The Library of Congress (LOC) offers the perfect place to practice and refine research skills. Introduce students to the resources available at the Library of Congress website by conducting one of these research projects:

• Examine the September 11 attacks at the September 11, 2001 Documentary Project, filled with relevant resources.
• Explore Immigration in America with interviews, information on immigrants from all over the word, a timeline, and more.
• Students can investigate their own state's history or you could assign each student a different state to explore.
• This feature offers students many Amazing Americans to research. Select from presidents, reformers, explorers, musicians, authors, scientists, inventors, athletes, and more!
• StoryCorps offers ordinary people the opportunity to record their stories, which are then housed at the Library of Congress.

As you study Paul Revere, have students learn about primary source documents while researching their family histories.

Paul Revere's ancestry can be traced back to his great-great grandfather, Jean Rivoire, born in France in about 1610. Challenge your students to examine their own roots by investigating likely sources of information about their ancestors. First, discuss the differences between primary and secondary sources. Brainstorm some possible primary sources, and then have students research their family histories. Some possible sources include a family Bible, interviews with family members, a grandparent's diary or journal (with permission, of course), letters and other correspondence, or photographs.

Next, have students create a family tree from the information they have gathered. Have students compare their family trees and discuss some of these questions: How far back were students able to trace their ancestry? How many different countries of origin are represented in your students' family trees? Why might it be difficult to trace some family trees? How can students make a contribution to preserving their own family histories?

Soto's stories and poetry evoke memories and images of home, family, and community. Use one of his works, such as Too Many Tamales or Baseball in April as a basis for exploring these themes. Try one of these activities:

• Too Many Tamales is about a family preparing food for their Christmas celebration, and the children who share in the preparations. Invite students to share a story about their part in a special family event. Extend this idea using the lesson My Family Traditions: A Class Book and a Potluck Lunch, which asks students to share recipes and information about their own family traditions.
  
  
• The streets and neighborhoods of Fresno, California are an integral part of Soto's stories. Invite students to describe their street.
  
  
• Ask students to compose an acrostic poem that describes a person, place, or event they cherish using the Acrostic Poems interactive tool.

Celebrate this year's TeenTober by encouraging your middle or high school students to:

• Join a book discussion group at their school or public library.
  
  
• Read biographies of their favorite musicians, comedians, politicians, or sports figures.
  
  
• Read books about a hobby that interests them.
  
  
• Read books that approach a subject through humor.
  
  
• Read what they want to read, just for the fun of it.

Bill of Rights Day is a good opportunity for students to explore a variety of students' rights issues. Ask students to identify an issue that has come up in your school, such as dress codes, drug testing, zero tolerance, privacy, religion, or freedom of expression. Have them explore the ways in which the Bill of Rights protects and does not protect students, as well as some of the past and recent challenges to students' rights. Have students write position papers or debate individuals or teams of students with opposing points of view. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) Student Rights page has information and articles about recent court cases focused on students' rights.

Students can continue to explore the Bill of Rights by examining the ways in which it applies to current events and issues such as homeland security, prisoners' rights, the death penalty, and more. Provide access to a daily newspaper. Then ask students to construct a scrapbook or bulletin board display of articles that address Bill of Rights issues.

Explore the sites and online exhibitions listed below. Ask students what they can learn from these primary sources about why Rosa Parks took her stand against segregation, and about the organizations and movements that participated in the struggle. They might compare that to what they learn from a textbook or other secondary source and then write a possible update for the secondary source.

It's important that students understand the difference between primary and secondary sources. Visit here for a solid definition and see some examples.

Read Across America has celebrated books and reading since 1998. This year, there are even more opportunities:

• Encourage adults to spend more time reading to children

• Share stories that raise up the many voices that need to be amplified and heard

• Use books to help students discover their own voices and learn from the voices of others

• Encourage readers to believe in themselves and use their voices and stories for positive change

Use the Read Across America Day calendar, Build Your Stack® posts, and ReadWriteThink.org resources to support these efforts.

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.

Begin by viewing some of the footage from the actual event (you can access some of the footage at the PBS website). Ask students to jot down the thoughts and feelings they think might have been going on in the minds and hearts of the Little Rock Nine. Have students use these notes as the basis for a bio-poem that might have been written by one of the African American students on that historic day.

An alternative activity might be to show students portions of "The Oprah Winfrey Show" that reunited the Little Rock Nine with some of the classmates who threatened and taunted them upon their arrival at Central High School. After viewing each segment, ask students to summarize their reactions to what they have seen and heard on the program. Were they surprised by anything they observed? If so, what surprised them and why?

One trademark of Bunting's picture books is her ability to see events through the eyes of a child. Smoky Night deals with the Los Angeles race riots as seen from the perspective of a young boy watching the fires and the looters. His reactions to this event are, understandably, different from those of his mother and neighbors. Before reading this picture book aloud to students, read them a news article that relates the details of the events in Los Angeles. Ask students how a younger observer might be affected by these events and might see the events differently than an adult. After reading Smoky Night, assess the accuracy of students' perceptions.

As an alternative or follow-up activity, have students locate and read two different accounts of the events of September 11, 2001, one written by an adult and one written by a child. Ask them to compare the two accounts.