Students engage in a close reading of a passage from Matt de la Pena's novel Ball Don't Lie before researching important background information to assess the accuracy of the claims made by a character.

Students read and discuss a selection of poems from Jacqueline Woodson's Brown Girl Dreaming to explore varying views on the process of desegregation in America.

After researching alternative sources of energy, students create online comic books to present their information.

After researching the history and basic facts of a nuclear chemistry topic, students utilize the Web 2.0 tool Timetoast to create an electronic timeline that they use to present their research to the class.

After researching specific fossil fuel issues, students create their own clothing brands that express their opinions about the issues and then share their information and clothing line using either PowerPoint or Prezi.

Inspired by their curiosity about animals, students work together to research an animal of their choice and present the information they gather to an authentic audience.

Students are guided through an informal exploration of nonfiction texts and child-oriented Websites, learning browsing and skimming techniques for the purpose of gathering interesting information.

Students find examples of adjectives in a shared reading. Then students "become" major characters in a book and describe themselves and other characters, using powerful adjectives.

Students must "become" a character in a novel in order to describe themselves and other characters using powerful adjectives.

Students explore figurative language in poetry by reading and writing riddle poems.

Students "become" one of the major characters in a book and describe themselves and other characters, using lists of accurate, powerful adjectives.

Students create a personalized biography for their reading buddy, and each child is the author, illustrator, and editor.

By exploring myths and truths surrounding Independence Day, students think critically about commonly believed stories regarding the beginning of the Revolutionary War and the Independence Day holiday.

Students are guided through the process of taking notes while reading factual information, then turning those notes into new sentences and paragraphs written in their own words.

Students create posters using images, text, and mathematical equations to represent a story problem.

Students create math stories by first drawing, then writing, and finally using math symbols to show addition or subtraction.

Students work in groups to create annotated book reviews with links to topics of interest related to their book.

Students work together to create classroom rules by brainstorming why they are at school and what they need while they are there.

Students analyze "choose your own adventure" stories and brainstorm to develop setting, characters, and plots for their own adventures stories and related Websites.

Students celebrate a novel they have read and get hands-on experience with technical writing by creating a board game based on the novel and writing the instructions for it.