Students write resumes for historical fiction characters. They first explore help wanted ads to see what employers want, and then draft resumes for the characters they've chosen.
Book Report Alternative: Writing Resumes for Characters in Historical Fiction
Writing Acrostic Poems with Thematically Related Texts in the Content Areas
Students read thematically related texts, scaffolded from simple to complex, to help them gather necessary concept vocabulary and background knowledge in a content area. They then write acrostic poems to organize and present their learning in a creative way.
Trading Card Creator
This tool provides a fun and useful way to explore a variety of topics such as a character in a book, a person or place from history, or even a physical object. An excellent tool to for summarizing or as a prewriting exercise for original stories.
Connection Web
Students use this printout to expand on connections they have made to a text and use those details to write essays or create projects about the text.
Using the RAFT Writing Strategy
This strategy guide introduces the RAFT technique and offers practical ideas for using this technique to teach students to experiment with various perspectives in their writing.
Bringing Lessons to Life with Animoto
Using Animoto, a free Web 2.0 tool, students can develop short digital videos that include music, photos, video clips, and text as well as share their creations electronically.
Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for Media Literacy Education
This document is a code of best practices that helps educators using media literacy concepts and techniques to interpret the copyright doctrine of fair use.
Bringing Economic Vocabulary to Life Through Video Posters
Imagine if vocabulary could come alive with the click of a button! Students create video posters to demonstrate knowledge of new economics vocabulary.
Using Word Storms to Explore Vocabulary and Encourage Critical Thinking
Students learn that dogs are more than just pets in this lesson, which teaches them to use research and vocabulary-acquisition strategies to learn and write about working dogs.
The "1984" Macintosh commercial aired today during Super Bowl XVIII.
Original advertisements are created after students review advertising techniques they've studied.
Today is Benjamin Franklin's birthday.
Students discuss Benjamin Franklin's contributions to postal history, investigate the roles of the Postmaster General, and write letters to their classmates using the Letter Generator.
March is National Women's History Month.
A scrapbook highlighting the accomplishments of famous American women is created as a class using the Alphabet Organizer and Bio-Cube.
On this day in 1907, Rachel Carson was born.
Students learn about Rachel Carson, explore different environmental websites, and write a Diamante Poem about a particular habitat.
Ezra Jack Keats was born on this day in 1916.
In celebration of Keats' birthday, students write stories that include some characters from Keats' books and practice using collage techniques with the Collage Machine.
The Space Shuttle Challenger exploded in 1986.
Students interview a parent or another adult about the Challenger and hypothesize about differences. Students can also write about the Columbia disaster in 2003.
Elizabeth Blackwell became the first woman in the US to earn a MD degree in 1849.
"Famous Firsts" are researched by students, followed by small group research and multimedia presentations to report research results.
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.
Children's publisher John Newbery was born in 1713.
Each student chooses a book that is special and writes a short story about why it deserves special mention. Students can plan the pages of their own stories and then make a Stapleless Book or use the ReadWriteThink Printing Press.
Sally Ride, first American woman in space, was born in 1951.
After exploring information about Sally Ride on the StarKids Who's Who site, students write a letter using the Letter Generator to Dr. Ride's foundation, Sally Ride Science.
Teacher Appreciation Week honors our teachers.
In celebration of Teacher Appreciation Week, students read a book about a teacher and follow up with an activity related to the book using the Venn Diagram, Letter Generator, Story Map, or Essay Map.