Flush is Not a Hoot

I just finished reading Flush by Carl Hiaasen, and I was very disappointed. I had enjoyed Hoot so much, I was really looking forward to reading Flush.

Unfortunately Flush isn't Hoot. The ideas are good. The issues raised are good. There are a few scenes that are exciting and interesting. But it isn't funny or exciting or interesting throughout (as Hoot was). There are some very slow sections--including the beginning of the story.

The main issue raised in the story is (ocean) water pollution and how it effects sea turtles and humans. Other issues involved are gambling, bribes, and politics. These are all good lessons for the reader, but one must get past the slow beginning to the meat of the book--which may not be easy for reluctant readers.

I would recommend Hoot over Flush. Hoot explores politics on a slightly shallower level than Flush, but it too explores environmental issues and it has a highly engaging story.

Fun Theme Writing

THEMA is a quarterly literary magazine. Each issue is filled with poems, short stories, and photographs on a particular "theme."

For example, the spring issue had the theme "umbrellas in the snow." The next theme is "the perfect cup of coffee," and submissions are due July 1, 2006.

Students might enjoy writing on these fun themes and submitting their work for consideration. Being published in a real magazine trumps even the best grades! You can find more information on the THEMA's website at http://members.cox.net/thema/submissions.html

This magazine has only four themes a year, but you could supplement with a few creative themes of your own, maybe something like "footsteps in the concrete" or even "don't drink bees." ;-)

Reading Poetry Outloud: Joyful Noise

If you teach English/language arts and you haven't heard of this book, you should definitely check it out. Joyful Noise: Poems for Two Voices by Paul Fleischman is a lot of fun for students to read aloud in class. The poems are written as "duets." There are two parts that are read simulaneously. Sometimes only one voice is heard, sometimes two voices in unison.

When you use these poems in class, you, the teacher, will be the conductor. You can divide the class into two sections, one for each "voice." Then cue each section as it comes time for them to read. Even if there are mistakes, the experience will be a lot of fun.

The poems are about grasshoppers and bees and fireflies. Lots of onomatopoeia ("whining, whirring pulsing chanting") and alliteration ("fireflies flickering flitting flashing") and humor ("Being a bee is a joy. I'm the queen").


Kids like "making music" as they read the poems aloud. This book inspired me to break other famous poems into parts/voices, such as The Weary Blues by Langston Hughes.

This is a great way to introduce poetry reading, which can be somewhat intimidating if a child is asked to read a poem out loud, alone, in front of a class for the first time.

When read in "voices," poems become a fun group activity. Poems become as accessible as a favorite song.

Vocabulary Soap

I had a wonderful creative writing teacher in high school: Mrs. Hoeft. The English Department required that we learn 10 new vocabulary words a week (all SAT list words). To make it fun and indeed creative writing, Mrs. Hoeft had us write stories that used all 10 words in any order that we liked. We could use several in one sentence, and we could use as many vocabulary-word-less sentences in-between as we needed to drive the plot. It was a lot more fun than writing unconnected sentences that demonstrated our ability to memorize definitions.

I took it one step further. My story was ongoing, and it developed based on each week's vocabulary list. Since my story was unpredictable, I made it a soap opera As the Vocabulary Turns. At the end of each "chapter," I would ask questions in the style of the tv comedy Soap, such as "Will Blake continue to act sophomorically? Is Taylor's speech really soporific--or have the guests been drugged? Does Stryker have a salubrious solution to the situation? Find out this and the answers to other questions next week on As the Vocabulary Turns."

Down the Rabbit Hole

My certification is in middle school language arts, so I read a lot of young adult literature. Actually, it's probably more the other way around: I enjoy ya lit, so I became certified to teach language arts. (And I have always loved to write, so that doesn't hurt either.)

I just finished reading Down the Rabbit Hole: An Echo Falls Mystery by Peter Abrahams. When my husband and I go on long trips, we sometimes read a book aloud during the drive. It makes the trip go a lot faster. (Harry Potter has accompanied us on a few trips.)

This mystery is nice, because the reader can actually figure it out. (no evil twins, suspects you never met, etc.) This can be both satifying and frustrating. It's satisying to discover "who done it," but it is frustrating to watch the main character make mistakes, because she doesn't know "who done it" yet.

Ingrid, the 13-year-old main character, is strong and fearless. This makes the book very readable for boys as well as girls (in the same way that True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle is).

The vocabulary is just challenging enough. Ingrid uses metaphor to describe her feelings. The characters are interesting. The subplots are smaller "mysteries" to be solved. There is humor, action, drama, and suspense. This book references Sherlock Holmes stories and Alice in Wonderland. (Ingrid is acting in a play of Alice, and the characters' views on adaptation and interpretation could spark discussion. Other issues in the books: sports and steroid use, commercial development of natural areas, socioeconomic class, and art.) Ingrid's investigation is an example of research using primary sources. Works great as a "read aloud" book.

Welcome to DDBees!

Welcome to my new blog Don't Drink Bees!

The name comes from a joke between my nephew Nathaniel and myself. One day, I finished my drink, and Nathaniel placed one of his favorite toys, a bee, in my empty glass. I said, "No, we shouldn't drink bees! They'll tickle in the throat." He thought this was hysterical "advice."

And since this blog is for sharing other "pearls of wisdom," I thought the name was appropriate.