Happy Halloween 2015

Happy Halloween 

From The Things You Can Read

Happy Reading & Writing☮

The Things You Can Read!

Believe In Truth, Beauty, Freedom, Love, and the Power of Books & Writing!

Don't Forget To Be Awesome!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

I am an educator with over 25 years of teaching experience; I currently teach English in the public school system of Virginia. In my spare time I am an avid reader. writer, reviewer, blogger, writing/art journaler, beekeeper, grad student, and MOTHER. - See more: Here

Why is Fiction Important? Well Scientist Now Say...

The Future of Storytelling

What are the experts saying about fiction and its importance.  Watch this short film which answers the question:  How Can Fiction Change Reality? by Jessica Wise.

Why do you think fiction is important?  Let us know here at The Things You Can Read!

Happy Reading & Writing☮

The Things You Can Read!

Believe In Truth, Beauty, Freedom, Love, and the Power of Books & Writing!

Don't Forget To Be Awesome!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

I am an educator with over 25 years of teaching experience; I currently teach English in the public school system of Virginia. In my spare time I am an avid reader. writer, reviewer, blogger, writing/art journaler, beekeeper, grad student, and MOTHER. - See more: Here

HOW TO MAKE HOOT'S THEMES REAL

To aid in students understanding of issues like conservation, habitat and endangered species in the United States you can help them feel the beauty of nature by sharing a visual to capture their hearts and minds.  The visual is a great conduit to the "call to action" piece that I want my students to take away from the experience of reading Hoot.  It also allows for the transfer of the essential themes that the authror tackles so well in the novel Hoot.

HAMERSLEY | a pilbara aerial film from Dan Proud on Vimeo.


How do you make a novel you are teaching come alive?  Let us know here at The Things You Can Read.

Happy Reading & Writing☮

The Things You Can Read!

Believe In Truth, Beauty, Freedom, Love, and the Power of Books & Writing!

Don't Forget To Be Awesome!

Teaching Hoot By Carl Hiaasen: Setting and Humans & Environment

Teaching Hoot By Carl Carl Hiaasen:  

Setting and Humans & Environment

My students live in the great state of Virginia.  Like Roy, in the novel Hoot, we too live in a watershed district, but our watershed district could not be more different than the one in HOOT.  So to help students "GET IT" is use this fabulous TED TALK VIDEO.  The video really helps them see Florida and what the Everglades has to offer.

How do you make a novel you are teaching come alive?  Let us know here at The Things You Can Read.

Happy Reading & Writing☮

The Things You Can Read!

Believe In Truth, Beauty, Freedom, Love, and the Power of Books & Writing!

Don't Forget To Be Awesome!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

I am an educator with over 25 years of teaching experience; I currently teach English in the public school system of Virginia. In my spare time I am an avid reader. writer, reviewer, blogger, writing/art journaler, beekeeper, grad student, and MOTHER. - See more: Here

How Do You Teach IRONY?

IRONYis a hard concept to teach.  I have developed a series of exercises I use at the beginning of class to help make the "AHA Moment" happen.  Here is an example of how I teach IRONY.  This  activity comes from my sister site  

The Writing Whisperings

Activity

Watch the following video carefully. Write your answer on your index card.  Find at LEAST 2 (TWO) examples of IRONY in the short film.  Your answer needs to be in complete sentences.  Complete sentences, i.e. written with proper grammar, capitalization, punctuation, and with a subject and verb. Again, give 2 (TWO) examples of irony in the video and EXPLAIN why that event was IRONIC.

IRONY Workshets and PowerPoint

Happy Writing!

The Writing Whisperer

Believe In Truth, Beauty, Freedom, Love, and the Power of the Written Word!

Happy Reading & Writing☮

The Things You Can Read!

Believe In Truth, Beauty, Freedom, Love, and the Power of Books & Writing!

Don't Forget To Be Awesome!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

I am an educator with over 25 years of teaching experience; I currently teach English in the public school system of Virginia. In my spare time I am an avid reader. writer, reviewer, blogger, writing/art journaler, beekeeper, grad student, and MOTHER. - See more: Here

Do You Use BrainPop to Teach a NOVEL? I DO! HERE is HOW...

Teaching Important Issues in HOOT Using BrainPoP as a Resource

BRAINPOP LINK:CLICK HERE

If you want to introduce a concept one of the best resources for a basic overview regarding relevant information for young adults comes from my good friends, Tim and Moby, over at BrainPop.  I have enlisted their help to teach many a novel.  Most recently I called on their services to tackle some "sciencey" issues like Extinction, Everglades, and Ecosystems.  I readily admit science is not my thing although I wish it were my thing.

I love their quiz questions, which I use for classwork or homework assessments.  The types of questions used provide a great way for me to model how to approach comprehension questions related to context clues, fact vs. opinion, and inferences, just to name a few.

How do you make a novel you are teaching come alive?  Let us know here at The Things You Can Read.

Happy Reading & Writing☮

The Things You Can Read!

Believe In Truth, Beauty, Freedom, Love, and the Power of Books & Writing!

Don't Forget To Be Awesome!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

I am an educator with over 25 years of teaching experience; I currently teach English in the public school system of Virginia. In my spare time I am an avid reader. writer, reviewer, blogger, writing/art journaler, beekeeper, grad student, and MOTHER. - See more: Here

GoFundMe Campagin for Hoot and Out of the Dust Project Based Learning Units

Go Fund Me Hurricane Problem Based Learning

Our school has embraced project based learning as a school wide endeavor.  PBL is a teaching method to make learning authentic.  This year my 7th grade team is working on two PBL units.  The first is using the Newbery award winning novel Hoot by Carl Hiaasen and the second unit will use the Newbery award winning Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse. Each PBL unit requires a classroom set of novels and lots of supplies to carry out all the activities to make the learning real and authentic.  Media Campaigns and handmade Hoot Tee shirts displaying researched facts about burrowing owls are examples of just a few activities in our current PBL.  

This all costs money.  The Hurricane Team at JEJ Moore is extremely excited about the cross-curriculum project based approach to instruction, but we could sure use some much needed funding!   We want to make our Project Based Learning Units come alive and for that we are asking your help!  We have great speakers coming on October 21 and October 22, 2015, to share their knowledge and help us develop further how we can be superheroes of our environment.  Representatives from Pocahontas’s State Park in Virginia will visit us.  Our speaker will talk to us about conservation, habitat, and endangered species in the United States.  The Lead Park Interpreter at Pocahontas State Park, Jared Ress, will also narrow our focus and offer a view into how these issues affect us in our state of Virginia. Then Thunder Eagle Wildlife Organization in Dinwiddie, Virginia will pay us a visit.  This group provides care and treatment of injured, orphaned or displaced birds and small mammals.  Their primary goal is to support nature’s balance by compassionate care of wildlife, which is a BIG message or theme that is shared throughout our novel.  

Please help us continue taking our PBL Units to the next level.    We welcome your participation through gifting to our GOFUNDME campaign! You can rest assured the funds will really make a difference to 100 J.E.J. Moore 7th graders in Disputanta, Virginia!  Thank you!

Happy Reading & Writing☮

The Things You Can Read!

Believe In Truth, Beauty, Freedom, Love, and the Power of Books & Writing!

Don't Forget To Be Awesome!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

I am an educator with over 25 years of teaching experience; I currently teach English in the public school system of Virginia. In my spare time I am an avid reader. writer, reviewer, blogger, writing/art journaler, beekeeper, grad student, and MOTHER. - See more: Here

Share Your Successes With HOOT OR Any Other Young Adult Novel

How have you made a novel come alive?  Let  us know here at The Things You Can Read

Thunder Eagle Wildlife Owls from Cynthia White on Vimeo.

Happy Reading & Writing☮

The Things You Can Read!

Believe In Truth, Beauty, Freedom, Love, and the Power of Books & Writing!

Don't Forget To Be Awesome!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

I am an educator with over 25 years of teaching experience; I currently teach English in the public school system of Virginia. In my spare time I am an avid reader. writer, reviewer, blogger, writing/art journaler, beekeeper, grad student, and MOTHER. - See more: Here

Making HOOT Come Alive!

Yesterday, Thunder Eagle Wildlife Organization in Dinwiddie County paid us a visit.  Hurricane Team member, Zachary Lockhart shared, “Thunder Eagle’s visit was informative and interesting.  I was really surprised when the first owl came out.”  Yes, real live owls were inside the J.E.J. Moore lecture room.  This group provides care and treatment of injured, orphaned or displaced birds and small mammals.  Their primary goal is to support nature’s balance by compassionate care of wildlife, which is a BIG message or theme that is shared throughout our novel, Hoot.  Please take a moment to ask your child what they learned from these fabulous speakers!  AND a BIG HURRICANCE THANK YOU to all the parents who joined us for this event!

See the Video HERE

How have you made a novel come alive?  Let  us know here at The Things   you Can Read

Happy Reading & Writing☮

The Things You Can Read!

Believe In Truth, Beauty, Freedom, Love, and the Power of Books & Writing!

Don't Forget To Be Awesome!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

I am an educator with over 25 years of teaching experience; I currently teach English in the public school system of Virginia. In my spare time I am an avid reader. writer, reviewer, blogger, writing/art journaler, beekeeper, grad student, and MOTHER. - See more: Here

Project Based Learning Using Hoot by Carl Hiaasen

Week of October 12-16, 2015

Hurricane English

ENGLISH is ESSENTIAL to the DISCOVERY of the SUPERHERO inside YOU!

Our long awaited start to reading the novel Hoot began this week!  The Hurricane Team is extremely excited about the cross-curriculum approach to this unit!   On October 21 and October 22, 2015, the Hurricane Team has guests coming to share their knowledge and help us develop further how we can be superheroes of our environment.  Wednesday the Hurricane Team will have representatives from Pocahontas’s State Park visit us.  Our speaker will talk to us about conservation, habitat, and endangered species in the United States.  The Lead Park Interpreter at Pocahontas State Park will also narrow our focus and offer a view into how these issues affect us in our state of Virginia. Then on Thursday, the Thunder Eagle Wildlife Organization in Dinwiddie will pay us a visit during our fifth period.  This group provides care and treatment of injured, orphaned or displaced birds and small mammals.  Their primary goal is to support nature’s balance by compassionate care of wildlife, which is a BIG message or theme that is shared throughout our novel.  If you can make it, please join us for these special presentations they will start at 11:00 in the lecture room at JEJ Moore Middle School.  We welcome your participation!

As always, “Thank You” for allowing me to share my love of English with your child this year!  Again, a big "HIGH-FIVE" to all Hurricanes on a great sixth week of school! Have a restful weekend!

Kindest Regards,

Mrs. White

Hurricane English Teacher

ENGLISH is ESSENTIAL to the DISCOVERY of the SUPERHERO inside YOU!

Happy Reading & Writing☮

The Things You Can Read!

Believe In Truth, Beauty, Freedom, Love, and the Power of Books & Writing!

Don't Forget To Be Awesome!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

I am an educator with over 25 years of teaching experience; I currently teach English in the public school system of Virginia. In my spare time I am an avid reader. writer, reviewer, blogger, writing/art journaler, beekeeper, grad student, and MOTHER. - See more: Here