Christmas - Letter To Santa Writing Activity. Writing a friendly letter, students must tell Santa Claus the one thing they want, why they deserve it, and how they will use it to better the world. Letters must include compound sentences, complex sentences with adjective and adverb clauses, vocabulary words, figurative language, and the parts of an informal letter. 100 points, easy to grade. No prep. Print and go. Enjoy!

Dictionary Guide Words and Thesaurus Practice Worksheets. These worksheets are actually a real hands-on activity for students to use dictionaries. Students need to look up the words and find the guide words for each page. They will learn how guidewords are important to finding entries in a dictionary. Use with any dictionary. Key is not included since the answers will vary depending on the dictionary used. Includes one worksheet for dictionary guide words, and an addtional two page worksheet for work with a thesaurus. - HappyEdugator CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.2.4e Use glossaries and beginning dictionaries, both print and digital, to determine or clarify the meaning of words and phrases. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.3.4d Use glossaries or beginning dictionaries, both print and digital, to determine or clarify the precise meaning of key words and phrases. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.4.4c Consult reference materials (e.g., dictionaries, glossaries, thesauruses), both print and digital, to find the pronunciation and determine or clarify the precise meaning of key words and phrases. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.5.4c Consult reference materials (e.g., dictionaries, glossaries, thesauruses), both print and digital, to find the pronunciation and determine or clarify the precise meaning of key words and phrases.

Shades of Meaning Verb Cards - LAUGH. Cut out and laminate these 16 different cards illustrating different synonyms of the verb "LAUGH." Helps students understand connotation. With guidance and support from adults, students acquire new vocabulary by defining word relationships and nuances in word meanings, sorting words into categories, choosing and acting out the different meanings. Aligns to Common Core Standards CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.K.5d Distinguish shades of meaning among verbs describing the same general action (e.g., walk, march, strut, prance) by acting out the meanings. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.1.5d Distinguish shades of meaning among verbs differing in manner (e.g., look, peek, glance, stare, glare, scowl) and adjectives differing in intensity (e.g., large, gigantic) by defining or choosing them or by acting out the meanings. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.2.5b Distinguish shades of meaning among closely related verbs (e.g., toss, throw, hurl) and closely related adjectives (e.g., thin, slender, skinny, scrawny). CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.3.5c Distinguish shades of meaning among related words that describe states of mind or degrees of certainty (e.g., knew, believed, suspected, heard, wondered). Additionally, words can be used for spelling practice, writing practice, and word walls. Includes definitions for the teacher.

Preposition Poem Worksheet. Prepositions and poetry together! Worksheet will help students playfully combine poetic form with a riddle, while extending awareness of prepositional phrases and their use. Also encourages use of imagery and figurative language like similes and metaphors to paint pictures with words. - HappyEdugator

Christmas Story Starters. 50 Christmas writing prompts that you can use to help your students get writing creatively around the holidays. A winter creative writing handout or resource that will help students find something to write about! Quick and easy December printable handout. 2 pages. Have fun with writing! - HappyEdugator

Annabel Lee Vocabulary Graphic Organizer. Graphic organizer for vocabulary in poem Annabel Lee by Edgar Allan Poe. Students will match modern words to the old-fashioned words in the poem and explain their effect on the mood of the poem. - HappyEdugator

ndependent Clauses and Dependent Clauses handout will help your students understand sentence structure and how to make compound sentences, complex sentences, and compound-complex sentences. Explains how to form compound sentence using independent clauses with commas and conjunctions or semicolons,and also with semicolons and transitional words. Explains how to make a complex sentence with subordinating or relative pronouns, and how to use a dependent clause at the beginning followed by a comma. Also notes how to make a compound-complex sentence by combining a compound sentence with a dependent clause. Lists coordinating conjunctions (in FANBOYS order), common subordinating conjunctions and relative pronouns. Concise, handy reference for developing writing skills. - HappyEdugator

Poetry - Writing a Parody Poem Activity - How Doth the Little Crocodile. What is Parody? Students will read the parody poem How Doth the Little Crocodile by Lewis Carroll (from the book Alice and Wonderland) and compare it to the original poem Against Idleness and Mischief by Isaac Watts. Includes guided questions comparing and contrasting the two poems, and a writing activity where students are challenged to write their own parody of a poem. They can then use the Parody Poem Writing Checklist to evaluate their writing. - HappyEdugator

Reading - Book Project for Independent Reading. This book project assignment is an alternative to a traditional book report. It gives students nine options for creating a project to demonstrate their independent reading. Better than a book report because students have to be able to convince their teacher that they have actually read the book, or be required to stand before a jury of their peers and prove it in five minutes!! Customizable for your needs. Also availale is an optional rubric for this assignment that you may wish to use: Book Project Rubric.

Charles - by Shirley Jackson - Making Inferences Chart. Making inferences and finding and citing evidence from the text to support your opinions is an important skill required by common core standards and this short story is a good one to use to teach that skill. This is a chart for students to use to record page numbers and clues to the inference that Laurie and Charles are the same person. After students complete the chart and have had practice going back to the text to find details, they can answer three questions about the story which also require them to find evidence from the text to support their conclusions. - HappyEdugator

Brain Teaser Bingo Sheet. This fun activity will get them thinking! 16 Language-based brain puzzles are on a bingo grid. Students can choose to solve any four in a row, or be challenged to do them all! Teacher can also assign different combinations, and first student to solve them all can win the BINGO. Each square has a different type of activity, and students must use critical thinking, logical reasoning, and word knowledge to solve- such as synonyms, homonyms, palindromes, and compound words. Challenging. Great for gifted students. This can be used as a time filler around testing also. The second page is a key with answers to all the puzzles. Enjoy! - HappyEdugator

Classroom Etiquette Handout for Middle School and High School. Classroom management tool. Rules to live by! Teach classroom behavior and classroom expectations. Students will have no excuses after they read this detailed set of rules for good manners in the classroom. "What your teacher really wants." What seems like common sense to the teacher is not always common sense for a student. They need direct instruction on expectations. Give to students to remind them of how you expect them to behave. Works well with a positive behavior intervention system. Additionally, this handout also could be given to students to copy if they have been given detention or ISS. - HappyEdugator

Appositives and Appositive Phrases Handout and Practice. This includes a two page handout with clear graphics detailing what an appositive and an appositive phrase is, providing examples and the rules for correct punctuation of them. It can be copied front and back to save paper. The third page is a worksheet for practice, and the last page is the answer key. - HappyEdugator

Rikki Tikki TaviPlot Diagram Activity. A hands-on activity for the story Rikki Tikki Tavi. After learning that the plot is the sequence of events, and having been introduced to a plot diagram with the exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution, have your students work in small groups to cut and paste this list of events from the story onto their own plot diagram and label what part of the story they belong to. Blank plot diagram included, or have them create their own on a large piece of colored construction paper using the blank diagram as a guide. The story is not included...but is available free online.

Super Hero Profile Sheet and Dialogue Writing Activity. Create a superhero! Superheros like Spiderman are cool! Includes a graphic organizer to build their superhero, a worksheet that walks students through creating their own superhero character, and a writing activity. Students will write a short dialogue about a conflict the superhero is having. They may write it with stage directions for an actor to act it out. Some students like to illustrate their dialogue as well with a picture of their created superhero. - 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

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

Poetry - Figurative Language Scavenger Hunt. Find figurative language while reading poetry! This is a simple hands-on activity to use with students to get them to recognize figurative and sensory language in poems. Students have to find examples of figurative and sensory language such as idioms, personification, hyperbole, metaphors, similes, onomatopoeia, alliteration, consonance, assonance, and rhyme. Students can work individually or in groups. You can make the activity a grade or make it a game with the winners getting the highest number of points. Includes teacher directions, student assignment sheet, and student recording sheet. Poems not included. Pull a variety of poetry books from the media center and allow students to search through the various texts. I take my students to the media center and have them work in groups, looking at books stacked on their tables. No doubt some of your pupils will get hooked on poetry after reading the variety of poems in this activity. Enjoy! Supports these Common Core Standards, and also needs to be reinforced in higher grades as well. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.4.5 Demonstrate understanding of figurative language, word relationships, and nuances in word meanings. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.4.5a Explain the meaning of simple similes and metaphors (e.g., as pretty as a picture) in context. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.4.5b Recognize and explain the meaning of common idioms, adages, and proverbs. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.5.5 Demonstrate understanding of figurative language, word relationships, and nuances in word meanings. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.5.5a Interpret figurative language, including similes and metaphors, in context. - HappyEdugator

Cumulative Test of Greek and Latin Word Roots or Stems. Greek and Latin Roots test to assess students on their general knowledge of word stems after we have studied basic Greek and Latin roots. It includes multiple choice, matching and fill-in type questions. A key is provided. The basic Greek and Latin word root lists, which include affixes, prefixes, and suffixes, are also available separately. 35 questions in all. Left editable for your specific needs, so you may customize for your class. Supports common core. - HappyEdugator CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.4.4b Use common, grade-appropriate Greek and Latin affixes and roots as clues to the meaning of a word (e.g., telegraph, photograph, autograph). CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.5.4b Use common, grade-appropriate Greek and Latin affixes and roots as clues to the meaning of a word (e.g., photograph, photosynthesis) CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.6.4b Use common, grade-appropriate Greek or Latin affixes and roots as clues to the meaning of a word (e.g., audience, auditory, audible). CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.7.4b Use common, grade-appropriate Greek or Latin affixes and roots as clues to the meaning of a word (e.g., belligerent, bellicose, rebel). CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.8.4b Use common, grade-appropriate Greek or Latin affixes and roots as clues to the meaning of a word (e.g., precede, recede, secede).

A Christmas Carol Christmas Card Project. Christmas activity! Students will create a Christmas card based on A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. Directions with rubric included on one sheet. No prep. Print and go. Enjoy! Merry Christmas!