• Interpret the text by using prior knowledge and experiences 
• Make inferences about ideas implicit in narrative & expository texts 
• Gather, select, organize and analyze information from primary and secondary sources 
• Demonstrate an understanding that literature represents, recreates, & shapes human experience 

• Access to online interactive curriculum based projects 
• Opportunities to practice and apply information literacy skills (gathering, sorting, evaluating, sharing) for authentic purposes 
• New formats motivate students to respond with original creations 
• Fosters student sharing of responses online to provide a learning source for others 

1. Odyssey Exploration: Select at least two of the famous walls mentioned in the book Talking Walls.  Visit the Talking Walls IBM Website and complete the Odyssey associated with each wall (eg. keep a journal, create a timeline, create a time capsule, relate to something in your own life, etc.)  Present a formal write up of the two Odyssey projects you complete.
2. Create your own Talking Wall Page: Read about local "Talking Walls" as noted by students in Cape Elizabeth, Maine.  Use their ideas to inspire you to locate a talking wall in your local community.  Use Netscape Composer to write a description of this "wall" and develop a list of thinking questions for others as they view a photograph of your wall.  Use this worksheet to help you get started. 
3. In Your Opinion: Do you think there any connections between Stone Age wall art and today's graffitti? Explore several web sites that illustrate these two types of art and compose an opinion piece in Microsoft Word that answers this question.  Use Inspiration to create a visual diagram that illustrates your opinion. Use the outline mode to expand and support your arguments. 

• Access a listing of English / Language Arts Standards reinforced with Talking Walls IBM Website
• Access a lesson plan for Teaching Steps to Tolerance using these books
• Explore the Talking Walls Art Exhibit by Anne Sibley O'Brien, illustrator of Talking Walls
• Purchase the Spanish translation for these books online
• Visit another interpretation of Talking Walls through photography in South Korea at The Dive

• Talking Walls IBM Website links to all walls mentioned in both books and "Odyssey" projects for students to complete at each link. 
• Here's another example of extending this idea from fifth graders in Cape Elizabeth, Maine.  This is a great place for research for other students
• Create a compilation of websites about Ancient Cave Paintings on Walls like these sixth graders did for research. 
• Interact with an example of a true extension of this book in an online virtual school museum entitled "Talking Walls"

• Talking Walls and Talking Walls Continue, by Edmark (includes interactive online book, access to the Internet, CNN Video Footage and much more! 
• Talking Walls, Teacher's Guide from Tilbury House 

• Use a variety of strategies to develop an extensive vocabulary 
• Use a variety of monitoring and self-correcting methods (skimming, scanning, re-reading, summarizing) 
• Use texts to explore ideas and decisions, as well as political and social issues 

• Actively explore relationships between words, concepts and ideas 
• Visual imagery enhances comprehension of concepts 
• Fosters revision and better understanding of relationships as new learning is assimilated with old learning 
• Provides easy transition to formal writing tasks 
• Promotes application of higher-level thinking skills 

1. Linking Important Concepts: Before reading the chapter, meet with your small group to arrange and link the concepts included in the vocabulary template in a way that makes sense to your group. If you are not sure of a word's meaning or how it fits into the "big picture", just try your best.  You'll have an opportunity to revise your concept map two more times as we read through the chapter.  Be prepared to explain the structure of your group's concept map to the rest of the class. 
2. Sort, Sequence, and Summarize: After reading the chapter, use the chapter outline template to sort and sequence the important details beneath their appropriate headings.  You may refer to your textbook for help.  When you are finished, you will be assigned one of the sections to summarize in your own words.  You can use the details you sorted to help you compose your summary. 
3. Make the Connection: Use the web page your teacher designed to explore several key vocabulary terms for this chapter.  You will find pictures, audio clips, drawings, photographs, and lots of information that will help you integrate these terms into your own background knowledge. (see another example using Egyptian vocabulary)
4. Investigate Further: Read some of the Native American Legends and select one to summarize for the class. Create one slide for the class PowerPoint show that summarizes the message of that particular legend in one or two sentences. Record your voice to go along with the text you write.  This slide show will be on automatic display for your parents at Open House. 
5. Quiz Your Friends: Quia / Puzzlemaker/ QuizLab: Complete or create an activity and complete another student's activity. 

This section is currently under construction.  Some beginning ideas are listed here, but please visit the sites below for background information about the book and to see how other students and their teachers are creating their own literacy tasks.

1. Netscape Composer: (Create a template with tables) You are a tour guide for one of the National Parks.  Design a brochure that outlines your tour.  Use information and photos from the web sites mentioned at SCORE's cyberguide. (see lesson idea Travel the USA)
2. HyperStudio: Draw a map of  Sal's route to Ohio.  Label Sal's stops with Gramps and Gran along the way.  Link the stops to an illustration of what happened at each stop (draw & scan, or draw with computer) Cyberguide links
3. HyperStudio or PowerPoint: (Create a template with two sides) Create a series of postcards from Sal from each stop she makes on her trip. Import photos into a slide show and write a message to the receiver on one side. 

• List of resources and suggested reading activities
• Short biography and photo of Sharon Creech; her homepage
• Guiding Questions for Chasing Redbirds, another novel by Sharon Creech
• Book Discussion Guide
• Two weeks of ideas and lesson plans
• Carol Hurst's Study Questions and Related Links for this book
• Question List for an Independent Book Club
• Postcard Projects: Wish You Were Here, image template, ideas for cover, Postcards from the Past Project, ideas for creating postcards with computers

• Student Monologue written in the voice of the main character
• Student Book Shares #1, #2, #3, #4

Ideas for this topic are left open-ended at this point.  Please visit the sites below to see how other students and their teachers are creating their own literacy tasks.
 

• Annette Lambs Great Lesson Ideas (juvenile delinquency, palindromes, related topics, homelessness, buried treasures and desert life) 
• Short Review with lots of student comments too
• Holes Discussion Board comments from teachers
• Internet Resource Center for author Louis Sachar
• Great discussion question list and extension activity designed by pre-service teachers
• Nancy Matson's Review of Holes (nice for using with students)

Check out the December l999/January 2000 issue of the Reading Teacher, p. 340-343,  for an interview with Louis Sachar.
• Short review with teaching suggestions
• Literature guide by Nancy Polette

• Scholastic's Let's Talk About Holes activities, printable discussion questions, and online comprehension challenge
• SCORE Holes Cyberguide
• Holes Webquest from Plainfield, CT
• Tarantulas
• Great photos and info
• Tarantulas Online
• Yellow Spotted Lizards
• The Gila Monster Web Site (includes great photos)

This section is currently under construction. Ideas for this topic are left open-ended at this point.  Please visit the sites below to see how other students and their teachers are creating their own literacy tasks.

Related Books:

• A Journey Between Two Worlds Series, (ex. A Russian Jewish Family, by Jane Mersky Leder)
• Still A Nation of Immigrants, by Brent Ashabranner (identifies who today's immigrants to the United States are, describes their experiences, contributions, and impact on society; also discusses how an immigrant becomes a citizen
• A Multicultural Portrait of Immigration, by Petra Press (presents the history of immigration to the United States from around the world beginning with the Indians.)

• Destination America: Immigration (The Discovery Channel) 
• Golden Legacy: Award-winning Chinese Historical and Cultural Project Curriculum
• Immigration to America: nice summary background article
• Interpreting the Irish Famine
• U.S. Immigrant Percentages
• Chico High School Immigration Resources

• PBS' The New Americans (from Nigeria and the Dominican Republic)
• Ancestors in the Americas (from Asian)
• From One Life to Another Thinkquest 
• PBS The City: La Ciudad (from Latin American; in English & Spanish)
• Immigrant Passages by Sea
• Angel Island: 
• Immigration Station
• Angel Island: Chinese Immigrants (experiences and photos)
• Immigration Station Foundation (past link)

• START Immigration Unit

• American Immigration Home Page: nice summary of facts by 10th graders

This section is currently under construction. Ideas for this topic are left open-ended at this point.  Please visit the sites below to see how other students and their teachers are creating their own literacy tasks.

Other Related Books:

• Steven Caney's Invention Book, by Steven Caney (A project book for the would-be inventor with activities, a list of "contraptions" in need of  invention, and the stories behind thirty-six existing inventions)
• Turn on the Lights - From Bed! : Electronic Inventions, Contraptions, and Gadgets Kids Can Build, by Robert Carrow (Experiments and activities for middle school students using electronics and physics concepts to produce practical, often zany gadgets) 
• The Kid's Invention Book, by Arlene Erlbach (Introduces more than a dozen contemporary children who have created their own inventions). 

• List of links from Library
• Kennesaw List of Invention Links
• Text of Integrated learning unit on Inventions
• Community Learning Network's Inventors and Inventions Theme Page  (Excellent)
• Inventions Links from McGraw Hill  (history of Inventions Timeline)
• Invention Dimension
• Ancient Inventions
• New York Times Learning Network Inventions Article and Lesson Plan for Grades 6-12
• Middle Years English Unit on Inventions

• Eureka Inventions Webquest
• Inventors Museum
• Enchanted Learning's Inventors and Inventions
• Invention Mini-Activities for Middle School Students
• Discovery Schools Invention Article (why people invent, how people invent, history of inventions)

• 6th Graders, Who Wants to Be an Inventionare?
• Inventions Webquest (with music)
• Inventions TrackStar
• What Was the First Computer Like? Webquest
• Gander Academy's Inventors and Inventions

• Inventions Dictionary / Database
• Award Winning Thinkquest Jr. Great Inventors and Inventions  (and their collection of online resources)
• Final Invention Projects (written description and photo)
• Special Inventions in Australia (specialized)
• Cybersleuth Kids Ancient Inventions
• Student Inventions
• Kid Inventors

This section is currently under construction. Ideas for this topic are left open-ended at this point.  Please visit the sites below to see how other students and their teachers are creating their own literacy tasks.
 

• The Literary Link Synopsis
• Gander Academy's Theme Page (tons of resources)
• Literature Alive Unit Page
• Trek21 Unit Lessons
• Arlington School's list of Reading Resources for this book
• Literature Review by D. Andrews
• Web Site Guide by K. Dedinsky
• Teacher's Guide to the Holocaust
• Journal & Photo Albums that cover plot of the story
• Three links & teaching ideas
• Study Guide for story
• Eduscape Links
• Anticipation Guide text
• McDougall Littell Ideas
• Alternative ideas with McGraw Hill
• TrackStar for story
• Gifted students lesson plan
• Cal State Univ. Discussion Guide
• Discussion Board about story
• Carol Hurst's Discussion Guide

• Beyond Number the Stars (An Internet Sampler)
• Topical Research by Fourth Graders
• Ask the Author: Lois Lowry
• Illustrating events from the story
• An Internet Hotlist on World War 2
• Why People Should Study and Remember the Holocaust
• Character Jeopardy Game

• Curriculum Research Idea

• 3-D Responses by 6th graders