On My Bookshelf: The Museum Of Extraordinary Things by Alice Hoffman

Basic plot: Life inside of the Museum of Extraordinary Things with her father, Professor Sardie, and her housekeeper, Maureen, is all Coralie had ever known. Like the other oddities employed at the museum, viewed as freaks of nature by others, Coralie fears how others will react to her deformity, her webbed hands. Her only escape is swimming in the Hudson as her father tries to create excitement about a strange creature in the river's waters.

On a swim gone too far, Coralie spots Eddie, a photographer with a troubled past and on another swim discovers a dead body. The lives of all three intertwine as Eddie searches for a girl gone missing after a factory fire and Coralie tries to pacify her father in his quest for the next great attraction for the museum.

Why I liked it: Historical fiction is my favorite kind of book to read. I was a huge Ann Rinaldi fan growing up and excelled in history in school. The Museum of Extraordinary Things is set in a time period of change. America, or at least New York City is just beginning to look like the place we know today.

The author expertly weaves historical details into the storyline, mixed with just the right amount of romance and suspense. You also can't help but root for the underdogs: Coralie, Eddie, Maureen, Mr. Morris, and the other "oddities" in their conflicts with Professor Sardie and the world around them.

Classroom application: The novel is set in 1911 in New York City and is rich with details about the developing city. Two events are heavily featured in the novel: the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire and the fire at Dreamland in Coney Island. Workers' rights issues are heavily featured in the novel, and excerpts of the novel could also be used as a fiction pairing in history units on women's rights and immigration. Consider using photographs, an excellent primary source, to show students one or both fires and the aftermath.

In the ELA classroom, the novel or excerpts could be used in a genre study of historical fiction. Students could read a section of the book and then consider where the line between fact and fiction stands. Students could brainstorm the types of sources the author would need to write that particular section of the novel and discuss how the author might have crafted the fictional parts. 

And as with Becoming Lisette, this novel could be used as a mentor text as students complete research and write their own historical fiction piece. You can read more about blending narrative and research here.

If you are interested in purchasing a copy of The Museum of Extraordinary Things for yourself, you can find it on Amazon here.

Note: The Literary Maven is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.

#2ndaryELA Twitter Chat Topic: Standards & Curriculum

Brynn Allison, The Literary Maven & Kristy, 2 Peas and a Dog are hosting #2ndaryELA on Twitter every Tuesday evening from 8 - 9 PM EST. #2ndaryELA is a weekly chat for secondary English Language Arts teachers focused on a topic. Every Sunday, we will post the topic and questions on our blogs to allow you to prepare for the upcoming Tuesday evening's chat. Thank you to everyone who joined us last week and we hope that you will join us again.

On Tuesday, September 29, our #2ndaryELA chat will focus on standards and curriculum in the ELA classroom.

The Format:
8:00 Intros: What and where do you teach? Include a link to your blog if you have one. #2ndaryELA
8:05 Q1: What standards/curriculum does your school follow or use? Share a link if applicable. #2ndaryELA
8:15 Q2: What standard/concept from your standards/curriculum do you struggle to teach? #2ndaryELA
8:25 Q3: How is your planning affected by your standards/curriculum? #2ndaryELA
8:35 Q4: How do you ensure you cover all the required standards/curriculum for your grade?#2ndaryELA
8:45 Q5: Share a resource for your standards/curriculum that you find invaluable (book, article, blog post, type of technology, etc.) #2ndaryELA

The Directions:
1. Log into Twitter on Tuesday from 8-9 PM EST.
2. Search for tweets with the hashtag #2ndaryELA in the search bar. Make sure to click “All tweets.”
3. Introductions are for the first 5 minutes.
4. Starting at 8:05 (@literarymaven or @2peasandadog) will post questions every 10 minutes using the format Q1, Q2, Q3, etc. and the hashtag #2ndaryELA.
5. Respond to questions using the format A1, A2, A3, etc. with #2ndaryELA.
6. Follow any teachers responding and who are also using #2ndaryELA.
7. Like and respond to other teachers' tweets.

You can schedule your responses to the questions ahead of time using a scheduler like TweetDeck or HootSuite (but don't forget to use A1, A2, etc. and #2ndaryELA). Links are encouraged, so be sure to use a link shortener like tinyurl, bitly, goo.gl or ow.ly Just visit one of those links and paste your long link to shorten it for Twitter. Using images is also encouraged when relevant.

New to chats? Here are the rules:
1. Stay on topic & stay positive!
2. Please do not post or promote paid products unless specifically asked.
3. If you arrive late, try to look through other posts before beginning.
4. Feel free to just read, like, and/or retweet.
5. Always use our hashtag #2ndaryELA, including in your replies to others.
6. Make sure your twitter feed is set to public. (Also keep in mind that Twitter is completely public – that means students, parents, and administrators can and will read what you tweet.)

Be sure to spread the word to any teacher friends who might be interested in joining us as well. We look forward to chatting with you Tuesday evening!
Get caught up on past chats here: