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Can you believe we are at the end of Term 1 already? A lot of ground has been covered since the
beginning of the school year. The highlight of this term was our study of Edgar Allan Poe.
Students learned about his life and his passions, his struggles and his losses. They took a tour
of his home in Philadelphia. Mrs. Osborne visited Poe’s home two years ago and took many
pictures both inside and outside the house which he shared with his wife and aunt, during the
most productive years of his professional life. His basement is particularly chilling………
especially if you know the story of The Black Cat. We read a number of his short stories and a
poem and compared and contrasted two of his short stories, in an essay.
Next on our agenda is the novel A Single Shard, by Linda Sue Park. This novel will be used as a
springboard for the creation of a literary magazine or other product, utilizing the book as the
foundation of its content.
And finally, all students continue to participate in the Read 24/7 reading program. In addition
to reading for a minimum of 20 minutes each day, students are given the opportunity to get
into “The Reading Zone” each and every Friday. Most of them actually look forward to reading all
period! Students have done a fantastic job recording their reading time in their reading logs.
They are engaged as active readers, making predictions, questioning, visualizing, evaluating,
clarifying, and making connections with what they are reading.
What a great term it has been!
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Mrs. Osborne meets author Jodi Picoult!!
On April 4, 2008 Mrs. Osborne had the pleasure to meet author Jodi Picoult at Hope High School
in Providence, Rhode Island. The reading and book signing event was sponsored by Border’s Book
Store at the Providence Place Mall. Following a short introduction about her life and career as
a writer, Ms. Picoult read from her new novel, Change of Heart. She read for about 20 minutes
and then took questions from the audience.
I found Ms. Picoult to be down-to-earth, friendly, and quite funny! She told the audience that
she began writing short stories as a teenager. She feels that it is important to write about
different topics, other than things you know and are comfortable with. She writes about things
she is interested in – many of which could be considered ‘hot topics’. Anyone who is a fan will
agree that her novels raise ethical issues and personal opinions, where the reader really
questions herself in asking “what would I do” or “how do I really feel about this”?
Ms. Picoult says that out of the fifteen novels she has written, her favorite one is Second
Glance. Her favorite author is Alice Hoffman. My Sister’s Keeper has made it to Hollywood and
is in production to hit movie theatres sometime next year. LifeTime Television Company purchased
the rights to her novel, The 10th Circle, and that movie aired on June 28, 2008. It was
fantastic!
Over the summer, I enjoyed reading Jodi Picoult’s new book, Change of Heart; the novel explores
the death penalty with a captivating story of redemption, justice, and love. I was fortunate
enough to have Ms. Picoult personally autograph my copy, which I purchased the evening of her
visit. We even had a picture taken together!!
For more information on Jodi Picoult, visit her website at www.jodipicoult.com
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