Students identify the main events that take place in a classic children's picture book. Students will then compare and contrast the book to the film using specific events from both. Students will analyze the choices the director makes in recreating the events from the book. Lastly, students will write a movie review based on the analysis of the events.

This lesson examines how oral reading of poetry may be useful in supporting fluency for sixth- through eighth-grade students. Central to this lesson is the idea that students require practice and repetition to master decoding skills for fluency and comprehension in oral reading. After discussing with the teacher in very explicit terms what readers mean by "reading with expression," students work with partners in selecting a poem from the Internet for oral reading. Working together, students come to appreciate how authors craft their writing to be read and how readers bring meaning to a text, which enables them to read with expression. Once partners have agreed on how their poem should be read, they collaborate on a performance of the poem: an oral reading accompanied by a PowerPoint slide show. As an audience, students come to appreciate the art in interpreting a poem—how a careful reading of language and meaning is something beautiful in itself.