Reading the article about the pirate lesson made me really excited about beginning it.  The idea of combining different genres of books about a particular subject is a great way for students to learn about that topic. This way they are exposed to all aspect and points of view about the subject.  This lesson plan also includes a notebook to encourage students to write.  The pull out section has the entire lesson broken down into different parts which is great for teachers.  By breaking it apart into different sections, students have the opportunity to spend time exploring one aspect of the lesson.  When they are focused on only one part, then tend to learn more.