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.
Sally Ride, first American woman in space, was born in 1951.
Commercial ice cream is first sold in the U.S. in 1786.
After finding advertisements from the past, students evaluate them and discuss how ads have changed over the years. Students then create an advertisement for a new flavor of ice cream.
The first Academy Awards ceremony was held in 1929.
Students make lists of their favorite and least favorite movies and brainstorm qualities that make a film good or bad. Next, students write a movie review for a film they have seen.
The RMS Titanic sank on this day in 1912.
Students use the Internet Workshop model to explore web links about the Titanic disaster.
Walt Disney was born in 1901.
Students describe female characters in Disney films, discuss their characteristics, and write a thesis statement about them.
Author Eve Bunting was born in Ireland in 1928.
Students listen to a news article about the LA race riots and then read Smoky Night to discuss how a younger observer might be affected by these events and their perceptions.
On this day in 1918, the United States passed the U.S. Standard Time Act.
A video conference with a class from a different country or time zone is planned. Students brainstorm questions to ask and figure out how many time zones they would have to travel through to have the conference.
Artist Pablo Picasso was born on this day in 1881.
Students view a Picasso piece, write their impressions, and share. Students can create their own Picasso-style art using the interactive Picassohead.
Teen Literature and Technology
In this episode, you'll hear about books that "break the rules of writing" by telling stories in the form of emails, blog entries, and instant messages.
An Introduction to Graphic Novels
Tune in to hear some background about graphic novels as well as specific recommendations of fantasy epics, memoirs, biographies, and adventure thriller stories, all presented in the form of a graphic novel.
Teens as Writers
In honor of NCTE's National Day on Writing, tune in to hear about the growing number of books featuring teens who write.
Celebrate National Library Week!
Students learn more about libraries as part of National Library Week.
Today is D.E.A.R. Day!
April 12 is known as D.E.A.R Day! D.E.A.R. stands for "Drop Everything and Read," a national month-long celebration of reading designed to remind folks of all ages to make reading a priority activity in their lives.
Music in Our Schools Month is in March.
Students explore the effects of music on a story by reading a story, novel, or play, viewing the musical version, and comparing the two. Students can then select a text read in class and create a musical adaptation.
Today, the American Library Association announces its annual book award winners.
Students research different awards given by the ALA and do an activity based on one of the awards.
Hispanic Heritage Month begins today.
Students brainstorm all the various aspects of Latinx culture and compile topics to research. Groups then research topics and present their information to the class.
Montgomery Ward published the first mail-order catalog in 1872.
Students explore how and why catalogs have changed over the years and compare their findings about printed catalogs with online catalogs.
The first picture of Earth was taken by the U.S. satellite Explorer VI in 1959.
After students view the first picture from the Explorer VI Satellite, they discuss the differences between this first image and the images of the earth that we typically see today.
The prototype for the World Wide Web was created in 1990.
Students look at pictures from the past using the WayBack Machine and brainstorm a few websites to explore to think about how they have changed over the years.
Paul Revere began his famous midnight ride in 1775.
Through the study of Paul Revere, students learn about primary source documents while researching their family histories, with which they create and compare their family trees.