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.
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
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 marks, and periods. Helpful for understanding where to place punctuation.
Following Directions TEST - A Tricky Following Directions Lesson. 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 standardized tests, too! Enjoy!
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
Back to School - Rules for Student Planner. An abbreviated summary and student friendly copy of (editable) school rules that students can tape into the back of their planner to serve as a reminder of classroom and school expectations. Created with secondary school in mind. Give it to them on the first day of school. Editable! Can be adapted for year group or to reflect your school policies. Four copies per page on MS Word format. Thank you for looking. Enjoy! While you are here, please check out my shop! -Happy Edugator
Summer Outdoor Fun Crossword Puzzle! Fun and free as a thank you to all my wonderful followers We all hate to see summer go, but hopefully it will last just a little bit longer. Enjoy this little piece of summer! - HappyEdugator
Organize for back to school with this free desk planner! Print on cardstock, laminate, and use dry erase markers (or wet erase) to write on and wipe off. Write in the month, dates, and days of the week. Calendar also has a place for Notes, Reminders, Daily To Do List,and Weekly To Do List. In color or ink friendly black and white. - HappyEdugator
Reading Strategies - Bookmarks and PowerPoint. Use these bookmarks and PowerPoint minilesson to help your students use 7 different reading strategies when they get stuck on a word. Includes bookmarks (double-sided), teacher directions, handout, and PowerPoint slide presentation. - HappyEdugator
Valentine Quiz...a free Valentine's Day Activity for choosing the right word. Multiple choice questions about Valentine's Day. Help children with word choice. Students have to choose the best choice of three words to fill in the blank. Grammar usage that is often tested on standardized tests. Great for building an understanding of how words are used correctly. Especially good for ELL, ESL and ESOL students, who may need extra help in identifying subtle differences in word choice and easily confused words. - HappyEdugator
Thanksgiving Acrostic Poem - Thankful. For Thanksgiving, students can use this festive template to write an acrostic poem using the letters in the word thankful. Lower grades can write one word answers, upper level students can write phrases or sentences. Adjustable for your grade level. Enjoy! Thank you for looking. While you are here, please check out my store. Happy Thanksgiving!
Language Difficulty Indicators Handout. FREE A list of 16 indicators, such as limited vocabulary or delayed responses, that a child is having difficulties processing language, and may need special services or extra help. - HappyEdugator
Business Letter Format. This business letter format shows that there are 6 parts to a business letter: heading, inside address, salutation, body, closing, and signature. Give the handout to your students as a model, and then let them compose their own business letter. Supports common core standards. - HappyEdugator
Organize for back to school with this free desk planner! Print on cardstock, laminate, and use dry erase markers (or wet erase) to write on and wipe off. Write in the month, dates, and days of the week. Calendar also has a place for Notes, Reminders, Daily To Do List,and Weekly To Do List. In color or ink friendly black and white. - HappyEdugator
Valentine Quiz. Valentine's Day Activity for choosing the right word. Multiple choice questions about Valentine's Day. Help children with word choice. Students have to choose the best choice of three words to fill in the blank. Grammar usage that is often tested on standardized tests. Great for building an understanding of how words are used correctly. Especially good for ELL, ESL and ESOL students, who may need extra help in identifying subtle differences in word choice and easily confused words.
Acrostic Poem - Thankful. Autumn Harvest themed, students can use this festive template to write an acrostic poem using the letters in the word thankful. Lower grades can write one word answers, upper level students can write phrases or sentences. Adjustable for your grade level. Enjoy! Thank you for looking. While you are here, please check out my store.
Back to School - Kindergarten Language Arts Practice FREEBIE. Students have to connect the alphabet letters in the right order to get the children to school and back home. Upper case and lower case letters. Good back to school quick assessment. Enjoy this free product and have a great year! - HappyEdugator
CCSS K.RF.1d
Speech Presentation - Teacher Evaluation Sheet. Easy checklist to assess a student's performance when making a speech or presentation. Assess whether student exceeds, meets, or does not meet standards for organisation, staying on topic, supporting ideas, logical arguments, appropriate sources, voice clarity and volume, etc. Has a column for N/A, so it may be used to evaluate an expository or persuasive speech. Nice to use on presentations given at the end of each grading period. - HappyEdugator
ABC Summarizer. This free summary sheet has students look for things that begin with each letter of the alphabet to summarize their learning. Students can even summarize the school year at the end of the year! As a summarizer, it can be used to conclude a unit of study, a lesson, a novel or short story, or even a movie. May be an assessment tool as well. There is a place for extra notes at the bottom. Supports common core! Thank you for looking. Please check out my shop. Enjoy! - HappyEdugator
First Day of School Activity - What if Poem. Read the poem by Judith Viorst "The First Day of School" and then have students write their own "What if..." poem. Includes a page of writing ideas and a rubric for poetry.
