It’s been so much fun interacting with classes reading MARTY MCGUIRE for this year’s Global Read Aloud. Students brainstormed some great questions for this week’s Q and A session!
Here’s the brainstorming chart I talked about in this week’s video. Note that “Stuff I like/find interesting” also includes things that scare me, which can be great material for writing. And Place I love/want to visit also includes places that I think would be interesting as settings, even if they’re not places I really love to spend time (like the doctor’s office!).
Once I’ve made my lists, I start mixing and matching. What if I wanted to write a story about snakes? I could set that story in a desert…and maybe someone lost in the desert could be bitten by a venomous snake, making it a survival story. Or what if the snake story were set in an airport? What if snakes were being transported from one zoo to another…and what if they escaped in the terminal? That could be a funny story OR a scary story, depending on the approach. The possibilities are really endless, and I’ve found that this is a fun way to come up with ideas that are fresh and unexpected. Give it a try and see what you come up with!
I’ll be back with our final MARTY MCGUIRE Global Read Aloud Video Q and A session next week. If your class would like to ask a question, please post a comment on this blog post (not last week’s!) no later than Wednesday 11/6 so that I have time to make the video. Remember to include the teacher’s name, school, city/state/country, and your question. Please limit questions to one or two per class so that I can answer as many as possible. It helps if you look at which questions have already been asked to avoid repeats, and questions need to be posted by teachers rather than individual students. Thanks – and I’ll see you next week!
Mrs. Griffard\’s First Grade Class in Colleyville, Texas would like to know why you had Mrs.McGuire insist that Marty be the princess? Also is it hard for you to try new things like Marty? When did you actually write Marty McGuire and how long did it take you to write it?
Mrs. Johnson’s Third Grade Class, Mount Vernon, WA
Jordon: Have you ever had a garbage can that you used for something other than garbage?
Katrina: Do you have a daughter? How old is your daughter if you do have one?
Gabe: Do you have a son? What is his name if you have one?
Ricky: Have you ever dressed up as a frog?
Andrew: Have you ever hidden a frog so you could sneak it into some place?
Gabe: Have you ever dissected a frog?
Jordon: Did you have any trick or treaters dressed up as frogs?
Gabe: How was your Halloween? What was your favorite costume?
Jordon: Did anyone who came to your house on Halloween ask you if you were the author of Marty McGuire?
Reveca: Why did you pick the name Marty McGuire and why did Marty swing the stuffed frog?
Sadie: Why did you want the stuffed frog to lose a leg?
Marcus: Have you ever tasted what a frog tastes like?
Mrs. Hudson, 2nd Grade Class, Mount Vernon, WA
Alex: You changed the title to the next Marty McGuire book. Why?
Ms. Moehl’s Class, Grade 3, Mount Vernon, WA
Summer: Have you ever had a pet dog that brought you animals?
Kelly: If you were Marty McGuire, what would you do about the friendship problems?
Jayden: If Marty McGuire was a grownup, what would she do if she had kids?
Mitchell: What’s your favorite part of Marty McGuire?
Bradin: Has a frog jumped on your face?
Martin: Have you ever worked making the Marty McGuire book while you were in a restaurant?
Danielle: Have you ever caught a frog while at school?
Destiney: Have you ever had a pet frog that tried to kiss you?
Brianna: Have you been in a school play while you were in third grade?
Josh: Have you ever kissed a frog and had it turn into a prince?
Katie: Have you ever painted a trash can?
Kristina: Have you ever worn a princess dress?
Ms. Schuh’s Class, 2nd Grade, Mount Vernon, WA
Max: How did you figure out what you were going to do? For instance, which part she would be in the play; who her friends would be; which teachers would help her, and other things.
Enzo: Who is your illustrator and describe how you work with your illustrator? And who is your publisher and how do you work with your publisher?
Finnly: How did you come up with the characters?
Hector: Do you think Marty McGuire will be in another play?
Isabelle: Have you ever had a raccoon in your attic?
Brandon: Have you ever got messed up on your words?
Katy: Will Marty change her mind about kissing the frog?
Daniel: Are you ever going to make more Marty McGuire books
Nathaly: Why did Marty McGuire like frogs?
Lily: How did you come up with the idea of using the Frog Prince play?
Jacob: Why did you make up Marty McGuire and the frog being in the trash can and having smell like peas?
Grade 2/3
Lincoln Alexander School
Hamilton, Ontario
We would like to know if you participate in any sports or if you like to watch sports?
Did you read a lot when you were in elementary school? What books were your favourite?
What character in the Marty McGuire book do you most identify with and why?
My 3rd grade class is from Johnson Creek, WI.
Thank you for answering our question from last week. How do you know how long to make a book? We are going to be writing our own books and really would like to know how to do this.
Why is there a preview of Marty McGuire Digs Worms at the end?
Why did Marty, Annie and Veronica become friends at the end?
Why did you choose to make Sparky a raccoon?
Why did Marty think Annie didn’t like her?
Ms. Leroi’s 2nd grade class from Lone Tree Elementary in Lone Tree, CO came up with many questions, but here are a few. Not sure if you had answered some of them.
How did you get interested in writing Marty McGuire?
Did you know someone like Rupert when you were growing up?
How did you come up with the sculpture garden game?
When did you start writing books?
Why did you use a cafeteria trash can with smashed peas instead of a clean trash can in the book?
How long did it take you to write Marty McGuire?
When did you start writing books?
How long did it take you to write your longest/shortest book?
We loved your book! We noticed in the book how lonely, sad, frustrated and disappointed Marty seemed when HER best friend Annie became such good friends with Veronica Grace. So we are wondering if you ever had that kind of experience with a good friend when you were growing up? And if you did, how did you handle it? Thanks for answering our question. We are Mrs. Pentney’s grade 3 class from St. Elizabeth Ann Seton School in Barrhaven Ontario
Ms. Johnson’s Third Grade Class from Mount Vernon, Washington, Lincoln Elementary
Jordon: Have you ever written a book about a lion?
Katrina: Are you going to write a series like the Magic Tree House, but with more animals?
Lyndzi: Is your life the same as Marty McGuire’s life?
Sergio: Have you ever seen a scary movie?
Lily: Winter and I want to know if you have made a Veteran’s Day book?
Marcus: Why did you make a scene where the frog jumps off the stage and chases Veronica Grace’s mom?
Reveca: How did you make the cover of the book?
Andrew: If you have a daughter or a son, who is the oldest child?
Ricky: Have you ever written an online book?
Katrina: Have you written a holiday book or holiday book series?
Sterling: How many books have you written?
Sadie: What made you think to write a Marty McGuire book?
Matthew: How did you think of the character Veronica Grace?
Gabe: What is your favorite book and why?
Gaby: Have you ever written a Valentine’s book?
Ricky: How did you think of the character James?
Ricky: Can you show a picture of you when you were a baby or child?
Eduardo: Have you ever eaten frog legs?
Katrina: Have you ever written a book about horses?
Katrina: Have you ever written a girl scout book before?
We have really enjoyed reading Marty McGuire. We were wondering how and when you found out that your book was selected for the GRA? How did you feel to know that your book was going to be read and discussed all at once by classes around the world?
Thank you so very much for all your wonderful videos! We have all enjoyed learning more about you and how you created Marty’s world! We noticed that Annie and Marty were getting along better, when Annie helped Marty and Rupert get the frog into the school. We have been talking a lot about Marty and Annie and their friendship. We wondered.. if Marty and Annie stopped playing together, were they really still friends or not? Some students in our class thought yes, they were really still friends all along. Others thought differently. They thought that if they didn’t play together on the playground or after school, that they stopped being friends. What were you thinking about their friendship while you were writing the book? When two people, who were friends, now have different interests, are they still “friends?”
Opps! I forgot! We are a second grade class in Northeast Elementary School in Ithaca, NY.
2nd Grade at Rosemont School of the Holy Child from Rosemont, PA
1. Why did you choose Veronica Grace to be so girly and fancy?
2. Are the character names based on people you know?
3. How did Veronica Grace take over recess?
4. Why did you choose for Marty McGuire to have a real frog in the play?
5. What made you want to write Marty McGuire?
6. Why did you make Annie become best friends with Veronica Grace instead of Marty?
7. Why did you make Veronica Grace want to check tiara so often?
8. How old are you?
9. Do you want to ever catch another bullfrog?
Liberty a 2nd grader at Spaulding academy homeschool in lincoln, ne
Why wasn’t James in the end of the book?
Why did Veronica Grace choose to put on the disgusting sneakers?
Hi, I’m the Teacher-Librarian and I’m collaborating with Ms. Nakagawa’s Gr.2/3 class at Cougar Creek Elementary in Surrey, BC. We’d like to know how does writing a book/story make you feel? (Question by Meylayna).
Also, we’d like to know in Marty McGuire, what part of the story doe you like the best? (Question by Masih).
Thank you.
We are so sad that Marty McGuire is over. We were talking about author’s purpose today and we wrote in our writer’s notebooks what we thought your purpose was for writing Marty McGuire. We had many different ideas, but could you comment on why exactly you wanted to write Marty McGuire. What do you hope the reader gets from your book?
Thank you for such a fun story to read!
Ms. Dumas’ 3rd grade class
Garner Elementary
Clio, Mi
I LOVED your book. It was so much fun to read, I wanted to finish it all in one day! I learned 2 lessons from Marty. You can read them here if you want to. Thanks for writing such a fun book!
http://kidblog.org/SpauldingAcademy/d10a850c-c487-4bfa-b503-68483ff3a11e/lessons-from-marty/
Grade 3 students in Miss Woods’ class in Oakville, Ontario Canada have a lot of questions for you … ever since you answered one of our questions on the Week 3 video, we have been TOTALLY engaged in your video Q&As and the last few chapters of Marty McGuire. Thanks so much for this great opportunity!
It was too hard to pick just one or two of our questions … sorry for the long list!
1. When Marty kissed the frog, did she have a sour face?
2. How would you feel if you were Marty?
3. How did you get the name of Rupert? (He is one of our favourite characters because he is funny)
4. Why does Veronica hate frogs?
5. What’s YOUR favourite day or celebration?
6. What’s YOUR favourite colour? (we think you might’ve answered this already … blue?)
7. How would a real frog be in a show?!
8. Have you had someone who was scared of frogs in your life (like Veronica Grace .. and her mom)?
9. What happens to Veronica Grace’s mom? (you write that the frog maybe lands on her …)
10. Why did you make Veronica Grace mean? When you were a kid, was somebody mean to you? RELATED: Did you have anyone challenging in your life like Marty and Veronica Grace (relationship)?
11. How many plays have you been in?
12. How many books have you written? (we think you might’ve already answered this)
13. Did you want to make Rupert funny?
14. What time was the big play? How long was it?
15. What school does Marty go to?
16. Why did they pick a real frog instead of the broken frog?
17. Does Rasheena look funny in the king costume?
18. Where did Veronica Grace go? (we were confused when she ran off the stage and then came back at the end for the curtain call)
19. Why did you want to have the frog jump into the crowd?
20. What is your favourite food?
Since we have so many questions, I think we might write you some letters. We have been practising letter writing. Would that be okay?
Thanks again!
Miss Woods’ grade 3 class – Oakville Ontario
Hi Kate, We LOVE reading Marty McGuire. Hope we’re not too late to ask a question… We were upset with Marty’s mom for making Marty be the princess instead of letting her make her own decision. So, we were wondering, has anyone ever forced you to do something you didn’t want to do?
We were also wondering if you could be one of the characters in Marty McGuire, who would you choose and why?
Miss Elisha’s Year 1 and 2 class from Semarang International School in Indonesia
Hi Kate,
Mr. Heim’s Grade 2 students at St. Patrick’s Episcopal Day School in Washington, DC are wondering why you made Marty have short hair. Thank you!
Mme Amoah’s 2nd grade class from Hamilton, Ontario, Canada would like to know if you write non-fiction books and what would you like to write about if you don’t already? Also, is there anything you would have liked to have changed in Marty Mcguire?
Thank you. Our kids absolutely loved this story and were clapping right along with the audience in chapter 13.
Mme Amoah’s class in Hamilton, Ontario…oops I forgot… they also wanted to know why you made the play a grade 3 only tradition (our students are in grade 2)? Thanks again.!
Thank you so much for your Q and A’s. 3T has loved listening and watching a real author. Our question is “Do you read your own Marty McGuire books and do you read them to groups of students? We are going to persuade our librarian to buy Digs for worms for our library!! Grade 3 at Roseville School Windsor Ontario.
Thankyou