In The Watsons Go to Birmingham-1963, Curtis examines America's stuggle for civil rights, through the eyes of a family that gets caught up in the turmoil of 1963. Have your students explore a civil rights issue by writing poetry, using the Acrostic Poems interactive. First, as a class, brainstorm a list of civil rights issues, notable figures, places, and events from American history. Examples could include Birmingham, Martin Luther King, Jr., segregation, and Rosa Parks. Then have students use the Acrostic Poems interactive to create their poems.

If you do not have access to the Internet, students can create acrostic poems without using the interactive. First, have each student select a topic for his or her poem. Next, ask them to brainstorm a list of key words that describe or remind them of their topic. Then have students use the list of words they generated to help them write their poems.

Celebrate Get Caught Reading Month with a reading-related service project. Try one of these activities with your students:

• Plan an intergenerational reading day. Invite seniors to visit your school, or arrange a trip for your students to a local senior center. Have students select books to read to adults, and invite adults to share a favorite story with students. Extend an ongoing invitation to guest readers, perhaps on a monthly basis.
  
  
• Organize a book drive to collect new or nearly new books to supplement your classroom or school library, or to donate to families or a local children's hospital.

Be sure to have a camera on hand to "catch your students reading" on film throughout the month. You can also have students organize a community "Get Caught Reading" campaign by taking photos of members of their families and community figures (firefighters, grocers, local police officers, etc.) caught reading, and creating a school display.

American film and theater have many examples of musical works that have been adapted from a novel or other non-musical version. Explore the effects of music on a story by examining one example with your class.

• First, brainstorm a list of such works, which could include examples such as A Christmas Carol, Les Misérables, and numerous Disney films.
• Next, after reading a story, novel, or play (or viewing a non-musical version on film), have students view the musical version.
• Then, have students discuss the differences they observed between the two versions of the story. Were the characters, setting, and main events the same? In the musical version, what role did song lyrics play in telling the story? Do both versions seem equally dramatic (or funny, or sad, etc.)? Which version do students prefer? Why?
• Finally, have students select a text that you've read in class. They should imagine that they are a songwriter working on a musical adaptation of the story. They can work alone or in groups to write lyrics to one song. They can use the tune to a song they know or compose their own music. Students should be able to explain how this song would help tell the story and which character or characters sing the song. Students can perform their songs for the class or use the interactive CD/DVD Cover Creator to design a cover for the soundtrack. More tips are available for use with this tool.

Choose complementary Reading Rainbow selections to explore a topic using fiction and nonfiction.

For example, Ruth Heller's Chickens Aren't the Only Ones and Patricia Polacco's Rechenka's Eggs both explore the subject of animals that lay eggs. On the topic of dinosaurs, you'll find William Joyce's Dinosaur Bob and His Adventures with the Family Lazardo and Aliki's Digging up Dinosaurs. After reading both books, your students can compare the selections using the interactive Venn Diagram.

Have students work individually or in small groups to write a poem, song, article, journal entry, or comic strip about the same topic. When all the pieces are completed, compile them in a book or create a bulletin board display.

Have your class work as a whole and in small groups to create a class "100th Day" book. First, have students break into small groups to brainstorm a list of possible topics for the book. Some possibilities include:

• 100 poems
• 100 ways to improve the Earth (our school, etc.)
• 100 people who changed history

Each group should nominate one idea to be considered by the whole class. Have the class vote on their favorite topic, brainstorm specific ideas, and then create a book based on this topic. Proudly display your book in your classroom or school library!

Most students think of the library as a place to check out books or use technology, but do you know what else your library has to offer? To find out:

Check out your library:

• Head to your school and public library during National Library Week to see what's new and participate in all they have to offer.

Visit your library online:

• If you can’t make it to your libraries, visit their website or social media pages to learn about programs and services offered.

Invite in your librarian:

• Librarians are a wealth of knowledge, about the library itself and all they have to offer. Talk with your librarians to learn more!

Today is the birthday of author Beverly Cleary, who brought to life the characters of Ramona and older sister Beezus. On this day, D.E.A.R Day, families are encouraged to take at least 30 minutes to put aside all distractions and enjoy books together. Get together with other readers, find someone to read to, or even just read alone. Here are some additional ideas:

Family Read Aloud

With this tip, learn a few simple read-aloud strategies that can sharpen a child's emerging reading skills and help you have fun together with a good book.

Journaling

This lesson encourages children to explore authentic reasons for writing by writing messages to their family in a family message journal.

Retell Stories

Tell me about it in your own words! If students can paraphrase the information they have read, then you—and they—can be confident that they understand it.

Drop Everything!

Don’t think that means that the celebration is only allowed during this month, though. It’s encouraged all year long!

Project or share copies of Dunbar’s poem Sympathy. Read it aloud and ask students to discuss words, lines, and images that stand out to them as particularly meaningful.

Then share with students the critical excerpts on the poem from Modern American Poetry (including earlier and later versions of part of the poem). Ask small groups to read the excerpts and then discuss how the ideas from the three critics change or deepen their understanding of the poem.

Preview and share with students all or parts of Baldwin's 1963 essay A Talk to Teachers. Ask students to identify Baldwin's main contentions about race relations in America and think critically about connections they see to other texts (such as poems, books, or films) and to contemporary social issues.

Then invite students to use the Letter Generator to write a letter to Baldwin responding to his ideas and how they see them resonating with the present.

Project for students the short video Louise Erdrich, author of LaRose, talks about her love of books. Briefly discuss Erdrich’s attitudes toward and associations with books before inviting students to write their own short memory piece about a pleasurable experience with a book, at a bookstore, or in a library.

Encourage students to include sensory details about the book, such as how it looked, felt, smelled, and so on. Then ask students to share their memories to join in Erdrich’s love of books.