The White Giraffe - Webquest Comparing South Africa and England. Students research and compare the countries of South Africa and England, and write their results in the T-chart. This activity goes along well with the book The White Giraffe by Lauren St. John. Students have to research facts about England - United Kingdom and South Africa and write them in the chart. Builds background knowledge about the setting of the story. Students get their information from a reliable source - the world factbook at cia.gov. After they complete the webquest, students will see some interesting differences between the countries that can be fun topics for discussion. Enjoy. - HappyEdugator

Earth Day Cooperative Learning Activity - Committee to Reduce Environmental Pollution. Works well as a post reading activity for The Lorax by Dr. Seuss or The Wump World by Bill Peet. Students will meet in groups (or committees) to analyze several different scenarios and to determine which type of polluter is the most destructive to the environment. Students will compare their individual results with their group results, and then the groups will compare their results with other groups in the class. The final activity is to see if the class can come to a consensus. Extension activity - discuss possible solutions.

Imperialism and Colonization of the New World Notes. Includes map of American colonization, and a graphic organizer showing cause and effects of the French and Indian War. Printable notes or handout outlining colonization and imperialism. The countries of Europe established colonies in the lands they had discovered but, in some cases, only after violently conquering the native people who lived there. South America and North America were colonized by Europeans known as conquistadors. This is a supplemental resource to your history of the colonies unit. - HappyEdugator

Giraffes - Fun Facts About Giraffes PowerPoint. Learn about giraffes! This giraffe PowerPoint has interesting and fun facts about the life of a giraffe. Informational text can be used to introduce or supplement a jungle theme unit or a unit about the zoo, giraffes, or African animals. Engage students and grab their attention, or build background knowledge for reading books with giraffes, like "Giraffes Can't Dance." It can even be a fun supplement to the book "The White Giraffe." - Happyedugator

Elephants - Fun Facts About Elephants PowerPoint. Learn about elephants! 21 slides of fun facts about elephants, which can be used to introduce a jungle theme unit of study. Informational text for reading practice. Learn the differences between African elephants and Asian elephants. What do elephants eat? Where do elephants live? Engage students and grab their attention, or build background knowledge for reading books with elephants, like Babar the Elephant or The Magician's Elephant. Updated August 2014. - HappyEdugator

Storms - Hurricanes vs. Tornadoes. Paired nonfiction reading with a Venn Diagram- and compare tornadoes and hurricanes. Students read about tornadoes and hurricanes, then compare and contrast the characteristics of hurricanes and tornadoes on this basic Venn diagram activity sheet. Add to your weather unit and have students research facts about storms. Also a good supplemental resource to use when reading books that have hurricanes or tornadoes in them, such as The Cay by Theodore Taylor or Tornado Alert by Franklyn M. Branley. - HappyEdugator

The White Giraffe or South Africa Word Creation Activity. Use this game to go with the book The White Giraffe by Lauren St. John. Students can do this fun activity as a brain break, and yet they are still exercising their brains. Object of the game: Make words out of Cape Town, South Africa, and put them in the columns. Tally up the points after a set amount of time, and the winner can get a surprise! - HappyEdugator

Latitude and Longitude Worksheet. This worksheet is to help students understand how latitude and longitude work and learn the terminology associated with the grid system we use to locate places on earth. Key is included.

Owls - Fun Facts About Owls PowerPoint. All about owls! Facts about the life of an owl; covers various species. Use in science to discuss owl pellets and owl behaviors. Informational text for reading practice. Build background knowledge for reading books with owls, like "Owl Moon" by Jane Yolen or "Hoot" by Carl Hiassen. Use to introduce an owl unit of study to engage students. Good for any owl theme. 17 slides. - HappyEdugator

United States Scavenger Hunt Handout. A fun fill-in-the-blank geography hunt of the United States. Students will need to use a US map (several included) and will have to use their map skills to answer the questions. There are 30 blanks worth 3 points each, and one bonus question. Key included. Also includes a set of internet task cards. Educational and fun! A good Social Studies class activity, as well as a great activity for summer. Have your kids do this activity at summer camp or on a trip! - HappyEdugator

Leap Year. Facts and fun. Animated PowerPoint on Leap Year. Answers questions many kids have about leap year. Slides include: What is Leap Year? When does Leap Year Happen? When do we add the extra day? Why do we have Leap Year? When was the first Leap Year? What calendar do we use today? How is Leap Year determined? 2016 is Leap Year - what are the next 4 leap years? 2016 is Leap Year - what year was the last leap year? The last slide is a partner activity the kids can do that is related to leap year and February 29.

Penguins - Fun Facts About Penguins PowerPoint. All about penguins...are you using a penguin theme in your classroom? Need to read more nonfiction? Informational text for reading practice. Learn about penguins this winter! Fun facts about the life of a penguin...a study of different kinds of penguins, which can be used to introduce a unit on penguins to engage students and grab their attention. Good for building background knowledge for reading books with penguins, like Mr. Popper's Penguins, Tacky the Penguin, or Penguin Chick. Fun to use during the Christmas season or in the winter months. Editable for classroom use. 18 slides with animated graphics. - HappyEdugator Content Alert - Includes a slide on the African penguin, also called the "Jackass" penguin because it sounds like a donkey. Some classes may giggle just a bit too much, so it is editable if you wish to edit it out. :)

BATS Webquest. Fun at Halloween or anytime. Explore the world of bats. In this webquest, students will learn basic information about bats, their habits and habitats, types, and interesting facts. Students will visit a kid friendly website and answer ten questions. Key included. - HappyEdugator

This Continents and Oceans geography resource includes an interactive and animated PowerPoint and a printable student book to go along with the slideshow. Useful when studying the seven continents and five oceans. Also gives examples of some major features of each continent and some animals that are unique to each. The PowerPoint is editable for your personal classroom or homeschool use, so if you teach only four oceans, you may edit it to reflect that. Includes slides about continents and oceans in general, fast and fun facts, each of the seven continents, each of the five oceans, a printable booklet to accompany the slides which is fill in the blank, and interactive quizzes in the presentation for review. Students will have fun learning about the different continents and oceans and making their own study guide which they can color and decorate since it is in black and white, and printer friendly, too. Key Words: Social Studies 2.5a Continents, Oceans, Equator, hemispheres, Earth, World, Geography ©2016 HappyEdugator. This product is the intellectual property of Deborah Hayes aka HappyEdugator.

Evaluating an Argument - Supports Common Core! Use around Earth Day, or any time you study nonfiction. PowerPoint slides helps students understand how to evaluate an argument, a critical reading skill. Students learn that evaluate means to judge a selection by looking for the author's main point, whether it is supported by evidence and facts, and whether the author argues against opposing arguments. Practice exercise with informational text included. Students will read and evaluate the argument from an excerpt of the book Green Planet Rescue by Robert Halpern. Good practice of common core standards and appropriate for Earth Day, too. Background vocabulary is endangered, species, and habitat. - HappyEdugator Aligned to Common Core Standards RI 7.1, RI 7.2, RI 7.3, RI 7.5, 7.6, 7.8, RI 8.1, 8.2, 8.5, 8.6, 8.8 Supports College and Career Readiness Standards grades 6-12 for drawing evidence from informational text to support analysis and reflection

Five Themes of Geography Handouts and Graphic Organizer Set. Included here are two handouts explaining the five basic themes of geography: location (absolute and relative), place , movement, relationships (human interaction with environment) and regions. Includes 6 different graphic organizers to use for any geographical region of study. Graphic organizer 1 - students use this organizer to list their area of study, describe the absolute location on one side and the relative location on the other Graphic organizer 2 - students can use this organizer to describe their area of study with descriptions of landforms, bodies of water, and human life Graphic organizer 3 - students can use this organizer to describe how the people in their area of study interact with the environment Graphic organizer 4 - students can use this organizer to describe how people, goods, and ideas move in, through, and out of their area of study Graphic organizer 5 - students can use this organizer to describe the region of their area of study Graphic organizer 6 - students can use this organizer to compare their area of study to their home state - HappyEdugator

Earth Day Vocabulary CARDS and Activities. Print these out on cardstock, and laminate if you desire for durability. Keep the sheets intact for this LEARNING ACTIVITY: Print out 2 sets of EARTH SHEETS. Divide class into groups. Give each group an EARTH activity sheet. Each group will work together and find three (or you decide how many) facts for each square. Give them adequate time to do this. (Try out my PowerPoint timer!) Have the groups report back to the class. You can also assign the rows on the cards to different groups. OR Cut cards out for these LEARNING ACTIVITIES: 1. Pull cards out of a hat (or other container) and assign to students for research activities. 2. Attach to Popsicle sticks and have students pull one when they are finished with other work. Require them to find out five facts about the word that relates it to Earth Day. 3. Put cards inside plastic Easter eggs and have students find them. When they return, have them earn a jelly bean for every word they can define or describe what it means to the planet. You can come up with other games to use with these, too! If you blow them up to poster size, you have Earth Day word wall words, too. Enjoy! -HappyEdugator

Have your students learn about holidays around the world and write acrostic poems about how people celebrate Christmas around the world. Includes informational text about ten different countries around the world and how they celebrate Christmas. You may wish to have students do additional research to write their poems. These are fun and easy to use for differentiation. You can choose longer or shorter poems for students, or you can give them choice. You can also require either words, phrases, or complete sentences on the lines. You can decide to rhyme or not. They do require some critical thinking and creativity. They make a great display, too. - HappyEdugator ©2016 HappyEdugator.

Writing Activities - 21 Writing prompts for engaging narrative, expository, and even poetry about trash. Reduce, reuse, recycle writing ideas. Fun to use anytime, but also a good Earth Day project or when studying ecology or conservation. Differentiated writing activities that can be used in various ways for whole group, cooperative learning, or as a literacy center. You can show the individual slides to a whole group as a class writing activity. Also, you might prefer to print the slides and divide the activities between small groups, and give students a selection of cards to choose from. In addition, the slides can be printed out on index cards and laminated to be used in a literary writing center. If you make a center, consider putting a trash can in it filled with interesting junk to inspire writing ideas. However, you decide to use them, I hope you will enjoy the wonderful writing your students will create, and that they will enjoy writing and be proud of their accomplishments. A rubric is included on the last slide. Enjoy! - HappyEdugator

Learn all about the 7 New Wonders of the World with this 21 slide PowerPoint presentation. Gives background information about the amazing structures built around the world that were voted to be the New Seven Wonders of the World in 2007. Includes slides on the Great Wall of China, the Taj Mahal, Christ the Redeemer, the Colosseum, Chichen Itza, Machu Picchu, and Petra. Also includes slides of some of the finalists in the competition, such as the Eiffel Tower, Statue of Liberty, Easter Island, Stonehenge, Red Square and the Kremlin, the Acropolis, Angkor Wat, and the Sydney Opera House. Great for cultural literacy. ©2017 HappyEdugator.