Students discuss Benjamin Franklin's contributions to postal history, investigate the roles of the Postmaster General, and write letters to their classmates using the Letter Generator.

Students read letters from the Gold Rush and follow up by writing an imaginary letter to a family member about their experience using the Letter Generator.

Student groups do web research, compile their information, and make a booklet on copyright rules for the class to use as a reference.

Students watch an excerpt of an interview with Tan and apply some of her principles to writing a story of their own.

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

In a small group or as individuals, students write letters related to a unit of study or particular topic they have studied.

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.

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.

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.

Students brainstorm important events and people that might serve as the beginning of an interesting piece of writing. They then use the Bio-Cube to plan their writing and write an essay about a memorable person.

Students look at Kenneth Holder's paintings of the Lewis and Clark trail and transform their notes into a descriptive paragraph as if they were a member of the expedition.

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.

Students watch a short video about Erdrich's love of books and write their own memory piece.

Students choose a small aspect of their lives to develop into a story, poem, or brief essay inspired by Cisneros' work.

Students have fun with language by creating a special kind of pun with its origin in a literary source.

Students review Scieszka's tips for encouraging young people to read and then create their own, sharing ideas with adults in their community through a letter.

Students read and discuss an editorial written by Frederick Douglass and then write the opening editorial for a contemporary publication devoted to a social cause important to them.