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.
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.
Teaching Important Issues in HOOT Using BrainPoP as a Resource
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.
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!
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
Article: The Little Owls That Live Underground
Determine the central idea of a nonfiction article
In this lesson you will learn how to determine the central idea of a text by determining the topic and asking what the author says about it. This lesson focuses on the article, "The Little Owls that Live Underground" from http://www.smithsonian.com
Analyze how an idea is developed over the course of a text
In this lesson you will determine how a central idea is developed by listing details that validate the author’s central idea. This lesson focuses on the article, "The Little Owls that Live Underground" from http://www.smithsonian.com
PROJECT
Make a REAL TEE or a Paper TEE: Requirement for the BURROWING OWL SHIRT PROJECT:
- MUST Have a picture of a Burrowing Owl drawn on the TEE
- Must have 10 (TEN) Facts about Burrowing Owls displayed legibly on the TEE
- Must turn in the ROUGH DRAFT with the finished TEE
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| Don't Forget To Be Awesome! |
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
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Quotes
“O, to be sure, we laugh less and play less and wear uncomfortable disguises like adults, but beneath the costume is the child we always are, whose needs are simple, whose daily life is still best described by fairy tales.” ― Leo Rosten
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| Image Credit: bethconklin.blogspot.com |
“People who claim that they're evil are usually no worse than the rest of us... It's people who claim that they're good, or any way better than the rest of us, that you have to be wary of.”
― Gregory Maguire, Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West
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“A great book should leave you with many experiences, and slightly exhausted at the end. You live several lives while reading.”
― William Styron, Conversations with William Styron
Happy Reading!
Things You Can Read
Things You Can Read
Believe In Truth, Beauty, Freedom, Love, and the Power of Books!
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