Halloween Word Search Activity and Fill-In. Happy Halloween! Thirty Halloween related words that should be more fun than scary. For extra fun, have students work in pairs and use orange highlighters to find the words. Students can use the words in the word search to fill in the Halloween story. Entertaining Halloween wordsearch and fill-in will develop vocabulary and spelling skills. Two Halloween activities in one. Answer key included. - HappyEdugator

Expository Writing. Methods of Expository Writing Activity Handout. Practice identifying correct text structure. Students identify the type of writing they would use for each writing task. They can choose from process, comparison/contrast, cause and effect, or persuasion. 12 different scenarios for writing. Students can work in groups, with a partner, or individually on this assignment sheet. Based on the type of questions often given on standardized tests. Key included. - HappyEdugator

4 Types of Sentences Worksheet. The four types of sentences - definition of and example of each given. Declarative, Interrogative, Imperative and Exclamatory Sentences with definitions and examples, and then students practice converting one type to another, and learn a little about a couple of South American landmarks as well. Good for quick review for test prep, too. - HappyEdugator

Show Not Tell PowerPoint. How to use the "Show Not Tell" strategy in creative writing. Imagery and sensory language create mental pictures. Strong verbs replace dead verbs. Helps student write with more descriptive words and vivid language. Animated graphics. Practice slides included. - HappyEdugator

Literary Elements of a Short Story PowerPoint. Literary terms and elements include characters, plot, conflict, setting, theme, resolution, denouement. Explains the critical parts of a short story that students need to be able to identify when they read, as well as incorporate into their own writing. Quiz at the end. Good for test prep Supports common core standards. 16 slides - HappyEdugator

Drama - The Emperor's New Clothes. This PowerPoint is a fun reader's theater or classroom play based on Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tale that can be performed by students on short notice with limited space and props. Cast of characters, props, and stage directions make it easy and entertaining. Vocabulary can be discussed during a preview. Print the slides out as handouts (Print-Settings-Outline - to print out like a script in black and white) for your students and project the play as it is being performed.You can also just project it to save copies. I have students read their handouts silently first and look for words that are unfamiliar. Some possible words are highlighted on the slide show. Then discuss the unknown words and use them in a performance! I used this fairy tale theater as a bridge between a drama unit and a fairy tale and folk tale unit. And don't worry...no one has to get undressed! :-) - HappyEdugator

End of the Year Superlative Questions: Most Likely To Succeed as ... Printable ballot with 32 great "Most Likely to" questions for end of the year activities - perhaps a classroom fun filler, an assembly, or to use when creating a yearbook. - HappyEdugator

Halloween Smart Board Activities - Four different Halloween ELA activities for your Smartboard. Sort the Halloween vocabulary into Parts of Speech, complete a fill-in the blank or cloze story, put together some Halloween antonyms, and solve the Halloween crossword puzzle. All interactive activities. Answers can be checked right away for immediate feedback. - HappyEdugator

Poems Graphic Organizer. Using the acronym POEMS, this poetry graphic organizer allows students to show what they already know about poetry and poetic devices, including figurative language such as personification, onomatopoeia, metaphors, and similes. Useful as a poetry preview activity. Students take the wordsplash of vocabulary words, and match them to the graphic organizer. (Hint: The font of words that go together is the same! See if they can figure that out for themselves.) This can be used as an introduction to a poetry unit, and as a pre-assessment which can give you an idea if your students know anything at all before you even start. Use the graphic organizer to complete the study guides that are included. - HappyEdugator

Poetry - Using Emotion to Create Poetry PowerPoint. Graphics and animations will engage your students as they learn about poetry writing. Includes a definition of poetry, explanation of figurative language, imagery, and sound devices, a list of human emotions, and a step by step approach to writing a sensory poem. You can also print out the included poetry frame if you desire. When students are finished, they will have created their own poem! Fun way to get reluctant poets to writing. Enjoy! - HappyEdugator

Mother's Day Verb Poem. Mothers are always doing things! They are very busy. Students can let their mom know they notice by writing a Mother’s Day Verb Poem. They can pay attention to what their mom does, and collect the verbs! Use the verbs in the poem to make a special poem about mom. If students can’t think of any verbs, there is a verb bank for ideas. Includes directions and a list of verbs, and a template to fill in with verbs. Write a verb poem for mom to let her know you notice how much she does. - HappyEdugator

Awards Certificates - Twenty Unique Awards for All Occasions. Includes a cute Good Earth Day Award! End of the year awards! These end of the year award certificates (or use them anytime) are designed to help you show your students that you appreciate them in many ways. Rewards for Volunteers and Helpers, Outstanding work, Organization and Neatness, Earth Day, Birthday, etc. Reward good behavior or give rewards for academic success. From academic growth to the smallest act of kindness, you will have some positive reinforcement ready! Awards are useful to give to teachers, parents, and custodians, too. Great for the end of the school year! Includes a total of twenty different and unique awards.Suggestions for their use is included in the slide notes. Editable for your classroom use. Enjoy.

Correlative Conjunctions Practice Worksheet. Worksheet on correlative conjunctions. Definition, Examples, and practice identifying the conjunctions in a sentence and what they connect. Writing practice using correlative conjunctions in sentences. Key inlcuded. Supports common core. - HappyEdugator CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.5.1e Use correlative conjunctions (e.g., either/or, neither/nor).

Poetry - Five Senses Poem. Handout, brainstorming pages, and final poem publishing page. Help students get started using sensory language and begin writing poetry using vivid imagery. Guides students with a format for writing a poem using their senses. Examples will get them thinking. You will be amazed at some of the original and creative poems you can get students to write using this format. - HappyEdugator

Christmas Activities. Fun Christmas activities for the last week of school before the Christmas break. Six different sheets that are fun and require critical thinking! Three writing prompts, a math square, a wordsearch, and a scrambled story included, with answer keys. Print and go. No prep. Enjoy and merry Christmas! - HappyEdugator

End of the Year Summer Wordsearch: a fun end of the year activity, or use for summer camp or other summer activity. Challenging end of the year word search with summer words that can be a fun filler activity! Very engaging. 20 words in this wordsearch which are ONLY found on the diagonals. Key included. - HappyEdugator

Using an Almanac Scavenger Hunt. A worksheet activity with ten interesting questions that students should be able to find the answer to in most almanacs. Have students work in pairs, partners, or cooperative groups with a class set of almanacs and look up the information. This is good hands-on practice of research skills. They need to be familiar with how to find information in an almanac. If they can't find the information, of course, a key is included. :-) - HappyEdugator

Punctuation - Hyphens, Dashes, and Semicolons PowerPoint. Interactive PowerPoint presentation with animation and sound. Explains the usage of hyphens, dashes, and semicolons, and then students can practice punctuating the sentences that follow, and checking their answers. At the end there is an answer key to check their work. This can also be played as a game by dividing the class into teams and teams submit their answers-the team with them most correct answers wins! 53 slides. -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.

TEST PREP Get a High Score on the Test! ELA PowerPoint. Test prep interactive presentation with practice questions and feedback on superlative adjectives, verb and pronoun usage, troublesome areas for students in middle grades, especially 7th grade. Also, these slides can be used to study and prepare for any state test in Language Arts, and 6th and 8th graders can use it, too. Help students get ready to take a standardized test! Supports common core standards. Updated January 2015 - HappyEdugator