Ask students to reflect on something they recently learned how to do.  After a few minutes to write or talk with a partner, have students share what they learned as you record their topics for everyone to see.  Then lead a discussion around the role digital tools played in the different learning students shared.

• How many of the examples were about learning to use a new digital tool?

• How many examples featured students using a digital technology to facilitate or support their learning?

• Which examples can students imagine doing differently with the support of a digital tool?

Then have students reflect on the varied ways digital learning plays a part in their everyday lives.

Turn students' attention to the stars by pointing them toward the StarDate Constellation Guide, Enchanted Learning's Constellation page, and Norm McCarter's Constellation Legends.  After choosing and constellation and reading about it across multiple sources, students can share their learning by creating a trading card for their constellation using the Trading Card Creator interactive or Trading Cards app.

Share with students de la Peña’s essay Sometimes The 'Tough Teen' Is Quietly Writing Stories.  Have students read and discuss the essay in groups, focusing on questions such as

• What attitudes toward literacy (reading and writing) does de la Peña convey?
• What stories does he tell to get these points across?
• How does he craft or structure the stories to make them both interesting and effective in communicating the points?

Then invite students to write a literacy narrative of their own, selecting a few key stories to shape into an essay that conveys a point they wish to make about reading and/or writing in their own lives.

Sondheim’s 1984 musical Sunday in the Park with George features the character Georges Seurat and brings to life the figures in Seurat’s 1884 painting A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte.

After explaining the relationship between the painting and Sondheim’s work, have students examine the painting and imagine who the figures in the painting might be and what they are doing in the image.  Then have them research work by artists such as Romare Bearden or Pierre-August Renoir and create backstories and dialogues for the figures in a painting of their choice.

Read aloud the poem “February 12, 1963,” the first poem in Brown Girl Dreaming, and encourage students to use Woodson’s free verse style to write a poem commemorating their own birthday or the birthday of a friend or relative.

After students draft a collection of images and ideas, encourage them to use the Line Break Explorer to experiment with ways to arrange their words for aural and visual effect.  Students can also use the Acrostic Poems or Diamante Poems interactives to find other ways to represent a birthday through verse.

Build a community within your classroom using Venn Diagrams.

Group Activity – Print out copies of the 3 Circle Venn Diagram graphic organizer.  Arrange students into groups of three and supply them with the graphic organizer.  Have students talk in their groups about themselves and the things they like to do.  After a brief discussion, students document ways in which they are alike, ways in which they are like others in their small group, and ways in which they are totally unique.  Have students display their diagrams and share them with the entire class.

Partner Activity – Print out copies of the 2 Circle Venn Diagram graphic organizer, or if students have access to a mobile device, download the Venn Diagram Mobile App.  Arrange students into pairs within the classroom.  Using the graphic organizer or mobile app have the students share information about themselves and their likes and dislikes.

Write about the Olympic Games!

• Be a reporter and write about the result of an Olympic event or the Opening or Closing Ceremonies.
• Create onomatopoeic sports poems about the Summer Olympic events, draw illustrations, and compile their work in a flip book.
• Write and perform a speech after winning a gold medal.
• Create original poems about the Opening Ceremonies. Have students write down adjectives to describe what they see, hear, and feel during the Opening Ceremonies of the 2024 Summer Olympics. As a class compile the adjectives and create original poems about the ceremonies.
• Do some procedure writing; write about the rules of a specific event or create a new Olympic event.

Get creative with the Olympic Games!

• Design a stamp to commemorate the Paris 2024 Olympics.
• The Olympics are a great time to study the world. Use a variety of maps and flags to learn about the location and symbols of different countries. Imagine a new country has been formed – where would it be located? What would the flag look like?

Think critically about the Olympic Games!

• Use a Venn diagram to compare the ancient Olympic Games to the modern Olympic Games.
• The Olympic Phryge is the mascot for the 2024 Summer Olympics. Create your own mascot for the Olympic Games and write about why you created your mascot and what it represents.

Celebrate the peace surrounding the Olympic Games!

• The Olympic Truce is a valuable part of the Olympic Games that supports peace and sportsmanship. Learn more about the Olympic Truce and create a “Truce Wall” display. Have students post their meanings of peace, friendship, sportsmanship, as well as, pictures that the students have created that symbolize these themes.
• Nominate a Torchbearer. Being asked to be an Olympic Torchbearer is a high honor. Ask the students to work in groups and to each think of someone they know who they believe could be a worthy candidate to carry the Flame, and to write a short paragraph in which they give their reasons. Once this is completed, they fold over their paper and pass it on to the next person in the group. Repeat the process multiple times to create a list of worthy candidates to carry the Flame. Ask them to share their writing with the group and to identify any similar personal qualities and values shown by the nominees.

Have fun with the Olympic Games!

• Make and decorate cookies representing the Olympic Rings. Decorate each cookie with a different color frosting. Lay out the cookies on a plate in the pattern of the Olympic rings. Discuss why each ring is a different color and interlocked. Enjoy and Eat!
• Plan some games in your neighborhood that are like the Olympic Games. Create and hand out medals to those who win or participate.

Celebrate World Read Aloud Day by grabbing a favorite text and reading out loud. Have students bring in their favorite book, magazine, script, newspaper, etc. Ask each student to choose an excerpt to read to the class. Additionally, hold a classroom discussion about the power of literacy. Spread the power of reading by doing one of the following activities in the classroom:

• EDUCATE – Have several read alouds in the classroom throughout the day and talk together about the importance of global literacy, marking this as a special day of reading!
• ADVOCATE - Spread the word about World Read Aloud Day and the Global Literacy Movement within the school by hosting a school-wide read aloud event. Make posters in the classroom advertising and informing the school and community about the event. Construct bookmarks with information about the day and tips for reading aloud to their peers.
• INNOVATE - Share World Read Aloud Day by creating Public Service Announcements and share their projects using video chat, blogs, Glogster, and websites.

In the novel Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson, the main character lists "the first ten lies they tell you in high school":

1. We are here to help you.
2. You will have time to get to your class before the bell rings.
3. The dress code will be enforced.
4. No smoking is allowed on school grounds.
5. Our football team will win the championship this year.
6. We expect more of you here.
7. Guidance counselors are always available to listen.
8. Your schedule was created with you in mind.
9. Your locker combination is private.
10. These will be the years you look back on fondly.

Discuss with the students if some of these "lies" were similar to the ones they have heard, as well as how they are different.  Then, ask students to brainstorm their own personal list of "ten lies they tell you in high school," complete with the truth, or their views on the truth.

Have students share, as a class, the "lies" they have been told in high school and how they've learned differently.  Consider publishing a handmade classroom book with the lists of ten lies created by each student, and using it as a "guide to high school" for future students.

Observe Groundhog Day in your classroom with your own shadow-watching activity.

Begin by bringing in a stuffed animal to stand in as the "groundhog." Have students select a name–something catchy–such as "Fairview Fred" or "Springfield Sal." Then plan a Groundhog Day celebration by choosing a location on school grounds and inviting other classes to attend the event.

Model your celebration after the annual event in Punxsutawney by including a variety of activities such as a scavenger hunt, storytelling, and games. Punxsutawney residents always include music in their celebration. Invite your school's band or chorus to provide live entertainment. At a predetermined time, have your "groundhog" look for his shadow, and then make the official announcement.

Later, have students watch or listen to news reports describing what happens in Punxsutawney on Groundhog Day and compare it with their predictions. Then, watch the calendar to see if your forecast is accurate!