Christmas Homophones Search - The Night Before Christmas. Fun printable handout for December. A Christmas activity searching for homonyms and homophones in a crazy homophone version of the famous Christmas poem "The Night Before Christmas" by Clement Clark Moore. Supports common core standard to spell correctly. Challenging activity using poetry: I recommend you use partners. It will take your students some time to find and correct all of the incorrect homonyms in this one. No prep. Print and go. Student answer sheet and key included. - HappyEdugator

Following Directions Puzzles. A fun way to teach following directions and critical thinking. Great test preparation. You get three challenging puzzles! In the first puzzle, students cross words off of a table according to the directions provided. When they are finished, they will reveal a famous inspirational quote about life. In the second puzzle, students have to rearrange letters according to the directions to change one phrase into another. Finally, in the third puzzle, students must follow the arrows in order to reach the finish. Keys included. This is also a useful activity to do around testing time, at the beginning or end of the year, or anytime you wish to reinforce the importance of following directions. Good brain work out for gifted and talented, too. - HappyEdugator

Myths, Legends, Fables and Fairytales PowerPoint. Teach folktales and traditional tales: myths, legends,tall tales, fables, and fairytales. The slides discuss differences between myths and legends, tall tales, fables, and fairy tales. Examples of some famous tales and famous authors are mentioned. Myths are explanations for how ancient people understood their worlds, like Thor and Zeus. Legends were stories passed along that had a basis in truth, but were not real, like King Arthur and Robin Hood. Fables were told to teach lessons, most famously by Aesop. And folk tales and fairy tales were both passed down as stories for the children. Fairy tales we now enjoy were collected from oral tradition and written down in the 1800's. For instance, Hans Christian Andersen is remembered especially for his tales of The Little Mermaid, Thumbelina, and The Ugly Duckling, while the Brothers Grimm are known for Cinderella, Snow White, and The Frog Prince. Everything is presented against a beautiful castle background and sound effects have been added for interest.

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

Analogies PowerPoint. Interactive practice and strategies for understanding what is an analogy and how do you figure it out. 25 slide presentation defines what an analogy is, how analogies are written, and what kinds of relationships to look for when solving analogies. There are 10 practice questions for students, with answers and explanations given after they have had a chance to think. This type of guided practice will help students develop critical thinking skills and help prepare them for standardized tests. At the end is a practice quiz. Editable for your classroom needs. Can be projected on whiteboard and used as a whole class activity where students can write answers in their notebooks, or it can be assigned to students to work on independently on individual computers, tablets, or chrome books. Supports Common Core Standards: CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.7.5b Use the relationship between particular words (e.g., synonym/antonym, analogy) to better understand each of the words. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.8.4 Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative, connotative, and technical meanings; analyze the impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone, including analogies or allusions to other texts. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.8.5b Use the relationship between particular words to better understand each of the words. - HappyEdugator

Science Fair Project Student Guide. Includes 100 science project ideas, directions for creating a science fair project, how to graph and record data, and how to make a display board with dimensions and helpfu hints for success. I have also added information on how to create a logbook with rubric, parent letter, parent tips, a list of helpful websites, and a volunteer form. 19 pages. Enjoy! - HappyEdugator

Poetry Terms Crossword Puzzle. Terms include alliteration, personification, onomatopoeia, imagery, rhyme, rhythm, tone, mood, metaphor and simile...18 terms and clues. Key included. Fun review! - HappyEdugator

Paraphrasing - Steps to Great Paraphrasing PowerPoint presentation, including what is paraphrasing and why it is important. Stimulate students to think. Strategies to turn what they are reading into written summaries. Helpful when teaching how to research and write notecards and source cards. Students need to know how to paraphrase to avoid plagiarism by putting their research into their own words. Supports common core state standards. Happy writing! - HappyEdugator CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.5.8 Recall relevant information from experiences or gather relevant information from print and digital sources; summarize or paraphrase information in notes and finished work, and provide a list of sources. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.6.8 Gather relevant information from multiple print and digital sources; assess the credibility of each source; and quote or paraphrase the data and conclusions of others while avoiding plagiarism and providing basic bibliographic information for sources. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.7.8 Gather relevant information from multiple print and digital sources, using search terms effectively; assess the credibility and accuracy of each source; and quote or paraphrase the data and conclusions of others while avoiding plagiarism and following a standard format for citation. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.8.8 Gather relevant information from multiple print and digital sources, using search terms effectively; assess the credibility and accuracy of each source; and quote or paraphrase the data and conclusions of others while avoiding plagiarism and following a standard format for citation.

Leadership - Ten Qualities of a Good Leader PowerPoint Presentation. Helpful at the beginning of the year. Includes ten qualities that make a good leader. Some of the characteristics of a good leader include self-confidence, a sense of justice, and self-control. Good BTS character education activity or use when you are discussing classroom rules and behavior expectations. We tell kids to be good leaders,and not followers, but they need to know how. Good for back to school or the beginning of the year to provide students an understanding of expectations. Use at the beginning of the year to motivate. Use at the end of the year to review important life skills. (For professional development, insert the word teacher for leader, and student for follower) Animated slides, Partner activity and writing assignment included, along with some quick review questions. - HappyEdugator

Word problems are tricky. You can add, subtract, multiply, or divide to find the answer. Use this interactive PowerPoint to practice figuring out which operation to use in one step word problems. Each slide has a word problem, and students can choose whether they should use addition, subtraction, multiplication, or division to solve. Then they can work the problem. When finished, they can click to see if they were correct. Includes 15 different word problems for students to practice. You can assign to them on their device to complete independently, use in a center, or show it to the whole group. Editable for your own classroom use, so if you wish to take out the answer slides or put them at the end, you may. Enjoy! - HappyEdugator

Harriet Tubman - PowerPoint explains the history behind the American Heroine, and how she led slaves to freedom, fought against slavery, served in the Civil War, worked for women's rights and suffrage, and served her community with humanitarian efforts to help the needy and the elderly. Slide topics include - Who was Harriet Tubman? Early Life Suffered Cruelty as a Slave Marriage Determined to Be Free Escape The Fugitive Slave Act Rescuing the Family Rescue Missions Close Calls Tough Love Religious Faith Rescuing Her Parents John Brown Harper's Ferry Civil War After the War Harriet Remarries Later Years Queen Victoria Final Years Listening to Her Inner Voice Honors - Statues, Stamps, and $20 bill Legacy

Symbiosis - Symbiotic Relationships PowerPoint. Colorful graphics and animated slides explain the differences between the three types of symbiotic relationships that exist in ecosystems: commensalism, mutualism, and parasitism. Nice addition to your ecology unit. Easy to understand terms.- HappyEdugator

Narrative Hooks and Writing Practice. Examples of various types of hooks from literature. Students will learn about hooks that writer's use to engage the reader and apply what they have learned by using a hook in their own writing. - HappyEdugator

MLA Format Handout. A reference guide for students when making citations in essays using Modern Language Association (MLA) format. Includes general guidelines for margins, font and spacing, how the heading, title and page numbers should be formatted, and how to make citations for both long and short quotations, which are defined. An example included. - HappyEdugator

The Strongest Link PowerPoint Game Template. Plays similar to the TV game show The Weakest Link. Great for review in any subject. Just add your own content. Enjoy! HappyEdugator

eading - Author's Purpose Activity Handout. This reading activity handout explains author's purpose (to inform, to persuade, and to entertain) and gives students six different author's purpose reading selections they need to identify. Key is included. - HappyEdugator

India Travel Brochure Project. Student project with rubric. Students create a travel guide on India on a tri-fold construction paper. Students imagine they are travel guides leading a tour of India and must give their group an overview of India's history, geography, language, government, economy, religion, climate and attractions. Student instructions for the project to handout, teacher directions, brochure template, and a detailed rubric included. Rubric measures use of class time, writing conventions, attractiveness, organization, creativity, relevance of graphics, required elements including sources, and knowledge gained. - HappyEdugator

Poetry - Using Emotion to Create Poetry PowerPoint. Graphics and animations will engage your students as they learn about poetry writing. Includes a definition of poetry, explanation of figurative language, imagery, and sound devices, a list of human emotions, and a step by step approach to writing a sensory poem. You can also print out the included poetry frame if you desire. When students are finished, they will have created their own poem! Fun way to get reluctant poets to writing. Enjoy! - HappyEdugator

Mother's Day Verb Poem. Mothers are always doing things! They are very busy. Students can let their mom know they notice by writing a Mother’s Day Verb Poem. They can pay attention to what their mom does, and collect the verbs! Use the verbs in the poem to make a special poem about mom. If students can’t think of any verbs, there is a verb bank for ideas. Includes directions and a list of verbs, and a template to fill in with verbs. Write a verb poem for mom to let her know you notice how much she does. - HappyEdugator

Character Project and Adjectives List. Students create a fiction character for a new story. They must use 10+ adjectives from the provided list to create traits and an interesting personality for their character, and write detailed sentences to describe. Students will also make a drawing to describe what their character looks like. Included is the project handout with directions, an adjective list, and a writing checklist. The adjective list and writing checklist are also useful for any creative writing activity. Great to help students develop a character which they later introduce in a narrative. Supports common core! - HappyEdugator