Writing an Advice Column - Writing Assignment and Rubric. This is a writing assignment where the student has to pretend to be a newspaper advice columnist and respond to a reader's question. A word bank of suggested words will help the writer get started on offering ideas and advice to the reader to help solve their problem. You will get two pages. The first is the student assignment sheet and the second is a rubric for grading guidelines. - HappyEdugator

Reading - Activating Thinking Strategies for Reading. Includes posters for SLANT and SETTING. Twelve simple ideas to help you engage your readers by activating their thinking, connecting to their world, stimulating schema or background knowledge and grabbing their interest. Reading strategies you can really use! These are especially useful for lesson planning in Learning Focused classrooms. - Happyedugator

Common Core Standards for ELA Writing PowerPoint Posters. Common core standards for ELA Writing 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 use as a poster in your classroom. Kid friendly language with colorful graphics. The CCSS ( common core state standards ) are the same for 6th and 8th grade, only the level of complexity changes, so feel free to use them for all three levels. - HappyEdugator

Columbus Day Fun Activity Pack. Columbus Acrostic Poem, Writing Prompt, Word Search. Poem Handout, Mak-a-Word, and Fill-in Activity included. Twenty-six Columbus Day related words in wordsearch. October is a fun Fall month, and this is an engaging activity for building vocabulary and spelling skills. Also includes a reading handout of the traditional poem "In 1492" and a Christopher Columbus Fill-In the Blank Activity sheet. You can also use these as time fillers or as a substitute activity. - HappyEdugator

Limericks - Writing Limericks Handout and Activity Sheet. Fun St. Patrick's activity! How to write a limerick! Writing limericks handout explains the possible history of limericks, what limericks are, how they are patterned, and how they often contain figurative language like onomatopoeia, idioms, and hyperbole because they are meant to be funny. Activity includes practice activity with pattern, and writing an original limerick and illustrating it. A fun activity to do on St. Patrick's day, in the month of March, or anytime, really!.

Middle School Writing Rubric. This rubric has four categories...ideas, organization, style, and conventions. There are five possible points in each category, and students and teachers can easily understand what is required. A 20 point scale is easy to translate into a percentage. The rubric can be used for both creative and expository writing. There is a place for students to write their name and teacher's name, and then students can evaluate themselves and turn in the rubric with their work. The bottom of the rubric has room for comments and teacher feedback and grade. Left in editable format for you to adapt to your classroom needs. - HappyEdugator

September 11. Patriot Day activity. A kid-friendly version of the events of 9-11 and a flag coloring sheet. Includes some photos of the fire department memorial at Ground Zero (taken by me on a visit to NYC) Students can read the story, or have it read to them, and look at the photos.(Can be projected for the whole class to see.) Then they can learn about how the flag became a symbol of strength during the crisis, and complete the flag coloring sheet. (This sheet is similar to the one I sell for Memorial Day) INCLUDES a word search for early finishers. Thanks! - HappyEdugator

St. Patrick's Day Learning Fun! Map of Ireland Geography Activity. Using an atlas or the internet as a resource, students must label the blank map of Ireland with key places from the word bank and color according to directions. Includes a worksheet with questions about their map. An interesting educational activity that can be used for St. Patrick's Day, in the month of March, or anytime. Works great to build background knowledge when reading poetry and books set in Ireland or by authors from Ireland. Keys included. Updated February 2015.- HappyEdugator

Halloween Writing Activity for Smartboard. Halloween writing motivator. Five different Halloween characters...vampire, ghost, scarecrow, skeleton, and witch. Students drag the character traits they want for their chosen Halloween character into the box. They then can name their character and in their journal show, not tell, how their character demonstrates the traits they chose. Good Halloween Smartboard activity for the whole group or class, or use as enrichment for a center. You can choose to make one character a day for a whole week. Many character traits to choose from, some will build vocabulary by having to look up unknown words. Supports common core standards in writing. Happy Halloween!

Character Traits Rating Continuum Graphic Organizer. Supports common core. This graphic organizer will have students doing some higher level thinking! Students analyze a character trait as they read a book by placing specific examples or text evidence of that trait from the book on a continuum. For instance, they could rate Brian's survival skills in Hatchet, or Billy's maturity in Where the Red Fern Grows. As they find examples of the trait in the book, they write the page number, a description, and evaluate it. This can be done with a book the whole class is reading with teacher guidance, and then with their independent reading books as well. Supports common core! - HappyEdugator

Strategies for Teaching Different Learning Styles PowerPoint. Useful strategies and activities for different learning styles. Animated and colorful slides. There are several theories related to learning styles and multiple intelligences. Effective teachers consider their students' learning styles and use strategies adapted to their students' individual needs. Here are many different strategies to use for the different learning styles and multiple intelligences. For example, includes specific strategies and a list of activities for visual, auditory, and kinesthetic learners.

Middle School Technical Writing Rubric. Standards based rubric for use with technical writing, such as letters, thank-you notes, formula poems, instructions, web pages, procedures, business correspondence, resumes, job applications, and application essays. The purpose of technical writing is to inform, explain, interpret, evaluate, and/or recommend in order to transmit specialized information to a specific audience. This rubric will help middle school students focus on what they need to acheive in order to meet state standards. The rubric has four categories -conventions of language and style, purpose, organization, and development and support of content. Standards-based grade: students will exceed, meet, approach, or fall below standard in each category. Students can self-evaluate their work. Editable for your classroom use.

Easter Activity Pack - Literacy and Math Fun. Print and go. Four different sheets of math word problems, (two addition and two subtraction), ten count the eggs and trace the number word sheets, make an Easter card sheet, an original Easter poem to read, a create a word activity, an Easter word scramble, a jelly bean sort and graphing activity, an Easter maze, a history of Easter (the resurrection) and a history of Easter (bunnies and eggs). Lots of fun for April!- HappyEdugator

Writing to An Audience Project. How To Project. A writing assignment or writing project that teaches author's purpose and writing for different audiences. Student (and partner) will draw an audience from the basket. They are to choose their own how-to topic amd create a brochure for their audience. The purpose of this brochure is to tell a specific audience how to do something. Here are some examples: First graders - How to Convince Your Parents to Make Your Bedtime Later Parents - How to Get Along With Your Seventh-Grade Son or Daughter Teachers - How to Win Respect from Students Students will use creativity and their imagination to complete this writing activity. Complete project rubric included. - HappyEdugator

Context Clues - Analyzing Context Clues PowerPoint. Help students figure out unknown words in text. Build vocabulary and reading comprehension by teaching common context clues. This PowerPoint has explains five different context clues: definition, synonym, antonym, example, and inference. Practice activity at the end with answers. 15 slides. Updated August 2015. Good for test prep! -

Story Elements Think Tac Toe. This literary elements think-tac-toe has students investigate characterization, setting, and plot and differentiates by learning style. This can be used with any short story or book. Students choose one box from each row of the project choice board or menu and then completes. (A row goes horizontally) They do not need to have three in a row or column. Good to use at the end of a book or any story. Nice differentiated culminating activity for elements of a short story. Includes a checklist at the bottom for students to make sure their work is high quality. An engaging way to assess student understanding. Updated August 2015

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

Pintastic Report Board - This blank Pinterest style template to make reports on any topic, Print it off and have students create a unique research report, book report or character analysis. Students love social media and will be excited to create their own bulletin board. The first page is a blank template, and the second page is a guide for where to put information. Enjoy! - HappyEdugator

Labels - Space Theme. Stars and Space Kids or Aliens. Blank classroom labels with editable textboxes so you can just type in what you need. Created as ink friendly as possible. Includes: 8 large decorative frame 8 large rectangular blank labels (2 per page = total 16) 8 decorative nameplates with writing lines (2 per page = total 16) 8 smaller rectangular blank labels(2 per page = total 16) 8 smaller rectangular labels with writing lines(2 per page = total 16) 3 large square blank labels (2 per page = total 6) 3 smaller square blank labels (4 per page = total 12) 4 small circular labels (4 per page = total 12) 4 large circular labels ( 2 per page - total 8) Just print and copy how many of each style or size you need and laminate for durability.

Short a sound - Sounding Out Words PowerPoint. Teach reading with phonics and decoding using word families. CVC words. Begin with Short a Word Family. Slides introduce the sound of short a and have students practice blending short a sound with consonants to form one syllable CVC words. Students read the the slides, and get rewarded with fun sounds and cheers! This is a first step to reading after students learn consonant sounds.