Through Sewell's novel, students explore the cruelty to animals and extend the discussion to current events, eventually presenting the information.

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.

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.

Students brainstorm a list of civil rights-related issues and use the Acrostic Poems interactive to create poems.

Students read and respond to an essay by Baldwin, commenting on the contemporary resonance of his ideas.

In small groups or individually, students make baseball cards for the players in the poem "Casey at the Bat." Students can use a word processor or the Character Trading Cards interactive to create their cards.