Carl Hiaasen

Was born and raised in Florida, where he still lives with his family.
Carl has been writing about Florida ever since his father gave him a
typewriter when he was six years old. He graduated form the University of
Florida and went on to pursue a career in reporting and writing a regular
column. He started writing novels in the 80s along with his friend William
Montalbano. They began writing mystery thrillers, which developed form
their work as reporters. These books were Powder Burn, Trap Line and A
Death in China. Tourist Season was Hiaasens first solo novel, and from
then his writing career took off. He made his childrens book debut with
Hoot in 2002, which was awarded a Newberry Honor and spent more than
two years on the New York Times bestseller lists.

Did you know
HOOT was made into a film in 2006
MPAA Rating: PG, for mild bullying and brief language
Genre: Adventure/Mystery
Runtime: approx. 90 minutes
Studio: New Line Cinema
Director: Wil Shriner
Screenwriter: Wil Shriner
Starring: Luke Wilson, Logan Lerman, Brie Larson, Cody Linley, Tim
Blake Nelson
Release Date: May 5, 2006
Three middle-schoolers take on greedy land developers, corrupt
politicians, and clueless cops in the mystery adventure HOOT based on
Carl Hiaasen's Newbery Honor-winning book. Produced by Jimmy Buffett,
Frank Marshall (Seabiscuit, Signs) and Walden Media (Because of Winn
Dixie, Holes), HOOT revolves around a Montana boy who moves to
Florida and unearths a disturbing threat to a local population of
endangered owls. Determined to protect his new environment, the boy
and his friends fight to prevent the adults from making a big mistake.
Packed with surprising plot twists, quirky characters, and offbeat humor,
HOOT is a classic story that's fun for all ages. HOOT is from a screenplay


by Wil Shriner and directed by Wil Shriner and stars Logan Lerman, Brie
Larson, Cody Linley and Luke Wilson. The film will be released on May
5th, 2006. (Synopsis provided by New Line Cinema)





Opening Activity
To get the students excited about reading Hoot I will request for
an animal trainer from the Zoological Wildlife Foundation to come visit our
classroom with a live owl. I believe it is very important for my students to
see that the owls they will be reading about are real, and for them to have
prior knowledge about how owls live and their contributions to the
environment before they begin reading the book. Students will learn all
about the owls habitat, eating and sleeping schedule, and so much more.


Our principle focus is education. There is no better form of
preserving wildlife than through education. We offer several programs,
which give you the opportunity to learn about many endangered and
exotic animals. Our program will cover their native habitat, diet,
endangered status and more. Zoological Wildlife Foundation presents
safe, live animals to learning groups of all sorts. An ovious choice of
science classes, animal's programs can add a new dimension to cultural
arts, social studies, history and geographical studies.
We will bring the animals, our trained staff and knowledge to you,
teaching for 45-55 minutes on a subject you choose.
- Zoological Wildlife Foundation
- http://zoologicalwildlifefoundation.com/education/

Afterward the class will discuss what they learned about owls that they
did not know before, and what they found most interesting.





Hoot Culminating Project Idea
To close the study students will create:
Endangered Species Tri-fold posters


Standard 8.) Differentiate among organisms that are threatened,
endangered, and extinct.
o Identifying endangered and extinct species locally, regionally, and
worldwide
o Identifying causative factors of decreasing population size
- Examples: overcrowding resulting in greater incidence of
disease, fire destroying habitat and food sources
Objective Students will identify animals that are endangered, and what
has caused them to be endangered.
Project The students will have the opportunity to work with a partner or
on their own to research more about the issue they chose to write their
persuasive letter about. Students will learn about why the animal is
endangered/ the threat, what is being done to help the animal now, and
any other interesting facts the students find. This project will teach
students to determine what is important and what is interesting when
researching a topic and using the information that stands out to display for
others to keep them interested and knowledgeable. The students will also
take notes on what is most important from their peers tri-folds.
o https://worldwildlife.org/species/directory?direction=desc&sort=extinc
tion_status
o Determining importance worksheet





Writing Connection

Write for Change
Objective: Students will assemble their thoughts on key issues, conduct research
and effectively communicate their opinions in a persuasive letter

Discussion:
First we will discuss the different ways Roy and the other characters stood up
for what they believed in, and the trials they had to face in order to see a change.
Questions to ask
- What situations were unfair in the novel?
- How did the characters handle this unfairness?
- Have there been instance in your own lives when you have experienced or
witnessed injustice?
- What would you want to see changed in your own lives and communities or in
the lives and communities of others?
- How do you feel about your ability to affect change in these situations?
After the class discussion, have the students brainstorm ideas on paper about
different issues that concern them.

Importance of letters:
Discuss the importance of why we write letters.
Discuss with students the different ways that writing letters was a part of Hoot,
including Roy's letter to Dana, Officer Delinko's request to Roy's father to write a
letter to his boss, and the response letter to Beatrice Leep from Mother Paula's
Pancake House.
Questions to ask
- Why did Roy write his letter?
- What did Officer Delinko hope to accomplish with a letter from Roy's father?
- Did the letter sent to Beatrice have the results Mother Paula's Pancake House
wanted? Why or why not?
Explain that while we cant control what others do, we can control how we respond.
We can also work to impact others opinions on certain issues or disagreements. An
effective way of influencing change is to write a letter that will persuade people in
positions of power.


Assignment:


- Give students time to browse through information on the computer about a
cause they brainstormed in order to choose one that they will research further
and write a persuasive letter about the issue to someone who is in power to
address the issue.
- Students will present to the teacher a statement that clearly states his or her
opinion on the issue.
- Students will then begin searching for facts to support their opinion.
- They should also identify why other people oppose this stand; students should
be able to use facts to refute any arguments against their opinion. They'll draw
on this research to create a letter to a local official or the White House.
- Shows students examples of persuasive letters.
- Students will fill out the KWL chart to narrow down what they want to write
about.
- Once students have chosen a topic and finished their research, invite students
with similar topics to share in small groups, and then ask volunteers to share
with the class.
- Encourage the class to offer feedback on others' research.

Websites to start with:
http://www.nwf.org/ - NWF works to protect and restore wildlife wonders and
to provide a sustainable future for both wildlife and man.
http://wwf.panda.org/ - The world's largest and most experienced independent
conservation organization, with around 5 million supporters and a global
network of 27 national organizations, 5 associates, and 21 program offices.
http://www.audubon.org/ - The mission of the National Audubon Society is to
conserve and restore natural ecosystems, focusing on birds and other wildlife
for the benefit of humanity and the earth's biological diversity.
http://www.audubon.org/ - The Audubon Institute's goal is to foster
appreciation and, ultimately, conservation of these ecosystems, which are
showcased in an outstanding collection of nine museums and parks dedicated
to nature, and another on the way.
http://www.fws.gov/ - The mission of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is
working with others to conserve, protect, and enhance fish and wildlife and
their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people.
http://www.defenders.org/ - Defenders of Wildlife is dedicated to the protection
of all native wild animals and plants in their natural communities.
http://www.nfwf.org/Pages/default.aspx - Dedicated to promoting conservation
and sustainable use of our natural resources through environmental education,
natural resource management, habitat protection, ecosystem restoration, and
public policy development.


http://www.wcs.org/ - The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) works to save
wildlife and wild lands throughout the world.
http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/ - Includes information about the
structure and classification of animals, basic concepts of ecology and
evolutionary biology, brief reports on dozens of animals, and lots of pictures."

How to write a letter:
Take students to the start of the writing activity, and have them complete all three
steps:
Selecting stationery
Choosing whom to address their letter to
Filling in the template with facts supported by their research
Review the letter template outline with students clarifying each of the areas for the
body of the letter:
Opening
Reason 1
Reason 2
Opposing reason
Conclusion

Edit:
After writing their letters, have students preview them and make any required edits
before printing the letters and sending them out.

Assess:
KWL charts - assess their ability to prepare research questions
Letters - Appropriate reasons for supporting a cause
- Use of concrete, accurate facts to support an opinion
- Use of strong, persuasive conclusion
- Use of persuasive language
- Correct grammar and punctuation
- Correct spelling and word usage
- Good self-editing skills displayed by final draft

Further implementations:
- Have students use their research of the opposing viewpoint to write a rebuttal
letter that might be sent back to them.
- Encourage students to read the newspaper and express their opinion on
controversial articles through persuasive letters to the Editor.


- Invite students to write an editorial for submission to their school or local paper.