WordGirl's Word of the Week: Hoopla

Make a big hoopla about the Word of the Week!

By Brian Kraker
Aug 13, 2013

Ages

6-13

WordGirl's Word of the Week: Hoopla

Aug 13, 2013

WordGirl is used to dealing with hooplas on a regular basis. When evil villains, such as Dr. Two Brains or The Evil Sandwich Making Guy, trying to take over the city and causing a big fuss, it’s always up to WordGirl to save the day. Now, on the tails of the excitement surrounding last week’s “What’s Up With WordGirl” event, it’s the perfect time to introduce your children to the new ‘Word of the Week’: hoopla.

A hoopla (noun) is a big or exciting event, where everyone is making a fuss. Because hoopla is such a fun and engaging word to use (and say!), make sure you make this week’s learning activities as big and entertaining as possible. Enjoy!

Activity 1: Read about hooplas in school. Introduce your children to books containing ‘hooplas’, especially books about the drama-filled halls of school. Introduce your tweens to one of these great series that contains rumors, gossip, and hooplas: How I Survived Middle School series or the Dork Diaries series. For slightly younger readers, the Dear Dumb Diary books are fantastic titles that school aged children can relate to.

Activity 2: Write about a personal hoopla. Encourage your children to write about a hoopla they experienced in their own lives. It can be an event from school and maybe a fight with a sibling. Encourage them to write about the event and include how they felt then and how they feel now looking back. Join in on the fun and participate in the writing activity. Then, share the final stories with the whole family!

Activity 3: Create a hoopla-themed masterpiece. Let your artistic children express themselves creatively and encourage them to create a hoopla-themed art project. Have your children create paintings inspired by a hoopla in their lives, or have them depict a scene from one of the books they read. The painting can be a literal interpretation of the hoopla or an abstract interpretation of it. Either way, encourage your children to think outside the box with this artistic activity.

Activity 4: Make a hoopla at home. The best way to learn about a hoopla is to participate in one. So get your children excited! Pick an upcoming event, it can be an anniversary or holiday, and encourage your children to celebrate it to the fullest.  Encourage them to create special decorations or write songs for the occasion. Make sure to invite family and friend to join in on the festivities. And above all, have fun! As WordGirl would say…Worrrd Up!

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