Have you ever realized on a Friday that the previous Monday was a special day like your favorite author’s birthday? Or, have you ever figured out on the first day of May that April was National Poetry Month? I have a difficult enough time keeping track of my family’s birthdays and anniversaries, so this happens to me a lot. I always seem to overlook dates of particular literary importance until long after adding an activity or lesson to my class would have had any special importance. I’ve often wished I had some kind of reminder for when events of literary significance are approaching so that I can plan lessons and activities for the occasion.
That’s why I find the “Calendar Activities” at Read, Write, Think very useful. This application can be arranged by grade level, learning objectives, themes, and activity types. For Language Arts teachers, the “Authors & Texts” and “Literacy-Related Events” are particularly useful, but the calendar can help you track many other special occasions of educational significance as well.
To be sure you don’t miss another National Literacy Day or F. Scott Fitzgerald’s birthday, visit Read, Write, Think’s Calendar Activities page and subscribe for daily updates via RSS feed.
In the Classroom
When you click on an activity on the calendar, you’ll find that “Read, Write, Think” provides you with classroom resources, materials, and activities for integrating that event into your lesson plans. For example, May is “Get Caught Reading” month and the event includes an outline for planning a inter-generational reading day. Check it out…
And yeah, I missed Harper Lee’s birthday this year. She turned 85 Thursday, 4/28/11. I heard about it on NPR on the way home from school that afternoon…
Scott
Here’s a link to their RSS feed page:
http://www.readwritethink.org/rss/resources_by_type.html?resource_type=calendar-activity
And here’s a quick tutorial on how RSS feeds work:
http://reviews.cnet.com/4520-10088_7-5143460-1.html
