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Creativi-TREE!
My 7th grade students and I are continuing to study THE BRILLIANT FALL OF GIANNA Z by Kate Messner. We enjoy the humor woven throughout, commiserate with Gianna as she faces a daunting science project, and recognize our own families in hers.
After taking the What Kind of Tree Are You? personality quiz, the students tried a little writing assignment ( Read more... ) -
Wimpy Contest
Once again, Jeff Kinney's bringing the laughs with his new DIARY OF A WIMPY KID - DOG DAYS.
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Teaching Gianna Z, with Kleenex
Thanks for following along as my class reads THE BRILLIANT FALL OF GIANNA Z by Kate Messner. I've enjoyed the comments, emails, and conversations it has started. Please keep them coming - the students are excited to see how this novel is being read by other students in other parts of the world!
After I collected the writing based on the tree/ ( Read more... ) -
Teaching GIANNA Z - Coming Clean about Bedrooms!
In last week’s 7th grade English class we discussed the upcoming creative writing assignment that is tied into our study of THE BRILLIANT FALL OF GIANNA Z by Kate Messner. Students can choose from one of my ideas or come up with something on their own. As an exercise in voice, they can write a letter in the voice of their tree (from the What Kind ( Read more... ) -
TEACHING GIANNA & THE TREE QUIZ
Recently, my students and I have been chuckling over Chapters Three through Five of THE BRILLIANT FALL OF GIANNA Z by Kate Messner.
Before we started, though, I showed them a PowerPoint slide show of the setting featured in Chapter Two. When Gianna and her family travel north to Montreal, they visit the Jean-Talon market, (link to Montreal tourism ( Read more... ) -
Student Responses to Major Leaf Project
Before we started reading THE BRILLIANT FALL OF GIANNA Z by Kate Messner, the science teacher on my team, LaShauna Quarles, assigned the exact same leaf collection project the main characters in the book are doing to our students. The students must collect and identify twenty-five leaves (they should also include some nuts or berries of the tree). ( Read more... ) -
Teaching Gianna
Teaching Gianna - Part One
Chapters One and Two
Today I began teaching The Brilliant Fall of Gianna Z by Kate Messner, a mid-grade novel about a girl who is trying to juggle her school project, sports, and a problem at home. If she doesn’t get her project done in time, she won’t be able to participate in the upcoming major cross-country meet. Throw ( Read more... ) -
Once Was Lost
Book Review:
ONCE WAS LOST
By Sara Zarr
Oh, Sara Zarr! I have been waiting all of my life for this book. This is the book I longed for when I searched the shelves of my local library; the one I could only dream of while perusing the big bookstore when we went to the city. You did it, although too late for the girl I used to be, the teens of today will ( Read more... ) -
REVIEW: The Total Tragedy of a Girl Named Hamlet
BOOK REVIEW:
The Total Tragedy of a Girl Named Hamlet
By Erin Dionne
Erin Dionne’s done it again! Her first novel, MODELS DON’T EAT CHOCOLATE COOKIES, won praise and garnered some excellent reviews. The latest, THE TOTAL TRAGEDY OF A GIRL NAMED HAMLET, another mid-grade novel, is sure to have students talking (and reading!). Dionne’s sense of humor is ( Read more... ) -
Welcome Back, Me!
My last post was August 2! Why so long, you ask? Good question. The reason: On August 3rd I was in Albany working and went out to dinner with colleagues. After dinner, right as we were getting ready to leave, I was struck by a large tray in the back of my head. Talk about a freak accident! I ended up in the hospital with a concussion and had a ( Read more... )
