Brain Teaser Bingo Sheet. This fun activity will get them thinking! 16 Language-based brain puzzles are on a bingo grid. Students can choose to solve any four in a row, or be challenged to do them all! Teacher can also assign different combinations, and first student to solve them all can win the BINGO. Each square has a different type of activity, and students must use critical thinking, logical reasoning, and word knowledge to solve- such as synonyms, homonyms, palindromes, and compound words. Challenging. Great for gifted students. This can be used as a time filler around testing also. The second page is a key with answers to all the puzzles. Enjoy! - HappyEdugator

All Summer in a Day by Ray Bradbury Figurative Language Chart. During reading or after reading the short story, have your students look for examples of figurative language, such as metaphors, similes, and personification, and write them down on the graphic organizer. Goes along well with my PowerPoint on All Summer in a Day, but can be used without it. - HappyEdugator

Drama vs. Prose Chart and Word List. A good activity to use when introducing drama to your students. Students will have to categorize the terms as either used in drama, prose, or both and put them in a chart. This is an activating thinking strategy and pretest which can also tell you what your students know and don't know about drama and prose. -HappyEdugator

Common Core Standards for Language ELA PowerPoint Posters. Common core standards for ELA language usage and conventions for grades 6, 7 and 8 summarized. Use as WE 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.

An assignment to give at the end of the year to keep students engaged in their learning. Students will present a 3-5 minute speech reflecting on the people and experiences that made this year memorable. 3x5 cards required, and visual aids are strongly recommended. This is ready made for you to hand out to your kids. Included is the printable assignment sheet with guiding questions, requirements, and a grading rubric. Students will really enjoy telling their stories, and this will make a memorable and fun activity for the last week of school.

Poetry Anthology Anchor Activity and Rubric. Students create a poetry anthology or poetry portfolio. Handout is the complete assignment for a poetry anthology for a poetry unit, including rubric. Give this handout and rubric to your students if you wish them to work on a poetry anthology project, which can also be used as an anchor activity to work on when other work is complete. - HappyEdugator

Common Prefixes and Suffixes PowerPoint. Learn what are prefixes and suffixes, why they are important to know, and the most common prefixes and suffixes that are used in English. 25 slide PowerPoint presentation has animated graphics, common prefixes and suffixes, and interactive practice slides with answer keys.

Reading Cereal Box Labels Activity. Have students bring an empty cereal box to school. Students can work in groups or individually to read the label and answer the questions on this worksheet. Students often need practice in real-world situations. This simple activity will make them read carefully for information about products, and then make judgments on whether or not it's right for them. Supports common core! - HappyEdugator

Penguins - Penguins Crossword Puzzle based on penguin facts. Penguins are cool! Word list for the clues included. Key included. Good winter activity or use when reading books on penguins like Tacky the Penguin, Penguin Pete, or Puffins Climb, Penguins Rhyme. - 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 4-11) Game cards: 60 (Slides 12-21)

Book Project Rubric. This rubric was created to go with my Book project for independent reading assignment, but works well with almost any book report. One version has a word count included, and the other version does not, for differentiation. Both versions are included here. - 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

Pink and Say by Patricia Polacco Tic Tac Think. Differentiated assignment menu to use as an extension writing activity for the book. In this activity, students choose a task from each horizontal row. Students have a choice, but all will focus on symbolism, perspectives, theme. In some cases the teacher may want to specify certain tasks for individual students. You may challenge some students to complete all the squares for enrichment. PowerPoint format. You can display on whiteboard or print out slides as handouts. Included is a writing checklist for assessment. - HappyEdugator

Poetry - Types of Poetry TEST. There are eight different poems on this test, and students need to match them to their type. Diamante Haiku Limerick Sonnet Ballad Concrete Lyric and Free Verse You can have students write the type of the poem next to the poem on the test, or to save paper, students can number 1-8 on a separate piece of paper and match the poems to the word bank at the bottom. Updated 2016 - HappyEdugator

Sentences. Sentences Practice Worksheets. Students need to understand complete sentences. Good practice for identifying and fixing fragments, and run-ons, and review of sentence types: declarative, imperative, interrogative, and exclamatory. Includes seven different practice sheets. Keys included. Revised June 2015 with additional content.

Parts of Speech Scavenger Hunt. Find the different parts of speech in books or other texts. A sheet for each of the eight parts of speech. Verbs, nouns, adjectives, adverbs, pronouns, conjunctions, interjections and prepositions. You will need to provide a variety of picture books for your students or let them use their books that they are reading for independent reading. You could also select stories to use from a textbook, or project a text on your whiteboard. Students have to find as many of the specified part of speech as possible in the time allowed. Great for differentiation. Use as a whole class activity, in centers, or in cooperative learning groups. You can rotate students to different centers, each with a different story or book and a different part of speech to search for, or you can have all students search for the same part of speech in a particular text and use it as a review

Writing Paper - Lined Paper - Rock and Roll Theme. Writing paper for your Rock Star classroom. Guitars, drums, and fun music notes decorate and inspire.

Memorial Day Word Scramble. Fun Memorial Day activity for language, spelling, and vocabulary development. 2 puzzles! Print and go. In the one for upper grades, students have to unscramble 22 words that have to do with Memorial Day. In the other one, there are ten words for primary grades. Some of the words included: Veteran, Freedom, Poppy, Decoration, Military, United States. Keys included. Enjoy! - HappyEdugator

PowerPoint on After Twenty Years by O. Henry with before reading activities to preview the story vocabulary, highlights of the author's life, and the literary elements of foreshadowing and omniscient point of view. Includes a link to the story to read. During reading, students must look for clues to how the story ends, and after reading, check their predictions. The following slides are a mini-lesson on independent and subordinate clauses and sentence structure. Students will learn about complex sentences. A writing activity follows in which students are asked to incorporate subordinate clauses into their work. Animated graphics make it fun and interesting. Updated January 2015 -

Reading - Independent Novel Reading Assignment. Keep your students focused on learning with this weekly independent reading assignment. Students select the novel they wish to read, and then read during a silent reading time. This assignment will have them learning new vocabulary, summarizing, and analyzing what they read with response to character, setting, plot, theme and author's style. The first page is a handout detailing the assignment, and the other pages are the student work pages. Includes a partner sharing activity. Enjoy! -