Date: Wednesday, February 27, 2008

Time: 1:00 p.m. - 2:15 p.m. ET

Target Grade Levels: 3-5

Description:

Jackson Jones and the Puddle of Thorns. Join us for an engaging presentation about the writing and book-making process!

Award-winning author Mary Quattlebaum will lead students in a discussion of writing, using her middle-grade novel "Jackson Jones and the Puddle of Thorns" to focus on description, characterization, revision, and other fictional elements. Students will write a short description and talk with Mary about their process.

Project partner Random House will provide each interactive site with a complimentary copy of Mary's book, "Jackson Jones and the Puddle of Thorns."

There will be ample time for students' questions and interactive discussion. Mary will show the steps in creating a novel, from getting ideas to writing/revising to finished book. She will also briefly discuss the other two books in the series--"Jackson Jones and Mission Greentop" and "Jackson Jones and the Curse of the Outlaw Rose"--and do a related gardening craft.

Videoconference Outline:

Resources:

Mary Quattlebaum's website: a great resource for teachers and students. Includes downloadable "Gardening and Kids" discussion, writing, and gardening guide related to Mary's 3 Jackson Jones books and downloadable "Teaching and Writing Activities" guide for Mary's other books.

Teachers Guide: Created by Random House, download this helpful teachers guide for "Jackson Jones and the Puddle of Thorns."

Preparing Students:

Read and discuss "Jackson Jones and the Puddle of Thorns": Students should be familiar with Mary's book "Jackson Jones and the Puddle of Thorns." Random House will provide each participating school with a complimentary copy of the book. Be sure to download and use the free online teachers guide at www.randomhouse.com/teachers (click "Teachers Guide" at top and "by title").

Writing a Description: In "Jackson Jones and the Puddle of Thorns" (pages 106-107), Jackson describes the garden using many of his senses. How does he seem to feel about it?

In preparation for this videoconference event, students should use their senses of sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch (at least 3 of 5) to write a description of a place special to them. How does being in that place make them feel? Descriptions should be relatively short (about 1 to 3 paragraphs long).

Each of the schools will share one of the student-created descriptions as part of the videoconference event. After students have created their descriptions, have them share with one another. As a class, choose the description your school would like to share as part of the interactive event. The author of that description will read it aloud during the videoconference. Students should also be prepared to talk a little during videoconference about their process. (What was the hardest part for them about writing the description? What aspect did they like best? How many drafts did they write?)

Email a copy of the description to Heather 8 days before the event. Descriptions will be posted on this website so students from different schools can review each other's work. Heather will ask each school to prepare one positive comment about another school's description and prepare one question to ask that writer during the videoconference. Descriptions should be mailed in word or RTF format.

Prepare Questions: Have students come up with questions for Mary about her work, her background, how she became a writer, etc.  As a class, choose the top 5 questions.  Make sure students are prepared to ask these questions as part of the videoconference event.  Each school will have a chance to ask 1 or 2 questions –but by preparing 5, we can make sure that questions aren’t repeated.

Descriptive Writings

Amity Intermediate Center(to be critiqued by Scenic Hills Elementary School)
By: Jared

Building a fort in the cold squishy mud is hard in the fall. It’s like taking rock hard ice cream from the freezer and trying to scoop out enough for a dish but having to wait for it to melt. The mud only gets soft in the afternoon sunlight. In the cold shady woods hammers clank against nails to fasten wood together. It’s hard to get it right on the first try. It is like a sticker bush that gets stuck to your pants or your shirt and you struggle to remove it. Once the hammers stop, silence is heard and the birds begin to sing. When the project is complete, you say to yourself, “That was well worth the effort!”

Limerick Elementary School (To be critiqued by Sabold Elementary School)
By: Gianna, 4th Grade Student

The beach is my special place. When I go to the beach I can see many wonderful sights like a beautiful red sunset running along the line of the ocean. Millions of colorful umbrellas are stuck in the hot, tan sand. Different kinds of shells are shining in the salty water while people boogie board in the ocean’s waves. On the beach I can hear the loud conversations of the seagulls. I can also hear the waves crashing against the shore like two kids splashing each other, while the lifeguards blow their whistles as loud as freight trains. Walking on the beach I feel the burning hot sanding rubbing against my feet, while the cold, shivering waves crash on top of me. On the beach I can taste the sweet, salty air on my lips. The beach’s salty air has a strong sent of vinegar in it. I love the sights, sounds and feelings of the beach. The beach relaxes me and makes me want to have fun, play and laugh with my friends and family. That is why it is my special place.

Sabold Elementary School (To be critiqued by Limerick Elementary School)
By: Chris, 4th Grade Student

Do you know what my favorite place is?  Well, you’re going to find out!

My favorite place is the football field.  You can see very amusing happenings there.  My favorite thing to see is when we win an important game we sometimes dump soda on each other.  I also see the snack bar, and little kids on the bleachers doing their victory dance because they won a game.  Coaches included!

I love the sound of parents screaming from the sidelines.  It’s even funnier when a parent from the other team gets in a fight with the ref.  I hear air horns and whistles, too.

I smell wet grass and mud, and food from the snack bar like meatball sandwiches, hot dogs, and cheese fries, my favorite!  I feel the grass on the palm of my hand, leaning forward, ready to play football.

I taste the dirt from being shoved in the ground, and the French fries while sitting in a chair watching a football game. 

The football field is the best place to be!

Scenic Hills Elementary School (To be critiqued by Amity Intermediate Center)
By: Mary Kate

My special place sounds relaxing and calm. Also, it has beautiful colors and you’ll see lots of people and animals there. Many kids go and enjoy it and even parents can sit and just relax. I go there every summer and have fun!

Its smell is misty and fresh sent. The beach always reminds me of cocktail shrimp. I love the taste. I like to eat it at my Mom mom and Pop pop’s house. The shrimp is so good I could eat all of them by myself! Oh, and I love the beach best of all. My special place is at the sea shore. I guess you can tell why it’s so amazing and special to me!

Follow-Up Activities (After the Videoconference!):

Class Reflection: After the videoconference, please craft a CLASS REFLECTION to the videoconference event and post it to the Creative Minds Blog under the blog entry titled: Mary Quattlebaum. The reflection might include the following: What did you learn from the videoconference? What surprised you? What questions do you still have? What did you agree with and what did you disagree with? Visit the blog and comment on other classes' reflections!

Optional Follow-Up Activities:

Related to the other 2 Jackson Jones books: Refer to Mary's "Gardening and Kids" guide at www.maryquattlebaum.com for classroom discussion, writing, and gardening activities related to "Jackson Jones and Mission Greentop" and "Jackson Jones and the Curse of the Outlaw Rose."

Project Partners: