Hard C or Soft C Word Sort. Is it hard or is it soft? Print out these cards, laminate, and students can sort them into words that begin with hard or soft C. 28 cards - 14 colorful and bright cards of each sound. Includes Center sign, Sorting Mat, and Answer Key and Directions for Teacher. In blue background and in white background to save ink. English can be difficult for a young child because some of the letters make a variety of different sounds. It is important that children be exposed to them. The purpose of this activity is for the student to divide these cards into two groups: those with a hard C sound, as in cake, and ones with a soft C sound, as in celery. When you go to print, select page setup, and you can adjust the size to 4 X6 or 3X5 cards, booklets, or whatever other size is suitable for you. - HappyEdugator

Annabel Lee Vocabulary Graphic Organizer. Graphic organizer for vocabulary in poem Annabel Lee by Edgar Allan Poe. Students will match modern words to the old-fashioned words in the poem and explain their effect on the mood of the poem. - HappyEdugator

Reading Activities Menu Based on Learning Style. This reading activities menu can be used to accompany any novel, play, or short story. Use for differentiated instruction. The printable handout gives possible project choices for students based on their learning styles: auditory, visual, or kinesthetic. Level of difficulty from easy (light blue) to difficult (dark blue). Students may use this to select book projects based on their unique learning style, or teachers may use it as a guide to making learning style based assignments. Color and black and white versions.

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

Common Core Standards for Reading Information PowerPoint Posters. Common core standards for reading information in grade 7 summarized on PowerPoint. Use as I CAN posters or as a slide show. You can go over the standards with your students, and afterwards you can print out the slides and laminate them to post in your classroom. Kid friendly language with colorful graphics. These were made for grade 7, but the standards are the same for grades 6 and 8, only the level of complexity changes, so feel free to use them there. Customizable for your grade level.

Coordinate Adjectives and Cumulative Adjectives Worksheets. Practice for identifying cumulative and coordinate adjectives, and placing commas in between coordinate adjectives. Includes practice sheet and 2 worksheets, with keys. Supports common core standards. L.7.2a Updated February 2015. - HappyEdugtator

Adverb Clauses Graphic Organizer. This four quadrant graphic organizer helps explain adverb clauses so students will have a better understanding of how to identify them in a sentence and how to punctuate them as well. First page can be projected while students fill in the blanks on their copy. Advanced students can just fold a piece of paper into quadrants and take notes. Useful as a reference when students are working with adverb clauses. This can also be used as a handout. Supports common core.

Christmas - Adverb Clauses. Christmas Combining Sentences with Adverb Clauses Activity. Winter practice building sentences with adverb clauses. First sheet is a handout on adverb clauses and common subordinating conjunctions, the second sheet is a practice activity in combining sentences (Christmas theme) and the last page is a key, which you can project with an LCD for students to check sample sentences. I like to assign the practice to groups, but it can be used for individual work as well. Good for keeping on task in December. No prep. Print and go. Key included. Enjoy! - HappyEdugator

Reading - 25 Word Abstract Summarizing Activity. Use close reading and cooperative group evaluation to create a terrific summary of expository text. This PowerPoint will help teachers scaffold the process of summarization. Can be used as a group activity on summarizing expository text, or can be adapted to use individually with students who need extra help or are in homeschool. Students will learn about the reading compreshension strategy of summarizing. They will learn to write a 25 word abstract as they do this lesson. The slides introduce the concept of summarizing, and then walk students through the activity step by step. Students will first read and highlight a short (about 500-1000 words) piece of expository text. (Not included...you should select something to read that goes with your curriculum) Then they will share what they have highlighted in their groups, discuss what they think are the main points and key terms, and then write their 25 word summaries. They will then go back to their groups to share, and then collaborate to make a goup summary. Groups will report out to the class and the class will then rate the summaries and write a rationale for how they rated them and what features of an abstract created the most clear and concise summary of the text for the reader. Supports common core standards. 13 slides. - HappyEdugator

Present Simple and Progressive Verb Tenses PowerPoint. Explains how the present simple and present progressive verb tense is used correctly in the English language. Grammar rules and structure are examined, and examples and graphic organizers show how the verbs are formed in positive sentences, negative sentences, and questions. 18 slides. - HappyEdugator

Classroom Library Sign Out Sheet. This is a colorful classroom sign out sheet you can post in your classroom library to keep track of books checked in and out. I have a class "librarian" manage my checkouts. Students simply write in the title of the book they are borrowing, their name, and the date it was checked out. When the book is returned, they just put the date returned. I use the honor system with my class library, and most students return my books as soon as they finish with them. EDITABLE for your classroom needs. - HappyEdugator

Summer Reading List Grade 7 - 8. A suggested summer reading list to encourage reading. Nice handout to give to parents at the end of the year as a helpful guide to some good literature for young adults to read during the summer. Parents love it! Includes name of book and author. Chosen for the text level of complexity required by the common core standards. Good guide for homeschool parents, too. - HappyEdugator

Reading Response Activity - What's Your Two Cents Worth? Helps students with close reading and writing a response to literature. An active reading activity you can do with a a picture book, short story or even a poem. After reading a story, students have to give their two cents about different parts of a story. Print out sheets for each student. You may choose to print out on card stock and laminate for durability. You may do the same with the sheet of pennies, or you may choose to use real pennies for the activity or have students draw pennines in the boxes. Give each student a copy of the What's Your Two Cents Worth? Explain that you are going to read a story, and during the story you will pause five times for them to reflect and think about how that part just read affected them personally. The Lorax by Dr. Seuss is perfect for this activity. This book has multiple levels of interpretation which help students analyze and react to the themes in the book. At each stopping point, students can decide if the story is causing them to think (head), touching their emotions (heart), or making them want to laugh (funny bone). Students can then give their two cents worth by placing zero, one, or two pennies in the boxes across from the number of each stopping point. They may split up the pennies into different columns if more than one body part is affected. They do not have to use all their pennies, or none if the story is not having an impact on them individually at that point. Stop at five predetermined points while reading the book or story aloud so that students can give their two cents' worth each time. Use the after reading questions as a guide for students to write a literature response. Step by step instructions for the teacher for whole class and group instruction. Includes Reading Response Sheet, Sheet of pennies, After-reading questions, and teacher directions, along with activating strategy, summarizing, and extension. - HappyEdugator

Independent and subordinate clauses worksheet supports the story After Twenty Years by O. Henry. Students have to determine the independent and subordinate clauses in four sentences, and then they have to add their own subordinate clauses to a given main clause to create complex sentences. - HappyEdugator CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.7.1 Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.7.1a Explain the function of phrases and clauses in general and their function in specific sentences. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.7.1b Choose among simple, compound, complex, and compound-complex sentences to signal differing relationships among ideas. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.7.1c Place phrases and clauses within a sentence, recognizing and correcting misplaced and dangling modifiers.

Mother's Day History Fill-In. A fun fill-in-the-blank story about the history of Mother's Day. Students have to use the words in the word bank to complete the story, using context clues to put the vocabulary words in the correct places. Key included. - HappyEdugator

Diary of Anne Frank Act II Scenes 1-5 Comprehension Questions. This worksheet is for the play version of the Diary of Anne Frank found in the Prentice Hall Literature book. The play is a dramatization by Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett. - HappyEdugator

Clauses - Identifying Clauses Worksheet or Quiz. After reading passage, students will write the letter of the term that correctly identifies the underlined group of words in each sentence. Students will have to be able to differentiate between adjective clauses and adverb clauses, independent clauses, simple sentences, compound sentences and complex sentences. Ten multiple choice questions. This can be used as a practice sheet or as a quiz. Key included. - HappyEdugator

Four Principal Parts of Verbs PowerPoint. Introduces the four principal parts of verbs, including the present tense, past tense, present participle and past particle form. Includes slides from which students can take notes, and then there are ten slides for practice in using correct sentences. Aligned with common core for 5th grade, where students are require to understand, form and use the perfect (e.g., I had walked; I have walked; I will have walked) verb tenses. - HappyEdugator (Updated January 2015)

TEST PREP Parts of Speech and Sentence Construction Interactive PowerPoint. Interactive practice for standardized tests. Parts of speech in context and subject and predicates practice questions. Help students practice sentence construction for testing of standards. Animated graphics and immediate feedback after each slide. This is a good practice for test preparation for state tests, but it can also be used as an assessment of your students skills. You can project this on a whiteboard and do it as a whole class activity, or you can have students do it individually if they have a computer or chromebook. Self-checking. 20 questions. 43 slides. - Happyedugator

Travel Brochure Rap Project. This group project will have your students learning and creating! They will need to use map skills, research skills, writing skills, spelling and grammar. This activity has students working in small groups of three or four, pretending to be travel agents to help The Rhymers, an unusual family who only understand rhymes and rap everything they say. Works well with a poetry unit as well. Print out this handout with the assignment, rubric, and self assessment, and watch them create! Teachers and students can change the countries to whatever fits...we used Spain, Denmark, and France. - HappyEdugator