Please Write in This Book by Mary Amato

Please Write in This Book by Mary Amato
Parent and Child Book Discussion Questions
Grades 2-3
September 2008

Snack ideas: cookies and juice, gummy worms

1. General thoughts about the book, favorite parts.

2. Which student is most like you and why?

3. What kind of a teacher do you think Mrs. Wurtz is? Why?

4. When did things go from funny to mean-spirited in the book?

5. The students have a hard time taking turns writing in the book. What do you do to help yourself be patient when you have to wait?

6. Does Lizzy follow her own rules? Why or why not?

7. Did you think Mrs. Wurtz would step in and take the notebook away sometime during the book? When?

8. At the beginning of the book someone says Jimmy doesn't like to write. Is this true? Why or why not?

9. Why was the notebook a success? What did the students learn from each other?

10. Play Fact or Opinion for each of these statements:
--The longest earthworm on record was 13 feet.
--Luke is the funniest kid in class.
--Pizza is the most popular lunch at school.
--Keesha is the fastest runner on the soccer team.
--Mrs. Wurtz is the best teacher in school.
--The multiplication test was the hardest math test.
--Mucus was the most misspelled word on the spelling test.
--Yoshi had the heaviest bookbag.
--Milton draws the best diagrams.
--Crazy is a silly name for a hermit crab.


Activities:
--Tell a group story by passing a ball from one person to another, taking turns adding to the story.
--Use some similes to describe the smell of your neighbor's shoes. Learn why feet smell: http://kidshealth.org/kid/grow/body_stuff/feet_stink.html
--Take a break and air box.
--Use the book or some other objects as non-standard forms of measurement to measure the room, table, etc. in the spirit of Keisha's horse collection.
About the author and this book:
http://www.maryamato.com/