Teacher Appreciation Week honors our teachers.

Since 1984, the National PTA has designated time each May for communities nationwide to honor teachers for their work with children. Parents, students, and schools across America celebrate Teacher Appreciation Week to show appreciation for the work and dedication of teachers and reaffirm the commitment to parent-teacher partnerships.

In celebration of Teacher Appreciation Week, read a book about a teacher such as Thank You, Mr. Falker, Miss Nelson is Missing, or a Magic School Bus story with Ms. Frizzle. Why are the teachers in these stories special? Have a class discussion about some of your students' favorite teachers. Then have students try these follow-up activities:

• Compare a favorite teacher to a teacher from a book with the Interactive Venn Diagram.
• Write a letter to a favorite teacher using the Letter Generator.
• Create a character map of either Miss Nelson or another storybook teacher with the Story Mapping tool.
• Use the Essay Map to plan and write an essay on why they would or would not like to be a student in one of the storybook teachers' classrooms.
• Read and present another book about a special teacher. Older students may choose books like The Miracle Worker by William Gibson, Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom, or A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest Gaines.

• Teacher Appreciation
  

  This National PTA resource offers ideas to help parents, students, and schools honor teachers during Teacher Appreciation Week.

• Ideas for Teacher Day Activities
  

  The National Education Association offers these activities, appropriate for a Teacher Appreciation Week celebration.

• Teacher Appreciation Week
  

  This page from Reading Rockets celebrates teachers through notes of appreciation from parents, videos of authors and illustrators talking about their favorite teachers, and a link for users to send their own e-cards to teachers they appreciate.

• The Magic School Bus
  

  Students enjoy interactive activities as they learn about different topics of science with a truly unusual teacher: Ms. Frizzle. Be sure to check out the interview with Magic School Bus author Joanna Cole and illustrator Bruce Degen.