Brian Leaf is brilliant. He takes Twilight and pulls from it the words most likely to be seen on a standardized test. The book is very simple to use and was so engaging some middle school girls that I know took turns quizzing each other from it for hours purely for fun. Think about that. If that isn't an endorsement right there I don't know what is.
There are 40 groups of vocab words – 8 words in each group. That’s 320 words (directly from Twilight) plus synonyms, antonyms, and word parts for a staggering 600 words. Each word is isolated in the text so students can look it up in context. A glossary is provided in the back of the book as well as after each page of words.
Brian Leaf has obviously read Twilight and writes engagingly in his explanations pulling from the novel to enlighten readers. The book teaches how to find synonyms, make analogies, fill in sentences, and figure out meaning from word parts. Each section and quiz builds on itself for repetition and memorization purposes. After every five groups there’s a quiz for practice.
I love the group titles: Tousled Hair, Enigmatic Answers, His Topaz Eyes, and Vampire Etiquette. You can picture where they come from in the novel.
If literacy parts of an exam scare you to pieces, nothing makes learning more fun and less scary than a sparkly vampire or two.
The first trailer I saw in theaters looked so incredibly hokey. I wasn't sure I was going to want to see it despite how much I loved the novels. This trailer is dynamite in comparison. I'm growing to think of Robert Pattison as Edward. It's just taken awhile. Call me crazy, but I always pictured him with black hair and blue eyes despite the references to red hair and topaz eyes. On the other hand Kristen Stewart always looked like my idea of Bella Swan so I have no problems there. Pretty and plain at the same time.
The scenes all in the forest are very eerie and casts a cloud of mystery. Fog, mist, rain, Forks weather in action. Edward climbing trees like he's Spider Man... not kidding. Watch!
Best lines from the novel and preview:
"All super hero stuff right? What if I'm not the hero? What if I'm the bad guy?"
"You don't know how long I've been waiting for you."
"You are my life Now."
It ends with the line 'Forever Starts Now.' It's suppose to have this chilling effect but all I can think of is that it truly starts here. This moment, this movie is what fans of Twilight have been waiting for. Guessing from IMDB New Moon might be coming out in 2010, the information is for pro members only but I certainly hope so now that the movie finally looks good to me. I have so many favorite scenes I want to see come to life. Harry Potter move over Edward Cullen is going to kick you ass.
I wonder if they're planning midnight releases. How many will go dressed up as vampires, werewolves, and characters from the series? If they do I plan to go opening night... just perhaps not in costume. Grin.
