April 18 has been established by the National Society of Newspaper Columnists as the official National Columnists Day. On this day the soldier's columnist Ernie Pyle died in 1945 while covering WWII in the Pacific.

1. Plan to read the works of Ernie Pyle on that day.

2. Check the Internet on April 18 for columns about him. Also go to http://www.columnists.com/pyle.html where the best entries will be reprinted by the National Society of Newspaper Columnists.

3. Have students write a column about war, peace, conflict, international relations and share them on April 18.

4. Read about WWII through the eyes of columnists who covered Pacific, European or north African fronts. What information do they add that is not found in history books?