Students celebrate the birth of English logician, philosopher, and creator of the Venn Diagram by building community within the classroom by comparing and contrasting likes, dislikes, and characteristics about one another.
Celebrate John Venn's Birthday!
President Barack Obama was born today in 1961.
Students are introduced to a passage by President Barack Obama in his book Dreams from My Father and are encouraged to engage in an examination of the ways they are portrayed by the media.
Google was formally incorporated this week in 1998.
Students are guided in an exploration of search tools and have a discussion about the purposes, benefits, and disadvantages of each.
Asian Pacific American Heritage Month is in May!
Students consider the portrayal of Asians in popular culture by exploring images from classic and contemporary films and comparing them to historical and cultural reference materials.
The "1984" Macintosh commercial aired today during Super Bowl XVIII.
Original advertisements are created after students review advertising techniques they've studied.
Jonathan Swift was born on this day in 1667.
Students explore satire and parody in television and film, advertising, and journalism and create a display that highlights their findings.
The Barbie doll was unveiled in 1959.
Students explore body image and advertising through an activity where they bring in pictures from magazines that they read and discuss gender representations in the media.
Humorist Erma Bombeck was born in 1927.
Using lines from Bombeck's newspaper column, students identify allusive or satirical humor. Older students can rewrite the passages for a different audience.
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.
In 1564, William Shakespeare was born on this day.
Based on grade level, students learn about rhyming structure, experiment with the Shakespearean Insult Kit, or study scenes from Othello and watch an adaptation of that scene from the movie O.
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.
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien was born on this day.
Students compare the film versions of The Lord of the Rings and Tolkien's novels. Students then imagine how a scene in a current novel that they are reading would be filmed.
The New York Times used the slogan "All the News That's Fit to Print."
After discussing newspapers and their different points of view, students choose a current event, read editorials on the event, and share them with the class to identify the editor's point of view.
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.
Roald Dahl was born on this day in 1916.
Students adapt a Roald Dahl story to picture book format and share their books and add them to the classroom library. Additionally, they compare a book version and film version of one of Dahl's works.
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.
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.
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.
The first typewriter patent was awarded in 1868.
Students take part in an inquiry-based study that compares typewriters to computers.
June 14 is Flag Day in the U.S.
Students consider how America, Americans, and the flag are represented in different patriotic songs and hypothesize about the reasons for their differences.