Reading instruction pioneer Rebecca Smith Pollard was born on this date in 1831. Compare how reading makes you feel to how listening to music makes you feel.
Tell a story about the dream you’d like to have tonight.
Samuel Johnson, who wrote the first dictionary, was born on this date in 1709. How would you start a project that requires you to do something no one has ever done before?
On this date in 1787, the US Constitution was signed by a majority of the 55 delegates to the Constitutional Convention. The Constitution is the highest law in the USA — the law on which all other laws are based. If you could write a law that every other laws would be based on, what would that law say?
HA Rey, who with his wife Margret created Curious George, was born on this date in 1898. Write about a time you didn’t pursue your curiosity and what happened to make you wish you had.
“Enthusiasm for a cause sometimes warps judgment.” -William Howard Taft, the 27th president of the United States, who was born on this date in 1857. Write about a time you were too enthusiastic about something to make a good decision.
Author Robert McCloskey was born on this day in 1914. If you could live anywhere you wanted, where would that be any why?
Emily Jenkins was born on this date in 1967. One of her books is The Little Bit Scary People. Write about a time you were scared of someone or something because you’d never experienced it before.