Students listen to stories about different philanthropic acts. They work together in groups to create a list of the needs of their community. They chose a service project which could be completed by their class.

Students read passages from My Own True Name. They write their own poems and present them to the class. They share their favorite lines from the poem as well.

Pupils discuss the life of the author of "Christmas Comes to Moccasin Flat". They also discuss the piece of literature and what Christmas means to them. In groups, they discuss how the novel ends.

Second graders read Cucumber Soup by Vickie Leigh. They make representations for the number of each kind of bug found in the book. This lesson is a terrific way to show students how fractions, decimals and percents are related.

Students create a classroom story quilt based on a story (or series of stories) read as a group.