Students work with a partner or individually to create cartoons of their favorite scenes from Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing.
Judy Blume was born in 1938.
Amelia Earhart completed her solo flight from Honolulu to Oakland in 1935.
Students explore the definition of a hero and use the interactive Venn diagram to identify the most common characteristics of a hero.
Kodak was issued a film patent on October 14, 1884.
Students create a scrapbook of their favorite pieces throughout the year and present it to parents at an end-of-year party.
The Beverly Cleary Sculpture Garden was dedicated on October 13, 1995.
Students select characters that they believe are the most memorable from Cleary's books and write short persuasive essays to explain their choices.
Barbara Park, author of the Junie B. Jones series, was born on this day.
Students write their own "Junie B." stories, based on the Junie B. Jones series, after brainstorming issues they've experienced during the school year.
The Statute of Anne, an influential copyright law, went into effect in 1710.
Student groups do web research, compile their information, and make a booklet on copyright rules for the class to use as a reference.
Roald Dahl was born on this day in 1916.
Students adapt a Roald Dahl story to picture book format and share their books and add them to the classroom library. Additionally, they compare a book version and film version of one of Dahl's works.
Coretta Scott King was born on this day in 1927.
Students do a book report assignment based on a current or past winner of the Coretta Scott King Book Award.
Avi was born in 1937.
After reading Nothing But the Truth, students explore a current event topic and write their own short work of fiction in a similar multigenre format.
Celebrate National Children's Book Week!
Children show support for their favorite Children's Choice Book award finalist by designing a promotional book cover.
Celebrate National Family Literacy Day!
Parents, grandparents, and other family members are invited to the classroom for a family-school reading day.
Faith Ringgold was born on October 8, 1930.
Students use Ringgold's books as a springboard for a discussion of race, gender, and civil rights, and then write and illustrate original picture books on these topics.
NCTE's NCTE Orbis Pictus Award® for Outstanding Nonfiction for Children is announced today.
Students conduct research and write original works of nonfiction on topics of their choice.
Celebrate Kate DiCamillo's birthday today.
After examining the characters in one of DiCamillo's stories, students write original short stories featuring animals as central characters.
Randolph Caldecott was born on March 22, 1846.
Students explore the history of the Caldecott Medal and create a classroom literary award modeled after the Caldecott.
Celebrate Children's Authors and Illustrators Week
Students "step into the shoes" of their favorite author by reading several of their books, conducting research, and preparing displays and presentations for the class.
Get ready to go back to school!
Students share details about their lives with one another using the interactive Graphic Map and share their memories in small groups or with the whole class.
Caldecott-winning illustrator Lane Smith was born in 1959.
Students discuss some of the ways in which illustrations can enhance a story and then become illustrators, using a variety of media.
Walter Dean Myers, author of the Printz Award-winning novel Monster, was born in 1937.
Students discuss how the form of a film script affects the story, why the author may have selected this writing style, and write a story using a similar format.
Alex Haley, author of Roots, was born in 1921.
Students explore their own roots by interviewing family members and use their family history to write a fictional account of their roots.