Eric Jayne

Students don't use the dictionary as often as they should. Part of the reason, I believe, is because they don't know how and they don't really know what's in there. I use this activity to force students to get into the dictionary and find out all that it has to offer. It's also a great activity to meet CCSS L.4.4.c or L.5.4.c. I start the activity with some basic instruction about guide words, pronunciation guides, and what is meant by parts of speech. I then provide students with a dictio

This parts of speech quiz assesses students understanding of the 9 basic parts of speech (noun, verb, adverb, adjective, pronoun, preposition, article, conjunction, and interjection). This can be used as a pre-assessment prior to instruction on the parts of speech and again as a post-test after instruction.

This interjections worksheet asks students to identify and correctly punctuate interjections. The sentences combine a variety of interjections, including ones that require an exclamation mark and ones that require a comma after them.

This adverb quiz assesses students understanding that adverbs modify verbs, adjectives, and other adverbs by answering the questions how?, where?, and when?. Students are asked to not only identify adverbs but also the word the adverb describes, and the question the adverb answers.

This quiz assesses students understanding of how to correctly punctuate dialogue. Students are asked to insert commas quotation marks, and ending punctuation into quotes. They are also asked to correctly punctuate back and forth dialogue between two speakers.

I made this presentation to introduce my students to percents. I use this as part of my lecture to promote classroom discussion and for students to take notes from. The show walks students through the idea of breaking apart the word percent into per and cent, and it leads students through a look at both of those words/affixes. The goal is to get students to understand that percent means out of 100. The next few slides focus on converting both fractions and decimals into percents. They wal

I use this activity to introduce my students to the concept of square roots. It starts by having students draw as many squares as they can on grid paper. Students are then asked to analyze the squares to see how long their sides are and what their area is (in squares). Once students have that data, they are able to make connections between the length of side and the area (side x side = area). This enables a discussion about square roots and perfect squares, as the students will have essentia

Students have difficulty using protractors to measure angles. This activity is a great starting point for teaching students to use protractors because it takes away the lining up piece (where they struggle) and only requires them to correctly read the angle. Students will also practice drawing an angle using a protractor. This make a great introductory activity before having students actually use a protractor.

This compound sentences quiz assesses students understanding that a compound sentence is made of more than one simple sentence combined using a coordinating conjunction (and a comma). Students are required to identify whether a sentence is a compound sentence or not, and they are also asked to correctly punctuate the use of conjunctions.

This activity has students using base-ten blocks to construct towers. The idea is to build the tallest tower using the least amount of blocks. The blocks are given a dollar value, and students must figure out the cost per height of their towers. This is a timed problem-solving activity. I put students in pairs and record each group's results on the board. It's fun to see the different ways students attempt to build their towers. I will record the tallest and most cost effective tower and l

This file includes both a written book report rubric and a book talk rubric. Both rubrics are out of 21 points and focus on the elements of genre, characters, setting, and plot. There are also sections for a critique and on the appearance and/or presentation.

I made this contract to try to hold students accountable for their behavior. It contains a list of daily responsibilities that seem to be typical for disorganized, struggling students. Responsibilities include writing down assignments in their planner, putting papers where they belong, and following directions. I find that getting down your expectations is a good first step in holding students accountable for their behaviors, and this contract serves that purpose.

This preposition worksheet has students identifying prepositional phrases. It works well as practice or as an assessment.

This appositives quiz assesses students understanding of appositives. Students are asked to insert appositives into a sentence using correct punctuation and to correctly punctuate appositives that are already in given sentences.

The common core standards place an increased focus on writing in response to reading. Students need to incorporate ideas from texts with their own ideas to answer questions related to the text. One way to assist students with this task is through the A.C.E. strategy (Answering the Question, Citing Information from the Text, and Explaining and/or Extending their Thinking). This organizer helps students focus on the individual components of A.C.E. It helps them see which areas they need to wor

I made this file to help introduce students to ratios. It's a 6 slide PowerPoint presentation that walks students through what a ratio is, when you use them, and how to write them. This is a great supplement to your ratios teaching. Be sure to view it as a show. By the way, I have another one of these files for proportions.

This packet contains everything needed to successfully assign book reports to intermediate students. It contains both a book report and a book talk rubric, both of which focus on the following elements: genre, characters, setting, plot, and critique. There are practice sheets for each of those elements so students can work on their report in pieces that get submitted to the teacher for approval. Lastly, there is an outline and an organizer to help students organize their ideas.

This activity is to designed for students to write about their summer vacations. I use it as a first day/week activity to get students writing. It's intended to be a chance for them to talk about their summers and to practice writing. When students are finished, this makes a nice early item to display on bulletin boards.

This quiz is designed to assess students' understanding of subject and verb agreement in a sentence. There are 11 multiple-choice questions with both singular and compound subjects.

I made this PowerPoint to introduce students to polygons so that I could focus on quadrilaterals. This is 16-slide show that is intended to be a teaching tool that students can take notes from and a teacher can lead a discussion from. The slides give definitions and examples of polygons, including the different types of quadrilaterals.