Students explore their own roots by interviewing family members and use their family history to write a fictional account of their roots.

Students select and explore a scientific topic in detail using Simon's nonfiction science books and then use what they learn to write original poetry on the topic.

Independent reading is promoted among students by organizing a paperback book swap in the classroom or with other classes at the same grade level.

Students research the concept of immortality from beliefs around the world and compose a short story, myth, or poem that addresses immortality.

Students examine the ways different authors treat the subject of war in their writing and compare and contrast using the Venn Diagram interactive.

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 share family stories of their own by writing original poems and reviewing parts of speech using the Diamante Poems tool.

Students explore varying points of view, one of Van Allsburg's common themes, by rewriting a traditional story.

After students have read one of Brian Jacques' Redwall stories, a class newspaper is created based on the story.

Students work in small groups or as a class to map the plot of a selected Cynthia Rylant story and create original literary works using the plot diagrams.

Students brainstorm a list of modern news sources and from previous centuries. Groups then research one of these sources and create a timeline showing the evolution of news.

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

Students celebrate Get Caught Reading Month by doing a reading-related service project such as planning an intergenerational reading day or organizing a book drive.

Students explore the effects of music on a story by reading a story, novel, or play, viewing the musical version, and comparing the two. Students can then select a text read in class and create a musical adaptation.

After reading two complementary Reading Rainbow selections, students compare the selections using the Venn Diagram and write a comparison essay.

Students use the Timeline Tool and Drama Map to create a decade-by-decade record and play of their community's history.

After reading O'Brien's story "A True War Story" from The Things They Carried, students choose a powerful event from their own lives and map it using the Timeline Tool. They then create a fictional version of this event.

After learning about the story of Pedro Albizu Campos and his commitment to Puerto Rican independence, students research and share their learning about another nationalist figure from around the world.

Using the poem "My First Memory (of Librarians)," students connect memory, their senses, and the language of poetry.