Students learn about the life and music of John Lennon, write a short story from their lives integrating lyrics from some of their favorite songs, and create a class book of stories.

To prepare for literature circles featuring historical novels, students research the decades of the 1930s to the 1990s and share their information using Prezi, a web application for creating multimedia presentations.

After researching political platforms of past presidents through primary sources and other resources, students create commercials for these presidents using Voki, an online web tool that produces speaking avatars.

Students will develop their summarizing skills while learning about local history. They will learn to consider audience while selecting topics, conducting research and interviews, and writing historical markers for their town.

After reading the book ¡Si, Se Puede!/Yes, We Can!: Janitor Strike in L.A., students learn about labor unions, strikes, and organizing for change. Students interview staff members in their school to learn about their daily work life, and write persuasive advocacy letters.

In this lesson, students will make text-to-self, text-to-text, and text-to-world connections after reading In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson. After sharing and discussing connections, students choose and plan a project that makes a personal connection to the text.

Students learn how to get their voice out on the web when they research issues important to them and compose a persuasive podcast to post online.

Students learn that you don't have to raise your voice to raise a point. Writing a persuasive letter to your principal is a great way to get your opinions heard.

Students take a walk on the wild side when they research an animal and create a scavenger hunt activity for their classmates.

How can we convince others to agree with us on important issues? In this lesson, students explore relevant environmental issues and gather information to write persuasive essays.

Students reflect on their school year, creating a digital scrapbook consisting of images and text to present to their school community.

Conversation and cooperation bring out the best in students when they hold dialogues about their individual strengths, abilities, and talents.

Bookworms will enjoy the bytes they find in this lesson as they research and share information about online library services in places around the world.

With e-pals, students develop real-life writing and social experiences, learn the format of a friendly letter and parts of an e-mail message, and discover other cultures, languages, and geographic areas.

Students make predictions about Bridge to Terabithia and its characters, complete character studies, and relate the characters' experiences to their own as they identify ways to make and keep friends.

Pop culture and the classroom collide in this lesson when students go behind the scenes to analyze a television series for characterization to use in an original television show proposal.

Past and present come together when students interview their parents and create a skit that compares their parents' experiences as middle schoolers with the students' own lives.