Students write original short works of historical fiction in verse format, modeling the style Hesse used to write Out of the Dust.
Karen Hesse, author of the Newbery-winning verse novel Out of the Dust, was born in 1952.
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.
Science-fiction author Ray Bradbury was born in 1920.
Students do a Bradbury author study and then create flyers to advertise their favorite story using the ReadWriteThink Printing Press.
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.
Science writer Seymour Simon was born in 1931.
Students select and explore a scientific topic in detail using Simon's nonfiction science books and then use what they learn to write original poetry on the topic.
Paperback books were first introduced in 1935.
Independent reading is promoted among students by organizing a paperback book swap in the classroom or with other classes at the same grade level.
Author of Tuck Everlasting, Natalie Babbitt, was born in 1932.
Students research the concept of immortality from beliefs around the world and compose a short story, myth, or poem that addresses immortality.
Novelist Ernest Hemingway was born on this day in 1899.
Students examine the ways different authors treat the subject of war in their writing and compare and contrast using the Venn Diagram interactive.
African American journalist Ida B. Wells was born in 1862.
Students brainstorm a list of human rights issues, research their group's issue in depth, examine the way journalists cover a story, and create articles for a classroom newspaper.
Children's author Patricia Polacco was born in 1944.
Students share family stories of their own by writing original poems and reviewing parts of speech using the Diamante Poems tool.
Celebrate the first day of summer with summer reading.
Families are invited to a June literacy fair to end the school year and get students on the right track for the summer.
Today is Chris Van Allsburg's birthday.
Students explore varying points of view, one of Van Allsburg's common themes, by rewriting a traditional story.
Brian Jacques, author of the Redwall series, was born in 1939.
After students have read one of Brian Jacques' Redwall stories, a class newspaper is created based on the story.
Celebrate Cynthia Rylant's birthday!
Students work in small groups or as a class to map the plot of a selected Cynthia Rylant story and create original literary works using the plot diagrams.
CNN debuted as the first television news network in 1980.
Students brainstorm a list of modern news sources and from previous centuries. Groups then research one of these sources and create a timeline showing the evolution of news.
Newbery Medal winner Christopher Paul Curtis was born in 1953.
Students brainstorm a list of civil rights-related issues and use the Acrostic Poems interactive to create poems.
May is Get Caught Reading Month!
Students celebrate Get Caught Reading Month by doing a reading-related service project such as planning an intergenerational reading day or organizing a book drive.
Author Laura Joffe Numeroff was born in 1953.
Using one of Numeroff's books as a model, students use the circle plot structure as a culminating project for a unit of study completed in the classroom.
Write letters that make things happen!
In a small group or as individuals, students write letters related to a unit of study or particular topic they have studied.