Science Journal Prompts and Writing Activities. Discovery learning and inquiry. A variety of writing ideas to involve kids in writing, researching, and investigating. Writing prompts and activities that inspire students to find out more! You can give these as assignments, use for differentiated instruction, make journal notebooks, add to interactive notebooks, or use in learning centers, etc. Enjoy!

Awards - Printable Rewards - 30 Bookmarks or Wristbands. Print out and give to students as fun rewards! Fun to use at end of year. A variety for holidays, such as Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Valentine's Day, and St. Patrick's Day! Includes rewards for being honest, respectful, trustworthy, and caring. Also includes celebrations such as star student, 100th day, happy birthday, and more. Great for all seasons - Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter! Print out at the beginning of the year and have them on hand. Enjoy! - HappyEdugator

Math Journal Prompts and Writing Activities - Write On! Students can write in math class, too! 21 math journal prompts. Each slide is a different writing activity that will spark creativity and imagination, as well as hone those skills. You can choose to display on your whiteboard or print out the slides on index cards and use in a math center. These writing prompts can also be used to add to interactive notebooks. However you use them, you will be giving your students the opportunity to write about math. The new common core standards require more writing in content areas. Here are some ideas that will help you get started.

Word Pyramid PreWriting Activity. Back to school creative writing using their name! Fun anytime, but also a back to school or good beginning of the year writing activity. Handout will stimulate thinking and may have your students running for the dictionary! Students will have to think of words of various lengths to describe themselves, and then come up with a sentence using one of the words.Fold the flap up over the name and have other students read them and try to guess who wrote it. Later, students can write a personal memoir about themselves, and they have already had a jumpstart on their thinking and writing. - HappyEdugator

Using Dictionaries Practice Sheet. This printable is hands-on practice for using dictionaries. Students are given five different words to look up, and then they must answer the questions about each word regarding either meaning, etymology, usage, part of speech, or syllabication. Many students only think of dictionaries as a place to find definitions. They are surprised to learn that there is so much more information included in a dictionary! Key included. - HappyEdugator

Literary Terms in Context PowerPoint. This interactive PowerPoint has 30 questions about literary terms in context. May be used individually, with a whole group, or with teams. Students must read the quote and answer the question, then click to check. Includes terms for poetry and literature, including figurative language, rhyme scheme, story elements and point of view. Enjoy! - HappyEdugator

Short o Sound - Sounding Out Words PowerPoint. CVC words. Teach reading with phonics and decoding using word families! Short o Word Family. Slides introduce the sound of short o and have students practice blending short o sound with consonants to form one syllable CVC words. Students read the slides and get rewarded with fun shouts and cheers. This is the next step to reading after students learn consonant sounds and the sound of short a and short e. This animated PowerPoint has 17 slides of practice, with a slide of nonsense words and a slide of real words at the end of the presentation for teacher assessment. Supports common core standards. Great supplement for CVC word work.

The Cremation of Sam McGee SMARTBOARD Activities. Poetry analysis on the smart board and writing activities for the poem by Robert Service. This poem is set at Christmas time in the Arctic in the late 1800's. Includes links to background information on the Klondike Gold Rush, Vocabulary words and definitions, a Vocabulary game, a link to the full text of the poem, Figurative language examples and interactive quiz, Comprehension questions and answers, links to a reading of the poem and a video, and writing activities. Includes a final writing task that supports common core standards. Enjoy!

Grammar Task Cards - Language Detective. Includes 4 sets of 12 task cards. Each card has a sentence with an error. Students must figure out what is wrong with the sentence, and mark it on their answer sheet. Answer keys for each set. Skills covered: Capitalization, Usage, Punctuation, and Spelling. Fun way to practice for standardized tests. Teacher Directions and Set Up: Cut out and print the four card sets on cardstock.. You may wish to laminate for durability. Print out the answer strips so that you have enough for each student. You may wish to make them double-sided to save paper. Print out at least one copy each of the answer keys. Cards sets may be used in a variety of ways. You may wish to put them in centers, and switch out the sets for four different days. They can also be distributed to four different groups as a group activity. Answer keys can be used for self- checking. Sets can be rotated to different groups. You can also use these cards for whole class games like Scoot, or Around the World.

Handwriting - How to Write Lower Case Letters Animated PowerPoint. Learn to write manuscript lowercase letters. Teach your students lower-case letter formation and write letters the fun way. This animated PowerPoint shows students how to form the lower case letters of the alphabet. Students can watch how to print and then copy the letters on their own paper. Each letter is associated with an animal as well. Great for homeschool, too! Supports common core.

Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story Plot Diagram Activity. Based on the book by Deborah and Gregg Lewis. In this sequencing activity, students will cut out the sentences and put them in the correct order by making a large plot diagram and gluing the sentences in place. Print out the sentences, and provide students with a large piece of construction paper, a marker, scissors, and glue. Encourage them to put them in order first, and have you check it before they glue everything in place. :) Good cooperative learning activity. Enjoy!

Alphabet Cooking Fun - Literacy Activities with Yummy Food. These activities combine cooking and kitchen fun with lessons in beginning sounds, letter sounds, letter recognition, and word recognition. Includes a permission slip for parents, a slide with a variety of fun ideas to get started, an alphabet food list, and 11 super fun activities with full directions, including making butter, fruit salad, and peanut butter! Enjoy! - HappyEdugator

Halloween Vocabulary PowerPoint. This Halloween PowerPoint presentation has fifteen spooky vocabulary words, including their part of speech and pronunciation. Challenging and unique words; some have etymologies and interesting facts, along with animations and sounds that make things interesting! When you start the slide show, the words will fly in around the pumpkin. You could play spooky music with this is you want. The last 2 slides set up a writing assignment for students, with additional familiar words to use as story starters for a Halloween story! 18 slides of educational fun.

Imagery with Weather Poems! Have your students create weather poems using descriptive adjectives and imagery. Three different poem formats support differentiated instruction. After reading a story or novel in which weather plays a major role in developing the plot (such as the short story “All Summer in a Day” by Ray Bradbury or the novel The Cay by Theodore Taylor), have your students write weather poems. Discuss how to create imagery using words that appeal to the senses. They will enjoy coming up with vivid adjectives and descriptive language. Ask your students to think of words that will create the best images, or they can look up adjective lists online if they have access to technology. The first format has the most scaffolding for the kids who have trouble putting words on paper. The second format is a little more challenging, and the third one is great for your high achievers. If you prefer, you can also use these in sequence and build up to the higher level thinking format. After your students complete the format, ask them to share, edit and revise, and then type up the poems to publish and make a great display.

2015 Calendar - Free! Enjoy!

Short e Sound - Sounding Out Words PowerPoint. CVC words. Teach reading with phonics and decoding using word families! Short e Word Family. Slides introduce the sound of short e and have students practice blending short e sound with consonants to form one syllable CVC words. Students read the slides and get rewarded with fun shouts and cheers. This is the next step to reading after students learn consonant sounds and the sound of short a. This animated PowerPoint has 17 slides of practice, with a slide of nonsense words and a slide of real words at the end of the presentation for teacher assessment.

Writing Strategies for School Success PowerPoint. Includes back to school writing activities. Writing tips that give students easy to follow instructions for success on school writing assignments. Slides cover how to use effective sentences, an editing checklist, and how to go about writing an assortment of different writing situations, including: comparison/contrast paragraphs, book reports, friendly letters, business letters, expository text giving directions or explanations, selecting a topic for research reports, taking notes, writing an outline, writing a report with a bibliography, taking a test, and conducting and writing interviews

Golf Vocabulary and Quiz. Learn golf vocabulary! Includes a handout for basic vocabulary for the game of golf, like birdie, bogey, eagle, etc., and a short matching quiz over the basic terms. Useful in as a summer golf camp activity or in physical education. Also great for building background knowledge for reading selections that involve the game of golf or when reading biographies of famous players of the game. Key is included. Enjoy! - HappyEdugator

ABC PowerPoint Project for Any Novel. This is a final project that will work with any novel. Promotes higher level thinking, creativity, and helps students incorporate technology. During reading and after reading a novel, students can work to create a PowerPoint presentation using the letters of the alphabet to summarize. Pass out the student handout and explain that they are to make 20 slides using letters from the alphabet that describe different parts of the plot. Each slide has five points each for a total of 100 points. The handout is a checklist they can use to monitor their grade. Great to use with gifted students as well. - HappyEdugator

PRODUCT DESCRIPTION Test on Strunk and White -The Elements of Style. This test has students apply the principles of writing English as discussed in The Elements of Style by Strunk and White, the classic writing manual used in high school and college English classes for years. The contents of the book is on Bartlby's website as well. This test has students punctuate sentences, correct errors in usage in sentences, make sentences more interesting by revising, eliminate wordiness by revising, and identify words and phrases that are generally considered not good usage.