In this lesson, students will explore Emma Lazarus's poem and explore how this written piece has added to our understanding of the Statue of Liberty.

A teachers guide for five Jack Henry books by Jack Gantos (Jack Adrift, Jack on the Tracks, Heads or Tails, Jack's New Power, Jack's Black Book), including an activity to complete throughout reading, discussion questions for each book as well as questions to draw connections between themes, and ways to connect themes and key subjects in the books to other areas of education.

Students will learn the difference between theme and main idea; when to use them and with which genre. Students will be able to determine the central message by refering to the text as a basis for the answers. By understanding themes, students will be able to compare and contrast themes within and between stories.

After reading their Wonders anchor text, “They Don’t Mean It!”, students will be asked to collaborate using a Nearpod on Chinese Cultures. During the Nearpod students will further investigate the Chinese culture and celebrations. Afterwards students will use  knowledge learned from the anchor text and the nearpod and Makey Makeys to create  interactive poster board characters from the story. The characters they create will share important information about their beliefs, foods, and any other important cultural features that students feel are necessary to share out based on the characters they read about. The poster will be enhanced by Makey Makey coding and audio recordings.  Students will complete a gallery walk to learn more about the characters by the other groups.

In this lesson, students will participate in small group Collaborative Reasoning about issues of social justice and diversity. Students will read articles and answer questions that spur them to think critically about issues and discuss with others, using evidence and experiences to support their personal beliefs. Each group will create an online Persuasion Map to share whole class.

Mehded Maryam Sinclair has written for Highlights. In this folktale, Nasreddin Hodja wonders why watermelons and walnuts grow the way they do. Hodja’s character is a repeating figure in folktales from the Muslim world. As students read, they take notes on what happens to Hodja.

In this lesson, the whole class analyzes a photograph and brainstorms words to describe the characters' senses and feelings. A "hot-seating" drama session follows where classmates interview each other, acting as characters in the photograph, and further exploring the characters' feelings. Students are introduced to the idea of using similes and then work in pairs to describe a character's experience. They then create a simply structured poem using their ideas and similes.