Cana Able: Thanksgiving Break

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Thanksgiving Break

I am so thankful we are out of school for the holidays. I love my students and I love teaching but I think they were tired of me too! When I first decided to become a teacher, I didn't realize all the dedication it was going to take but I am hanging in there. Veteran teachers have been telling me that the second semester is much easier, but I am planning on spending my Christmas vacation planning for the next term. UGH! It has not been terribly bad but I am just now getting used to being in a classroom all day. I hope everyone has a wonderful break and just think---only 3 more weeks and we are out for Christmas!

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Word Wall

This is a picture of my word wall. It changes frequently because we use so many vocabulary words each week. I usually introduce the new and unfamiliar words to the students at the beginning of a lesson or reading passage. Then I pick a few students to write the words on post its and place them on the wall. This gives them a visual place to see the words when we use them. Also, when we have tests, I take the words down but I often see the kids look at the wall trying to remember where the words were and what they mean.

Black Out by Lisa Unger

Annie Powers lives the perfect life of a wealthy, stay at home mom. Her husband, Gray, works for a private firm with his father and he loves his wife fervently. Annie has a past that is threatening to come back to haunt her. Annie used to be Ophelia March—a poor girl born to a mother who cared about men more than her daughter. Annie, desiring love and affection, fell in love with a stone cold killer. She willingly stood by as he committed crime sprees across the country because she was brainwashed into believing his lies. Gray, her husband now, worked for the sheriff’s office that helped Ophelia get away from her past life and become Annie. In the meantime, they fell in love and had a baby girl, Victory, who was doted on continuously.
All of a sudden, Annie starts having blackouts, migraines, and recurring nightmares and hallucinations. She works really hard throughout the book to find out who is asking questions about her past and who is leaving mementos from her past on her doorstep. Her husband and in-laws believe she is having a nervous breakdown. But deep down, Annie knows her gut instinct is to run to protect her daughter. Not knowing who to trust (her husband, in-laws, the police, her therapist, or her father), she takes off on her own to find and kill her murderous lover from her past. She finds out in the end that people who claim they love you and want what is best for you are not always to be trusted.
This book was a good read but it did not contain enough mystery for my taste. I figured out who was doing the killing and haunting a long time before the end of the book. I enjoy reading books that keep me awake at night, keep me on the edge of my seat, and always have some twisted ending. Unger’s book just did not do that for me.
Also, during the first half of the book, the author switched back and forth between Annie’s past and her present. One chapter or section would be about her childhood years. The next chapter would be about raising her daughter and having memory relapses. At times, the writing got confusing trying to decide which time frame I was reading. I wanted to know all her past at once and then move on from there.
It was an enjoyable book and Unger is a good author. I have read only three of her books and this has been the only one that was confusing at times. Lisa Unger has also written Beautiful Lies and Sliver of Truth and they were both good mystery novels. However, now that I am finished with this book, I am moving on to the newest James Patterson novel, Cross Country. I received it from my book club on Friday and almost set my Unger book away to begin this one. If you have not read Patterson and love mysteries as I do, he is a wonderful author--full of suspense!

The Great Gatsby

This novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald is a love story set in the 1920's. My students are reading it as a class and are just getting into it because of the juicy parts. For the rundown, Daisy and Tom Buchanan are married and living the wealthy (inherited) life on East Egg. Tom is having an affair with a poor woman, Myrtle, from the "wrong side of the tracks" while Daisy pretends to be ignorant. Meanwhile, Daisy's cousin, Nick (the narrator) moves to a small cottage on West Egg next to wealthy (illegal activities) Jay Gatsby. Gatsby is a secretive fellow who is secretly in love with Daisy from the past. Gatsby and Daisy reunite with Nick's help and begin a torrid, love affair. Needless to say, all the affairs come to blow and Daisy winds up hitting Myrtle with Gatsby's car. Myrtle's husband, thinking that Gatsby hit her because they were having an affair, kills Gatsby. Tom and Daisy get off scott free and their life goes back to the normal, somewhat blissful routine.

Tailspin by Catherine Coulter

This book is about a woman on the run from her newly acquired family members (through a long lost father) who happens upon a plane crash involving a FBI agent. She manages to help him and his passenger to safety and involves him in her flee from danger. The FBI agent and fellow co-workers are trying to figure out who put a bomb on his plane as well as figure out who in her life is trying to kill her.
Even though I am only awake long enough to read a couple of chapters each night, it is a really interesting murder mystery. I can't wait to solve the puzzle!

Cana Able

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Thanksgiving Break

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Black Out by Lisa Unger

The Great Gatsby

Tailspin by Catherine Coulter

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