End of the Year Assignment Menu. This end of year assignment is a great final project. Useful for differentiation. Print and go. Students like to have a choice to complete any of 6 different projects to demonstrate what they have learned in the course of the school year. Displayed in two different formats. One is presented as a menu choice board, and one is presented as strips that you can cut apart and then have them select by chance. Rubric included. Revised April 2015. - HappyEdugator

Homophones to Remember PowerPoint. Animated slides of homophones and example sentences to show meaning. Fun graphics and sounds will engage students. Homophones are frequently confused words that sound alike but are spelled differently and mean different things. Often confused, and often found on standardized tests, they should be memorized. These words and sentences are appropriate for almost any age. Writing activity on the last slide. Note: Do you know the difference between a homophone and a homonym? The difference between a homophone and a homonym is that a homophone sounds the same and is spelled differently, and has different meaning. (to,too, two) A homonym is both spelled the same and sounds the same, but has different meaning. (chair - like you sit in, and chair - department head) Last slide is a writing activity. Supports common core standards. 38 slides. - HappyEdugator

ne Hundred Essential Questions for Language Arts TEST. Back to school...It can be used at the beginning of the year as a pre-test for Language Arts knowledge. It can also be used at the end of the year as a final exam. My students knew those essential questions were really "essential." 10 pages plus key included. This multiple choice scantron ready test goes with my One Hundered Essential Questions for Language Arts which can be used as a study guide, - HappyEdugator

Halloween Poems and Fun Halloween Poem Writing Activities. Includes seven of my original Halloween poems for reading aloud and just for fun, in color and black and white. Each poem has an activity associated with it. Two craftivites. Includes a figurative language sheet and activity, and two Halloween poetry writing activities to complete after you are all in the mood to create! Stimulate imaginations! You can project the colorized poems on a whiteboard to practice choral reading. You can also print them out and use in literacy centers or for student copies to read along. Examples of various types of sound devices and figurative language found in the poems, such as alliteration, simile, metaphor, personification, onomatopoeia, and imagery. - HappyEdugator

Maniac Magee Game Show PowerPoint. Based on book by Jerry Spinelli. Figure out the question from the answer given. After you read the novel, review characters, plot, setting, etc. in a fun and engaging game similar to the game show where you are given the answer and guess the question. It has the following categories: Maniac Magee, Amanda Beale, Mars Bar, Two Mills, Grayson and the McNabs. All answers are worded as questions. Music and sound effects included. Game can also be used as a template, if you choose to change the questions. Enjoy! - HappyEdugator

Christmas Alliterations Activity. A printable handout for Christmas explaining how alliterations and tongue twisters are formed, with an area for your students to come up with ten of their own. Have your students create their own Christmas alliterations on this handout. Wonderful winter work. December is definitely delicious! Includes cards with holiday related words for students to turn into alliterations and place on a wreath. - HappyEdugator

Solar System and Space Vocabulary PowerPoint. 29 slides with animated graphics about the solar system and vocabulary words that are needed for understanding. Vocabulary includes astronomer, telescope, observations, constellation, solar system, orbit, revolution, spin, rotation, moon phase, full moon, new moon, waxing crescent, waning crescent, waxing gibbous, waning gibbous. Also includes descriptions of the various celestial bodies of the solar system including the sun, the terrestrial planets, the asteroid belt, the gaseous giants, comets, Kuiper belt, and the Oord cloud. Enjoy! - HappyEdugator

ulletin Board Ideas and Slogans. NEW BACK TO SCHOOL IDEAS! Many ideas for the beginning of the year. 10 pages of fun and useful ideas for bulletin boards for Back To School, Language Arts and Reading. A useful list for the beginning of a school year, when you are trying to set up your room, but also useful for the rest of the year when you need to make a change and spruce up the classroom. Welcome back to school! - HappyEdugator

Plot Summary Guide. Summarize the plot elements of any fiction short story or novel with this handy sheet. Based on the common core standards of analyzing how particular story elements interact, like how the setting shapes the plot. Students will list the characters, determine the protagonist and antagonist, describe the setting and its relationship to the plot, describe the conflict, complications and rising action, the climax, falling action, and resolution of the story. - HappyEdugator

Adjective Poem. This is a form poem to help your students write a poem from a simple pattern. Students must create their own poem using the parts of speech in the pattern. The poem starts out with a plural noun, and then uses other parts of speech, including positive, comparative, and superlatvie adjectives. It can be used as a handout or projected on your whiteboard if you wish to save paper. Have students work in small groups to stimulate creativity. The key is not to allow students to use boring adjectives, such as "good" or "bad". They must use specific and colorful language to paint the picture for the reader. Includes directions and adjective list to help with brainstorming. - HappyEdugator

Appositives and Appositive Phrases PowerPoint. Animated graphics and interactive slides helps students Identify appositives and appositive phrases, how to punctuate sentences with appositives, and how to use appositive phrases to combine sentences. Sentence combining is a skill that helps student correct short choppy sentences in their writing. Supports common core standards. - HappyEdugator

Martin Luther King Jr. Activities. NO PREP Activity packet includes Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Fill-in with key, Dr. Martin Luther King, I Have a Dream Graphic Organizer, Two Writing Response Sheets for I Have a Dream Speech, Three MLK themed bookmarks, a Word Scramble with key, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. biography sheet with constructed response questions, Word Problem (multiplication) sheet with key, and daily grammar practice with key. Activities you can use for MLK day or during Black History Month. 14 pages. Print and go. - HappyEdugator

Poetry Terms Study Guide. Twenty poetry terms listed for students to define on the line provided. Answer key is provided for self check. This can also be used in reverse. The answer key can be given as notes, and the study guide can be used as a test. This comes out as two pages...one without answers and one with the answers. I have added an assessment piece...students need to identify the poetry term that best describes the example given. 10 questions...two sheets to a page to save paper, and answer key. Enjoy! - HappyEdugator

Drama Play Knowledge Extensions Menu. Great for differentiated instruction. Differentiation means no more bored students! Students who have already read a play that you are teaching in class can choose one (or more) activities from the menu and extend their learning, reporting back to the class to enrich everyone's experience. Excellent for gifted learners or students who need independent study or an alternative assignment. . - HappyEdugator

Punctuation Using Commas PowerPoint. Supports Common Core! PowerPoint presentation on comma rules and using comma punctuation correctly in writing elements and sentence structure. The presentation covers using commas with lists, dates, addresses, titles, joining independent and subordinate clauses in compound and complex sentences, nonessential clauses, phrases and words, introductory clauses, and separating adjectives. Animated clips. Use in small chunks as there is a lot of information here! There is a short 10 question multiple choice quiz at the end, with questions similar to what students would see on a standardized test. Recently revised and updated. Common Core Language Standards L 4.2b, L4.2c,,L.5.2c

Reading Strategies - Active Reading Strategies Concept Map. Graphic organizer can be blown up into a poster, used as a transparency, or projected on your LCD. The six active reading strategies on the map are Connect, Predict, Visualize, Question, Clarify, and Evaluate. Students learn what active reading strategies good readers use. Based on a beetle or bug theme. Includes a motivational poster with a BEETLE theme. Color and black and white versions. Here is my BEETLE acronym - BE EDUCATED EXPECT TO LEARN EAGERLY! :) - HappyEdugator

Adjective and Adverb Clauses Test or Worksheet. This grammar test has 20 questions on identifying adverb and adjective clauses in sentences. There are four parts to each question. Students will underline the clause, identify it as adjective or adverb, identify the relative pronoun or subordinating conjunction, and show the word that is modified. This can also be used as a worksheet for practice and test prep. Key included. - HappyEdugator Common Core Standards L.7.1a, L.7.1c

Exit Slip - Cell Phone Ticket Out. Use this exit slip summarizer sheet as a summarizing activity. Have students write you a text message on the phone screen to summarize what they learned from the lesson or ask any questions they still have. Can be used as a quick informal assessment of student learning. - HappyEdugator

Who Wants to Win a Million Dollars Language Arts Review PowerPoint. Interactive. Animated with themed music. A review game for Language Arts mechanics and usage set up like the game show "Who Wants to be a Millionaire?" Students have to get the right answers to move up and win more money. There are questions on verb tenses, subject and predicate, sentence type and sentence structure, capitalization, etc. Good review for standardized test preparation, and the kids will have fun, too! Updated March 2014 with additional sounds and graphics! - HappyEdugator

Teaching expository writing? Everything you need to assign a successful how-to project and oral presentation. Includes: Parent informed consent letter with three possible topics requiring parental approval, Student Handout with list of topics they may choose, Rubric for teacher evaluation of project, Oral presentation rubric, and peer evaluation rubric. Students can complete this project at any time of the school year, but it is a good beginning of the year or end of the year activity. - HappyEdugator