Megan McDonald

Prompt for Grades K-2 (Level I)

Megan McDonald's spunky and all-too-real protagonist, Judy Moody, once played a great practical joke on her younger brother Stink when she puts a fake hand in the toilet (something McDonald actually did to her one of her own sisters). When Stink discovers the stray hand… "he burst out of the bathroom, [Uncle Sam] hat crashing to the floor, stars flying…" Have you ever played a practical joke on someone? Tell us about it, or make up a new one that you would love to try on a family member.

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Prompt for Grades 3-5 (Level II)

In McDonald's first book, Is This a House for a Hermit Crab?, readers are introduced to Hermit Crab who has outgrown his home. He crawls along the sand "scritch-scatch, scritch-scratch" searching for a new place to live. A tin can is too noisy, a plastic bucket is too big. Nothing feels just right until he takes shelter inside an empty sea snail's shell. Select an animal that fascinates you and find out about its habitat, life cycle, behavior, social structure — and its home. Is it a cave, hive, nest, burrow, or tree hollow? Take the point of view of the animal and write a one-page descriptive essay using specific details and rich language to describe your home and why it's perfect for you. Include a drawing if you wish.

• Books and resources on animal homes
• Resources on descriptive writing and voice

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Prompt for Grades 6-8 (Level III)

McDonald has lots of fun with idioms in Stink and the Incredible Super-Galactic Jawbreaker, featuring Judy Moody's pesky 7-year-old brother. 'Like a kid in a candy store,' 'when it rains, it pours,' 'mad as a hornet' …there are 36 of them sprinkled throughout the story. Talk about the use of figurative language in texts. Select and research the history of one English idiom, and write a one-page piece that includes the following:

Part I: a colorful anecdote or short story with your own explanation of the origin of the idiom
Part II: a brief, true history of the idiom and what it means (cite your source)

• Resources on idioms

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Prompt for Grades 9-12 (Level IV)

McDonald's fiction and nonfiction books reveal a deep interest in insects, reptiles, crustaceans, and other living creatures. In this writing challenge, you'll be creating a page spread from "The Insect Guidebook" or "The Reptile Guidebook." Select and research an insect or reptile you would like to know more about. Components of the page spread include: 1-2 images with captions and labeling; map (optional); subheads; expository text that describes where this critter lives, what it eats, social structure, what kind of home it has and how it behaves; scientific name; and a 'fun facts' callout box. Think about the layout of your page and how you help the reader scan and absorb different 'levels' of information. Submit your final page spread as a PDF or jpeg file.

• Resources on informational text and expository writing

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Resources

More about the Megan McDonald

• Megan McDonald Official Website (Internet Public Library)
• The Judy Moody Website, by Megan McDonald
• Video interview with Megan McDonald  (Reading Rockets)

More about descriptive writing and voice

• RAFT strategy (Reading Rockets)
• Describing the Real World (Scholastic)
• Creative Writing in Science Class (Education Week)
• Description paragraph
• Descriptive writing with Virginia Hamilton (Scholastic)
• Story Writing Using Descriptive Writing  (Reading Rockets)
• Teaching the Skills of Voice (The Writing Fix)

Resources and books about animal homes

• The Salamander Room: A Habitat for a Wild 'Pet' (The Writing Fix)
• Animal Homes (Home Science Tools)
• Science Kids Animal Homes
• Whose House Is This?: A Look at Animal Homes - Webs, Nests, and Shells
• My Very First Book of Animal Homes
• Pop-Up: Animal Homes (National Geographic Action Book)
• Animal Homes (Usborne Lift-the-Flap Book)

More about idioms

• Figurative Language: Teaching Idioms (ReadWriteThink)
• Eye on Idioms (ReadWriteThink)
• English Idioms (Web English Teacher)
• Idioms (ESL Cafe)
• Paint by Idioms (Funbrain)
• Idioms by Kids

More about informational text and expository writing

• Informational Text Features
• Expository Writing (The Writing Site)
• Expository Writing (Web English Teacher)
• Non-Fiction Genre Study
• Writing a Science Paper (About.com)

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