Ann M. Martin
Moderated Author Chat
October 26th, 2005, 1-2pm ET
Back to Ann M. Martin
A Dog’s Life: an Autobiography of a Stray tells a story of Squirrel and her brother Bone beginning their lives in a tool shed behind someone's summer house. Their mother nurtures them and teaches them the many skills they will need to survive as stray dogs. But when their mother is taken from them suddenly and too soon, the puppies are forced to make their own way in the world, facing humans both gentle and brutal, busy highways, other animals, and the changing seasons. When Bone and Squirrel become separated, Squirrel must fend for herself, and in the process, makes two friends who in very different ways define her fate.
How to Join the Chat
Some school district filters prevent classrooms from entering chat rooms, so you may need to ask the district or your school's technical support staff to change the filter setting before this moderated chat. The web address for the chat will be: http://scholasticchat.ehosts.net/eshare/server?action=4.
On October 26, the day of the chat, return to the Ann M. Martin’s Gateway Page. The current "Submit Questions Now," will change to a link to "Join the Chat." Follow that link to enter the Scholastic Auditorium.
On the Scholastic Auditorium page, you will be asked to choose between two different chat versions: Java Lite and HTML. If you are using Netscape 3.0 or newer, or Internet Explorer 3.0 or newer, choose Java Lite. If you are using an older browser or are not sure, choose HTML. Regardless of which Web browser you use, if you're using a pop-up blocker, choose HTML.
Ann M. Martin’s name will be an option under "Today's Interview." Select her name, then select the "Enter Now" link.
During the chat, type questions for Ann M. Martin into the text box at the bottom of the chat screen. To submit your questions, click the "Send to Moderator" button. Due to high volume, not all questions will be answered.
Lesson Ideas
Before the chat, try these activities with some of Ann’s other books with your class:
- Lesson Plan for A Corner of the Universe
- Discuss different literary elements of A Corner of the Universe, like characters, plot, theme, conflict, resolution, and sequence of events. During the online chat, try and have your students ask Ann leading questions about these different elements to better understand the various aspects of the story. After the author discussion, have your students make thought-provoking and insightful study guides that would help a student focus on one theme/element in A Corner of the Universe: characters, coincidences, etc.
- Encourage your students to read A Corner of the Universe in companion to John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men. Compare and contrast the plot and outcome of each story. How does each author let you know the tragedy is coming? Can you find incidents of foreshadowing that let you know Adam and Lennie are doomed? Could anything have prevented their deaths?
- Lesson Plan for Belle Teal
- Have students write about their favorite part of the book. What did they like about it? What did they learn from it? What would they tell or ask the author about it?
- Combine the themes of this book with your social studies and history lesson plans. At the time this story took place, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was beginning to lead the Civil Rights Movement in this country with the theme of "nonviolence." Which characters in the story exhibit an approach of nonviolence in a particular situation? What specifically do they do or not do, and how does that affect others?
In the Teacher Store
Many of Ann M. Martin’s books are in Scholastic’s Teacher Store.
A Corner of the Universe
Hattie Owen enjoys the familiarity of her small town life, but during the summer she turns 12, her world is turned upside down with the arrival of an uncle no one has ever spoken about. Now that Hattie's uncle's "school" — an institution for the mentally disabled — is closing, Hattie's family must deal with a childlike young man whose existence they've denied for years.
Grades 5-9
Paperback
Here Today
Ellie is the oldest child in her off - center family. Her father works construction jobs, while her mother, Doris, has only one dream - to become a rich and famous actress. But when that dream leads to Doris's abandonment of the family, it is Ellie who is called upon to take charge.
Grades 6-9
Paperback
Belle Teal
Ellie is the oldest child in her off - center family. Her father works construction jobs, while her mother, Doris, has only one dream - to become a rich and famous actress. But when that dream leads to Doris's abandonment of the family, it is Ellie who is called upon to take charge.
Grades 4-7
Paperback
Friends: Stories About New Friends, Old Friends, and Unexpectedly True
In this collection, writers including Virginia Euwer Wolff, Ann M. Martin, Pam Munoz Ryan, Tanuja Desai Hidier, Rachel Cohn, Meg Cabot, Jennifer L. Holm, Patricia McCormick, and Patrick Jennings present stories about friendship and all of its reverberations. The book benefits the Lisa Libraries, which creates small libraries for children in need.
Grades 4-7
Paperback
Missing Since Monday
Maggie's 4-year-old stepsister has disappeared. The police have no clues. Then Maggie starts getting threatening phone calls. "The story is tense, gripping fare right up to the finale."-Publishers Weekly.
Grades 6-9
Paperback
Snail Mail, No More
In the powerful sequel to the acclaimed P.S. Longer Letter Later, Elizabeth and Tara Starr are as different as two friends can be. Although distance separates them, they still communicate regularly, now via email. Will they be able to help each other through the difficulties that face them, or will their differences finally cause them to drift apart?
Grades 6-9
Paperback
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