Students revive elements of the oral tradition by writing about something funny that happened to them recently, sharing with classmates, and discussing the changes that occur during the retelling of the stories.
Today is Native American writer Leslie Marmon Silko's birthday.
Author Gabriel García Márquez was born on this day.
Students take place in a collaborative creative writing activity to begin to understand the hallmarks of the literary style known as magical realism.
Beware the Ides of March!
Students discuss and categorize superstitions, define a superstition, and compare the similarities and difference between proverbs and superstitions.
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.
In 1902, John Steinbeck was born.
Students brainstorm a list of the ills of society, research a topic of their choosing, and then prepare an annotated bibliography of texts that address the topic.
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.
Diarist Samuel Pepys was born.
Students write diary entries and revisit the entries as if it were a hundred years from now. Students then brainstorm and write paragraphs about life in the 21st century.
Poet Robert Burns was born in 1759.
Students read examples of traditional Scottish ballads and use this information to write and perform their own ballads.
Jacob Grimm, one of the Brothers Grimm, was born today.
Students compare different versions of the fairy tale Cinderella and then rewrite a lesser-known Grimm story and explain the changes they made.
Langston Hughes was born in 1902.
Students examine the poem "Dreams" and identify metaphors in each sentence. Groups of students then compose poems with metaphors for dreams.
Take part in the African American Read-In!
Students come together with family and friends to take part in a read-in of books by African American authors and report their results.
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.
The Space Shuttle Challenger exploded in 1986.
Students interview a parent or another adult about the Challenger and hypothesize about differences. Students can also write about the Columbia disaster in 2003.
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.
In 1929, Martin Luther King, Jr. was born on this day.
Students study Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech and work in groups to create a mural that depicts Dr. King's vision of peace.
Amelia Earhart completed her solo flight from Honolulu to Oakland in 1935.
Students explore the definition of a hero and use the interactive Venn diagram to identify the most common characteristics of a hero.
Jane Yolen was born in 1939.
Students read one of Jane Yolen's books, retell the story in the form of a puppet show, research animals in the book, and document their findings with the Animal Study interactive tool.
The Statute of Anne, an influential copyright law, went into effect in 1710.
Student groups do web research, compile their information, and make a booklet on copyright rules for the class to use as a reference.
Celebrate National Family Literacy Day!
Parents, grandparents, and other family members are invited to the classroom for a family-school reading day.
NCTE's NCTE Orbis Pictus Award® for Outstanding Nonfiction for Children is announced today.
Students conduct research and write original works of nonfiction on topics of their choice.