understand why they are important to avoid when writing an argument. Includes a list of common logical fallacies with examples of each, including Ad Hominem, Appeal to Popular Opinion, False Analogy, Attacking the Motive, Red Herring, Begging the Question, Inconsistency, Straw Person, Look Who's Talking, Slippery Slope, Hasty Generalizations, Circular Argument, and Genetic Fallacy. - HappyEdugator

Chromebooks Rules for the Classroom - If your school is using Google Chromebooks in the classroom, you can use these technology rules for using notebooks in the classroom to get your kids started. You can adapt these rules to various notebooks or other laptops on a cart, or even for iPads. Left EDITABLE so you can change them for your classroom needs. Just project them on your SMARTBOARD or whiteboard and go over them with your kids before you begin. Use the last slide to review. Uesful for any subject, and a good resource for computing class. Hope you find it helpful!

Poetry Book Project. Students will create a poetry book by writing 11 different poems from a list of subjects, and each poem will require a different element of poetry including figurative language (metaphor, simile, idiom, personification, hyperbole) or sound device( onomatopoeia, alliteration). Students must also include one of each type of poetry given (limerick, ode, haiku, ballad, free verse, etc) Detailed rubric included. - HappyEdugator A great activity to do with this PowerPoint is to have the kids write their own dialogues. I cut out of magazines some interesting pictures of all kinds of different people interacting. I glued them on cardstock, with the words Who? What? Where? When? and Why? written on each card, and laminated them. I passed the cards out, and students had to imagine what the people were saying to each other in the pictures, and then write the dialogue, using correct punctuation. They also had to later incorporate the dialogue into a short story that answered the five W questions/ The kids enjoyed this activity and got very creative with their stories! Enjoy! :) HappyEdugator

Lesson Closure Sheet - For Any Subject. Use this lesson summarizer sheet to have your students write about key points in your lesson, which can be used as a quick assessment of comprehension. You can use it as an exit slip, ticket out the door, or to summarize learning of a unit. Handy for any subject or unit of study. Enjoy! - HappyEdugator

Memorial Day Jumbled Words PowerPoint Game. Memorial Day Fun! End of the year interactive word scramble game with words related to Memorial Day. Words 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 the end of the year, last day of school, or for summer camp. 25 slide PowerPoint Skill Level - Medium

The White Giraffe or South Africa Word Creation Activity. Use this game to go with the book The White Giraffe by Lauren St. John. Students can do this fun activity as a brain break, and yet they are still exercising their brains. Object of the game: Make words out of Cape Town, South Africa, and put them in the columns. Tally up the points after a set amount of time, and the winner can get a surprise! - HappyEdugator

Writing Paper - Seasonal Packet. Handy to have at the beginning of the year or at the end of the year. 25 different styles of lined writing paper for different times of the year. Dashed lines help develop handwriting. Fall, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Valentine's, St. Patrick's, Spring, Birthday, and more. Students will love writing poems and stories on these decorative papers. - HappyEdugator

Correlative Conjunctions Study Guide. Study guide and worksheet on correlative conjunctions. Definition, Examples, and practice using correlative conjunctions correctly in a sentence. Subject/verb agreement and pronoun/antecedent agreement using correlative conjunctions when writing sentences. Key inlcuded. Supports common core. -HappyEdugator CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.5.1e Use correlative conjunctions (e.g., either/or, neither/nor).