For HNOM's first "Door Decorating Contest," the 8th grade class designed a multifaceted display by merging a stocking-based figurative language sorting activity for O. Henry's "The Gift of the Magi" with a punny Christmas tree joke. Titled, "Stocking Up on Figurative Language in O. Henry's 'The Gift of the Magi,'" the door was decorated with pom-poms, pipe cleaners, popsicle sticks, coloring-page ornaments, and three types of stockings! Students even added their own work to the punny joke. They explained why "Christmas" was capitalized in the question to review basic capitalization rules and why the answer was multiple-meaning word play. As a subtle nod to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic that kept with the door's theme, the Christmas tree holds a stocking labeled, "PARODY," and inside is a music sheet for "We Three Kings: Pandemic Parody."

The 8th grade class put a lot of time - and literary skills - into their decorating! Great job!