Earth Day Cooperative Learning Activity - Committee to Reduce Environmental Pollution. Works well as a post reading activity for The Lorax by Dr. Seuss or The Wump World by Bill Peet. Students will meet in groups (or committees) to analyze several different scenarios and to determine which type of polluter is the most destructive to the environment. Students will compare their individual results with their group results, and then the groups will compare their results with other groups in the class. The final activity is to see if the class can come to a consensus. Extension activity - discuss possible solutions.

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

Rikki Tikki Tavi Vocabulary Activities. Vocabulary for the short story Rikki Tikki Tavi by Rudyard Kipling. Includes: Study Sheet with 15 vocabulary words, their part of speech and definition; Two page Vocabulary Practice Sheet, Study Cards, Fiction Literature Terms Sheet, Hot Seat Vocabulary Review Game, Vocabulary Matching Test, and Key. - HappyEdugator

TEST PREP - Language Arts Test Practice Interactive PowerPoint. Test Prep for standardized testing. 30 interactive multiple choice practice test questions for test prep: Verb tenses, agreement, comparative and superlative adjectives and pronouns. PowerPoint with animated graphics has sentence completion questions of the type that are common on state standardized tests. 52 slides -

Poetry Concept Map. When introducing a poetry unit, this concept map graphic organizer will help your students understand the relationship of graphics, sound devices, and figurative language to poetry as a whole. Each of these are further broken down to show terms related to them. For example, sound devices are alliteration, assonance, consonance, and onomatopoeia. I have used this as a transparency, projected on an LCD, or blown it up and made it into a poster to hang in the classroom. - HappyEdugator

Adjective Clauses Graphic Organizer. A four quadrant graphic organizer for students to use for notes on adjective clauses. Project the completed one while students can fill in the blanks on their copy, or have them fold a piece of notebook paper into four quadrants and have them copy notes (for more advanced students). First box is the definition, the second box explains how to identify, the third box gives examples, and the last box explains their function. Useful reference tool for students to use when they are working with adjective clauses. Supports common core. L.7.1a L.7.1c - 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

TEST PREP: Key Terms - Reading & English Language Arts. Standardized test terminology. Two lists of vocabulary and terminology often seen on standardized tests. One for Grade 1 - 3, and one for Grade 4 - 8. These words may be found on state tests or common core assessments. Make sure your students are familiar with the terminology before testing begins. - HappyEdugatorYou may also like:

The River by Gary Paulsen PowerPoint Presentation. Give students the background knowledge they need to understand The River by Gary Paulsen. Many of my students from the South are not familiar with northern rivers and the hazards of the river environment. This presentation introduces students to the dangers that might face someone trying to survive on a raft on a northern river. This activate prior knowledge of students who have been on rivers, which will lead to some engaging class discussion and create interest to introduce the novel. - HappyEdugator

TEST PREP Understanding Prompts for State Writing Tests PowerPoint. Taking a state writing test or preparing for the writing portion of a state test? PowerPoint presentation helps students prepare for state tests by learning how to understand what type of essay they are expected to write. Students need to understand how to answer constructed response questions, and make their argument with support from a text. Learn the differences between what is expected for a persuasive and expository writing prompt, like the ones provided on standardized tests and state assessments. Slides focus on key words and how to plan using a simple graphic organizer.

Reading a Magazine Terms and Worksheet. Magazine terms (parts of a magazine, and hands - on practice sheet) 2 page printable handout with a hands-on practice activity for reading nonfiction magazine articles. You will need to have magazines available or take students to the media center to read magazine articles. The first page is a list of journalism terms used in the magazine industry, which you can discuss and studentts can use as a reference sheet. The second page has students fill out questions about these terms using a magazine article they have read and can refer to.

Exit Slip Ticket Out - Snoopy Summarizing Activity Ticket Out. Ticket out the door. Use this summarizing activity to have students take notes on what was important to have learned in your lesson. Students summarize by filling in the thought bubbles and taking additional notes at the bottom.Can be given out at the beginning of the week and students fill in a thought bubble each day Monday through Thursday and review for assessment on Friday, or works well for summarizing reading and chapters of novels. Enjoy!

Back to School Tips for Success - Stop Daydreaming and Get on Task! Back to school and back in focus, this PowerPoint gives students tips to follow to start off the school year right. Nine ways to have a successful year. Kids will relate to the animated daydreamers at the beginning. Enjoy! - HappyEdugator

Recommended Novel Reading Lists for Grades 7 - 12 with Lexile Levels. Useful when planning novel studies. Includes an alphabetical list of 180 novels and authors, along with their grade level recommendations and lexile reading levels, a list for high school, and a list for middle school. Useful for planning appropriate text complexity with the new common core standards. Can also be used as a suggested summer reading list - HappyEdugator

Reading Strategies PowerPoint - How to Attack Unknown Words. Reading strategies that can really help. Word attack skills for beginning readers. You can use this PowerPoint as a minilesson projected on your whiteboard, or you can print the slides out on index cards or 4 X 6 cards and laminate to place in literacy centers, or make posters out of them. Also good for test prep. - HappyEdugator

Blank Headstone Template for Writing Character Epitaphs. Grave fun for Halloween or anytime. Make a graveyard of epitaphs. Use this headstone or gravestone template to have students write a character epitaph or summary of a book in which a main character dies. Students can focus on character traits and what makes a character memorable. For instance, it can be used with the Diary of Anne Frank, or The Cay by Theodore Taylor. Goes well with Where the Red Fern Grows and Maniac Magee, and great for a bulletin board on dead words. - HappyEdugator

Reading: Expectation Grid for Reading. A reading graphic organizer for fiction which can be used with Literature Circles. Give one to each group and have them fill in expectations. Also, it can be used as an anticipation guide, a guide during reading, or as a review for almost any novel or short story. I like to use it when we get to an important or exciting event in a story. Students have to determine why the event is important, the sequence of events leading up to it, the location and people involved, and the cause and possible effects of this event in the story. By using this reading strategy, students are often surprised to learn that they have just identified many of the elements of a story- the plot, theme, characters, setting, and problem. - HappyEdugator

Literature Reading Log for Primary Grades. An easy graphic organizer that provides students with the oopportunity to think about what they have read, either in guided reading or independently, and organize that information into a piece of writing. Critical information to record includes the central problem of the story and important words. Colorful symbols connect the information in a meaningful way to young readers. Teachers can help younger students fill out, while older students will enjoy doing independently. - HappyEdugator

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