Dog Rescue

Dominique's
original photo

A couple of weeks ago, I found a gorgeous dog at the shelter who was scheduled to be euthanized at 7:00 the next morning.  She had a few notes on her profile and a shelter profile picture, which did not do her justice. To make matters worse, the notes were not positive! The shelter suggested she be placed in an adult-only home because she had "growled" at someone, and she was not eligible to be fostered through the shelter, due to high fear, anxiety, and stress. (FAS) Why a FAS dog cannot be fostered makes no sense to me!

Upon our first meeting, the odds of getting her out of the shelter seemed slim to none. As I approached her cage, Dominique and her sister Flo barked ferociously. Usually, when I get that kind of reception, I back off. I gingerly placed my hand for her to smell, in which she momentarily stopped barking only to start again. However, I noticed a wagging tail, so something possessed me to move forward and open the cage. Somehow, I got Dominique out, without Flo darting down the hall, and brought her outside.

Once outside, I saw a beautiful and loving animal!

Dominique - video links

Dominique is a true love dog, and her videos got a lot of traction. By day's end, she had almost $600 in pledges and a rescue commitment. The rescue ended up taking both her and Flo. I drove the ladies to meet their foster about an hour and a half out of Memphis. 

This woman, who will foster both animals, only has 28 dogs: eleven are indoor dogs, three puppies, and she has multiple other animals, such as cats, on her farm. Why does she have so many? She falls in love with them and foster fails. I get that, because we still have Kumquat.

The fosters have changed Flo's name to Angelique and fluffed them up with a professional grooming session. Aren't they gorgeous?

Dominique is on the left and Flo (Anqelique) is on the right.

I tell this story because rescue has become a part of my life, and the positive stories keep me going. Seeing dogs I love die is the worst! 

I have a new realistic fiction story based on another dog whom I helped find a home for. I changed a lot in the story to protect the owner's identity and add a new element, bullying. I have no idea if the owner was bullied, but I do know she had a beautiful, acne-free face! 

If one kid in a teacher's class adopts a shelter dog, my job is done. Unfortunately, I will never know unless a customer tells me it happened.

Click the picture or here to find Rescue Both of Us at my store on TpT. Plus, if you buy it before tomorrow morning, you can get it at half price! Here is a little bit about it.

$2.73

$5.45

SAVE 

$2.72

Build reading comprehension skills with this delightful, realistic fiction story about a bullied middle schooler's encounter with a lovable dog. This original reading passage comes complete with vocabulary words, high-level reading comprehension, research, and point of view questions, plus an answer key. The engaging story is based on real events at an animal shelter.

Use this story and questions for literacy groups, reading centers, whole or small group activities, partner or independent work, emergency sub plans, or homeschool for grades 5 - 7. Quick and easy setup makes this a win for you and your students.

Inside this no-prep activity, you'll find:

• Reading Passage ~ 6 pages
• 16 Vocabulary Words Matching
• Vocabulary Fill-ins
• 7 Reading Discussion Questions
• 4 Research Questions
• Point of View Questions
• Answer Key
• Printable PDF. File
• Link to Google Slides
• Easel Worksheets

Please check out my resource at Catch My Products, and thanks for reading Catch My Words!

Joyce

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Develop Your Craft To Become a Great Writing Instructor

Many teachers complain their kids don't want to write, so I ask, do you enjoy writing? I've found a teacher's love of a subject matter is contagious. 

In the 1990s, I purchased a few writing lesson books and gave my students fill-in-the-blank lessons. The author started the story and would stop to have students add details. Students used three sentences to describe a person or place. It looked interesting, so I wrote along with my kids.

Before long, I discovered I loved this activity and would share my work with students. I applied each writing lesson to my craft, and guess what? I was writing novels. I've written five manuscripts for fun and multiple reading passages on TpT. I downloaded one middle-grade novel about bullying on TpT as well.

It occurred to me, how does one who doesn't write him or herself teach writing? How do you critique a kid's work if you don't know how to improve it: This is why I recommend writing teachers spend this summer working on YOUR craft. Writing is a critical thinking activity that ignites your creative juices, plus it's fun!

Here is a quick prompt to get you going:

The kids were not the only ones waiting for summer vacation. This past summer, we drove to the beach. When we arrived, we spotted an unusual animal. (Your turn: Write three sentences describing what you saw). 

As our son approached the creature, I said, "Stop!" After all, we didn't know what it was or what it would do to him. Being a curious fellow, his face told us we were in trouble. (Your turn: Describe the boy in three sentences.)

I tried to grab our child, but it was too late. Just like Spider Man's spider bite gave the cartoon hero amazing abilities, our kid became __________________.

If you enjoy writing, you can create something that will make you proud. My students beamed after strong writing, especially when they continually won our city-wide competitions!

I have multiple writing lessons with tips on how to improve writing. Each lesson is a specific skill. However, the trick which helps the most is to eliminate "be verbs."

For example: A kid will write: The dog was big.

First, many adjectives relate to size, so why use this first-grade verb?

More importantly, think about how much power the writer can achieve by removing the "was" and using what follows as the adjective before the noun. Next, find a strong action verb to get the dog to do something that brings talk of its size to another level.

The enormous dog lunged and showed its gunk-filled teeth as slobber dripped down its quivering jaw.

I enjoyed writing that sentence, so I suggest you have fun this summer using writing lessons on your own craft. This will develop a love of writing which can be passed to your kids this fall! Best of luck!

Joyce

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