As Poe's "The Raven" is read aloud, students note their reactions and discuss the changes or development of their first impressions as the poem continues.

Students write and illustrate their own children's stories using the text from a Walt Whitman poem.

Students do a book report assignment based on a current or past winner of the Coretta Scott King Book Award.

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.

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.

Students discuss some of the ways in which illustrations can enhance a story and then become illustrators, using a variety of media.

Students do a Bradbury author study and then create flyers to advertise their favorite story using the ReadWriteThink Printing Press.

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.

Students explore their own roots by interviewing family members and use their family history to write a fictional account of their roots.

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.

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.

Students share family stories of their own by writing original poems and reviewing parts of speech using the Diamante Poems tool.

Students explore varying points of view, one of Van Allsburg's common themes, by rewriting a traditional story.

After students have read one of Brian Jacques' Redwall stories, a class newspaper is created based on the story.

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.

Students brainstorm a list of civil rights-related issues and use the Acrostic Poems interactive to create poems.

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.

Students make mental "snapshots" of a natural setting, then capture the details of their setting by writing and then creating a class booklet of the nature walk.

A scene from one of Twain's works is chosen and students map the story setting using the Story Map. Setting is then discussed as a class.