Students explore the definition of a hero and use the interactive Venn diagram to identify the most common characteristics of a hero.
Amelia Earhart completed her solo flight from Honolulu to Oakland in 1935.
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.
Kodak was issued a film patent on October 14, 1884.
Students create a scrapbook of their favorite pieces throughout the year and present it to parents at an end-of-year party.
The Beverly Cleary Sculpture Garden was dedicated on October 13, 1995.
Students select characters that they believe are the most memorable from Cleary's books and write short persuasive essays to explain their choices.
Today is Walt Whitman's birthday.
Students write and illustrate their own children's stories using the text from a Walt Whitman poem.
Barbara Park, author of the Junie B. Jones series, was born on this day.
Students write their own "Junie B." stories, based on the Junie B. Jones series, after brainstorming issues they've experienced during the school year.
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.
Author Amy Tan was born today in 1952
Students watch an excerpt of an interview with Tan and apply some of her principles to writing a story of their own.
Roald Dahl was born on this day in 1916.
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.
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.
Avi was born in 1937.
After reading Nothing But the Truth, students explore a current event topic and write their own short work of fiction in a similar multigenre format.
David Macaulay was born in 1946.
Students use the Multigenre Mapper interactive to explore Macaulay's use of multiple genres by composing original multigenre texts.
Celebrate National Children's Book Week!
Children show support for their favorite Children's Choice Book award finalist by designing a promotional book cover.
Celebrate National Family Literacy Day!
Parents, grandparents, and other family members are invited to the classroom for a family-school reading day.
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.
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.
Celebrate Kate DiCamillo's birthday today.
After examining the characters in one of DiCamillo's stories, students write original short stories featuring animals as central characters.
Randolph Caldecott was born on March 22, 1846.
Students explore the history of the Caldecott Medal and create a classroom literary award modeled after the Caldecott.
Author Alice Walker was born on February 9, 1944.
After students read the novel The Color Purple, dialect is discussed and students write a short piece of fiction or poetry using the dialect of their peer group.
Celebrate Children's Authors and Illustrators Week
Students "step into the shoes" of their favorite author by reading several of their books, conducting research, and preparing displays and presentations for the class.