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.
Roald Dahl was born on this day in 1916.
Coretta Scott King was born on this day in 1927.
Students do a book report assignment based on a current or past winner of the Coretta Scott King Book Award.
Faith Ringgold was born on October 8, 1930.
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.
Get ready to go back to school!
Students share details about their lives with one another using the interactive Graphic Map and share their memories in small groups or with the whole class.
Science-fiction author Ray Bradbury was born in 1920.
Students do a Bradbury author study and then create flyers to advertise their favorite story using the ReadWriteThink Printing Press.
Walter Dean Myers, author of the Printz Award-winning novel Monster, was born in 1937.
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.
Alex Haley, author of Roots, was born in 1921.
Students explore their own roots by interviewing family members and use their family history to write a fictional account of their roots.
Author of Tuck Everlasting, Natalie Babbitt, was born in 1932.
Students research the concept of immortality from beliefs around the world and compose a short story, myth, or poem that addresses immortality.
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.
Children's author Patricia Polacco was born in 1944.
Students share family stories of their own by writing original poems and reviewing parts of speech using the Diamante Poems tool.
Today is Chris Van Allsburg's birthday.
Students explore varying points of view, one of Van Allsburg's common themes, by rewriting a traditional story.
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.
Celebrate Cynthia Rylant's birthday!
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.
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 Pied Piper led the children out of Hamelin in 1376.
After listening to The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents, students compare Pratchett's version with Browning's version and discuss how perspective changes the story.
In 1969, the first human walked on the moon.
As a class, students discuss Neil Armstrong's famous quote when he landed on the moon and explore the difference that one word can make, as well as the gendered language that Armstrong uses.
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.
Henry David Thoreau was born in 1817.
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.
The Scopes Trial began today in 1925.
Students brainstorm a list of objects and processes that have changed over time and use the Timeline tool to sketch out the evolution of the item they have chosen. A giant class timeline can be created to show the evolution of the items students have investigated.
It's Independence Day! Or is it?
Students consider why there are so many different dates associated with the Declaration of Independence and why the nation's birthday is celebrated on July 4.