I have a total of 27 years teaching experience . After I received my M.Ed. from the University of Florida (hence the name "HappyEdugator"), I began teaching in elementary school, where I taught pull-out remedial classes for grades 2-5 and a section of K-1. Then I taught Pre-K for 5 years, before I went up to Middle School, where I have been in 6th, 7th, and 8th grade. Last year, I went back to 1st grade in a private setting. I have traveled worldwide and am also fluent in Spanish.
I have a total of 27 years teaching experience . After I received my M.Ed. from the University of Florida (hence the name "HappyEdugator"), I began teaching in elementary school, where I taught pull-out remedial classes for grades 2-5 and a section of K-1. Then I taught Pre-K for 5 years, before I went up to Middle School, where I have been in 6th, 7th, and 8th grade. Last year, I went back to 1st grade in a private setting. I have traveled worldwide and am also fluent in Spanish.
The Pearl Word Search. If you read The Pearl by John Steinbeck, add this fun word search puzzle to your unit. Look for characters, events, and other significant terms that go with the novel. 30 terms hidden in this word search puzzle. Key included. Fun review! - HappyEdugator
Punctuation - Punctuating Dialogue PowerPoint FREE! Improve writing by using quotation marks! Punctuation is important! Show students how to use quotation marks in dialogue correctly. 10 slides explain the correct way to punctuate dialogue. Explains split quotations, capitalization, commas, question marks, exclamation points, and periods. Helpful for understanding where to place punctuation. Good for reviewing for state tests. Supports Common Core!
CCSS L 3.2c - using commas and quotation marks in dialogue.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.4.2b Use commas and quotation marks to mark direct speech and quotations from a text.
A great activity to do with this PowerPoint is to have the kids write their own dialogues. I cut out of magazines some interesting pictures of all kinds of different people interacting. I glued them on cardstock, with the words Who? What? Where? When? and Why? written on each card, and laminated them. I passed the cards out, and students had to imagine what the people were saying to each other in the pictures, and then write the dialogue, using correct punctuation. They also had to later incorporate the dialogue into a short story that answered the five W questions/ The kids enjoyed this activity and got very creative with their stories! Enjoy! :)
HappyEdugator
Writing - Writing for the Real World PowerPoint. Writing PowerPoint can be used one slide at a time to engage students in meaningful writing experiences. Ten different real world writing activities students can use to write in their journals, source books, or writing folders. Each slide is a different writing prompt about a real world writing situation, and each writing prompt comes with a word list to help students develop vocabulary and spelling. Students should use five words from each list in their writing assignment. These ten writing activities can be done daily over the course of two weeks, or you can spread them out over a longer period of time.
Digital Paper - Paw prints. 36 different styles. Includes large green pawprints on assorted colors, large red pawprints on assorted colors, and small gray pawprints on a variety of colored backgrounds. Useful if you have a mascot with paw prints! High quality digital papers for your creations. 12 X 12, 300 dpi. JPEG file format. Personal or commercial use. Enjoy! - HappyEdugator
Christmas Similes Activity. A fun printable Christmas activity handout to help your students create some simple Christmas similes. Your students, after reading the example, should be able to fill in the blanks with their own Christmas similes, and even make up a few of their own. Great winter fun. Also fun to do after watching the scene in the movie "A Christmas Carol" when the party-goers play the game "Similes." Also includes simile cards. Print out on cardstock, and cut out. Give to students to fill out and draw a representation of their simile. Punch a hole in the corner of each, tie with a ribbon, and hang on your "Simile Tree." - HappyEdugator
Following Directions TEST - A Tricky Following Directions Lesson. FREE Fun for April Fool's Day, too! Give this following directions test to your students, and try not to laugh too much when they are taking it. If they don't read the directions first and do what the directions say, they will be shocked at the end to find out they only had to do number one...write their name! Great test preparation activity to get kids ready for exams too! Enjoy! - HappyEdugator
Drama Warm Ups - Fun role playing activities to get students moving, thinking and creating. Whether you are teaching drama in literature, a drama course, or sponsoring a drama club after school, these activities will be engaging and fun, and will lead to higher level thinking and creativity! 15 pages of different activities with examples and suggestions to get started. Enjoy! - HappyEdugator