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JJ Brothers entertain at Union Elementary
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Neighbors | Sarah Foor .After their informative and hilarious school assembly on Oct. 7, Jon (back left) and Jim Hixson (back right) posed with a group of their biggest fans at Union Elementary.
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Neighbors | Sarah Foor .Jim Hixson (left) taught Union students about adjectives by asking for words to describe an old house. Descriptors included falling apart, dirty, and smelly.
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Neighbors | Sarah Foor .Jon Hixson offered laughs and further teaching about adjectives after he brought out "Professor Adjective," a puppet who was an expert on the subject.
By SARAH FOOR
Jon and Jim Hixson have written three books together under their nickname “The JJ Brothers,” and they supplement their books with informative, but still silly, school assemblies.
The brothers visited Union Elementary on Oct. 7 to teach the students about storytelling and using descriptive words.
Jim acted as host of the event, while Jon spent most of his time trying to derail his brother with his crazy antics.
“When you read a story, use your imagination to make it fun. Imagination can surprise you and really make the experience come alive,” said Jim.
As Jim read selections from classic books, his brother Jon really did make the stories come to life when he showed up as a knight during the reading of “Ivanhoe” and then scared his brother with a gigantic fake spider during “Charlotte’s Web.”
After the laughter died down, the brothers also stressed the use of adjectives during writing, telling the students that descriptive words will make their stories really sing.
“Explore your senses when you use adjectives. If you’re trying to describe a place, think about all the things you smell, see and hear there,” Jim said.
The brothers taught a bit about spelling with a Hangman-type game, where they spelled the words teacher, reading and corn dog.
However, the most exciting news for students came at the end of the event, when the brothers shared that they’re working on their fourth book.
“It’s going to be called ‘Bully Shark,’ and we hope it teaches our readers that bullying is always bad news,” explained Jon.