TEACHERS' GUIDE TO JEAN MARZOLLO'S BOOKS
The following titles are the books that Betsy Polivy will lend you if you invite me to your school. She may make substitutions within a series, depending on the availability of books. The following activity ideas are just suggestions. I know that many teachers have great ideas on their own so I don't want you to feel restricted by this list. Although many of my books are for children in grades K-3, the writing activities suggested below work well with older children, who can write books for younger children in your school.
I SPY GOLD CHALLENGER
(and other I SPY books) 
Grade
Level: all grades.
Write I Spy Riddle Rhymes. Children in all elementary school grades like to make I Spy pictures with drawings, cutouts, and/or stickers. In the younger grades riddle writing works best as a class project led by the teacher. In grades 4-6 children can work individually or in small groups. Warning: writing I Spy riddles is harder than it looks! Children need to study my rhythm pattern (4 main beats to a line –- clap it out) and rhyme pattern (aabb). They can use that same pattern to write their own I Spy riddles. Children in grades K-3 can do this as a class activity. I find that certain kids and teachers catch on to the pattern better than others - so, cooperate! For more help:
- as you enter my website, click on the ACTIVITY PAGES star for help with the I Spy riddles;
- click on the I SPY TEACHING GUIDE button above for more extension activities involving all subject areas;
- click on the RIDDLE WORKSHOP VIDEO star above for specific help with the rhythm and rhyme;
- go to Scholastic's website to find a short article, "Writing I Spy Riddle Rhymes with Jean Marzollo” at: teacher.scholastic.com/writewit/poetry/jean_home.htm.
GREEK MYTH PICTURE BOOKS (Retold and illustrated by me!)
Grade Level: K-6 (These books are aimed at K-3, but they can be used to inspire older children to retell and illustrate other Greek myths in picture book form.)
PANDORA'S BOX
Create your own Pandora's box and invent your own "trouble bugs" to fly out of it. The "trouble bugs" in my retelling were suggested to me by second graders. Can you think of more?
LET'S GO, PEGASUS!
Create Medusa pictures and stories. I have found that children, after listening to this book, can come up with excellent, thoughtful explanations for how a monster like Medusa could give birth to a beautiful winged horse. I always say, "There's no right answer. There's just your answer." Children as young as five suggest that maybe she wasn't always so awful and that maybe she was put under a spell. Don't prompt them; see what children say. There's a reason the Greek myths have lasted thousands of years; they are powerful, memorable stories.
LITTLE BEAR, YOU'RE A STAR! (A constellation myth about the Big Bear and Little Bear)
Make Constellation Pictures and Stories. Children can make constellations pictures of real constellations or imaginary constellations. Then, they can write their own stories about them. Encourage children to use their imaginations. That's what the ancient Greeks did, as well as other ancient people who saw pictures in the stars.
I AM A STAR (and other Level 1 science books)
Grade Level: K-3
Create Wishing Star Portraits. Cut out big star shapes for children to draw their faces on. Write each child's wish upon the star. Display on a bulletin board. (Note: this is a good book to read in conjunction with Little Bear, You're a Star.)
SHANNA'S ANIMAL RIDDLES (and other Shanna Show books)
Grade Level: K-3
Put on a Shanna Show. Children can act out one of the Shanna Show books or create a new Shanna Show. Video the show and show it to parents and to me when I visit your school. Some of the Shanna Show books are First Readers. Others are about careers. You can also use the Shanna Show books to study careers of grownups. Ask your students if they've seen Shanna on Playhouse Disney. All of those Shanna Shows are about jobs: farmer, teacher, artist, soccer player, fire fighter, magician, mail carrier, lifeguard, dentist, baker, construction worker, veterinarian, bus driver, and ballerina.
TEN LITTLE EGGS (Written and illustrated by me!)
Grade Level: K-1
Dramatic Reading with Flip Pictures. Draw or paint colorful egg pictures on construction paper –- one egg per page. On the reverse side, children draw or paint colorful, matching birds that hatch from that egg. For the dramatic reading, 10 children hold up egg pictures, egg side out. As you read the poem (or they say it from memory), children turn pictures over to hatch” the eggs. The children can perform this dramatic reading for me when I visit your school. You can sing the poem to “Ten Little Indians.”
PRETEND YOU'RE A CAT
Grade Level: K-3
Make an Original Pretend You're an Animal Book. Study the pattern of questions in my poems. Copy it to write original poems about other animals. Illustrate your poems and compile them in a book. Following is an example of one child's superb poem about a fox. Notice the wonderful vocabulary.
Can you leap?
Are you sleek?
Can you sprint?
Can you sneak?
Can you run?
Can you dig?
Can you scratch?
Are you big?
What else can you do like a fox?
I LOVE YOU: A REBUS POEM (a book pre-readers can read)
Grade Level: K-3
Make a Class Rebus Book. (1) Together, make a list of words that rhyme with “you.” For example: shoe, two, BOO, new, Sue, glue, dew, do, coo, achoo, goo, moo, stew, zoo. Have the children make pictures of these words. On each picture write a short line that ends with the rhyming word, such: “I went to the zoo.” (2) Children make rebus pictures that say “I Love You” in symbols (eyeball, heart, U). (3) Put the pages together to make a class rebus book. Alternate pages so that the book reads like this: “I went to the zoo, and I love you. She said “Achoo,”and I love you.”
HOME SWEET HOME (a poetic Earth prayer)
Grade Level: K-3
Make an Original Home Sweet Home Poem for Your Area. Try to incorporate local trees, flowers, animals, bodies of water, and land. As you list things in your locale, look for rhyming words. Feel free to end your poems with my line: “And bless each birth in our home called Earth.”
SOCCER SAM (and other sports books)
Grade Level: K-6 (The books are K-4, depending on the book, but the writing assignment is great for grades 4-6.)
Write Original Fiction and Non-fiction Sports Stories. Children can base non-fiction stories on real games they have watched or played. Fictional sports stories can be inspired by real games and experiences, but names and outcomes can be freely changed. Remind kids: every fictional story needs an interesting main character, an interesting problem, and an interesting solution. While my sports stories are not written for 5th and 6th graders, students in these grades can learn from mine and try to write their own, perhaps for younger kids.
