Mercy Watson Series Teachers' Guide

8/8/2019 Mercy Watson Series Teachers' Guide

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Candlewick Press Teachers G

by Kate DiCamillo illustrated by Chris Van Duse

The

Books


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M ercy W atson t eacher s G uide c andleWick P ress

Have Mercy!Mercy Watson, the porcine wonder, is an adorable pig who liveswith the doting Mr. and Mrs. Watson. Each un- lled book in KateDiCamillos Mercy Watson series showcases Mercyssingle-minded love or buttered toast, a good chase, and the anticsthat ensue. Tap into Mercys adventurous spirit while engagingchildren with language arts lessons in vocabulary, creative writing,character studies, and more.

A Toasty Tale Its no secret that Mercy loves to eat or that her avorite ood ishot buttered toast. In honor o Mercy, create a class book in theshape o a stack o toast.

Pr parati n: On a piece o 8 x 11 paper, draw an outline o a piece o toast.

Make two copies. On one, write Mercy Watsons avorite ood ishot buttered toast. Whats yours? This will be page 1 o your book.On the other copy, write the sentence starter My avorite oodsare . . . Make a copy o the sentence-starter page oreach student.

Make two covers by cutting toast shapes rom oak tag or beigeconstruction paper. Write or print the title A Toasty Tale onthe ront cover.

Distribute one sentence-starter page to each student. Ask eachstudent to cut out the piece o toast, complete the sentence, andillustrate his or her sheet. When students are nished, bind allthe student pages between the covers using heavy-duty staples ora hole punch and loose rings. Your book will look like a stack o deliciously topped toast to savor in the reading area.

Hanging on the Plot Line This exercise is a un way to introduce or review the concept o plot your students. Each Mercy Watson book is structured alongwith a similar plot line: Mercy ollows the scent o butter, gets intomischie in the process, and ends up indirectly saving the day.

Pr parati n: Hang a clothesline in the classroom. The line should be long

enough to accommodate thirty- ve 5 x 7 index cards (to be hungwith clothespins; see below).

Read Mercy Watson to the Rescuewith students. Ask the class torecall our or ve main story points. As each is suggested, write asentence or phrase describing each story point on a separate 5 x 7index card. Then ask student volunteers to place the cards in orderand attach them to the clothesline using spring-type clothespins.

Next, break the class into ve groups one or each o the otherMercy Watson books in the series. Assign a book to each groupand ask students to repeat the exercise o writing and/or illustratingthe main plot points rom their title, placing the cards in order, andhanging them on the plot line.

When Beds Sigh: Figures of Speech, Part Read aloud this sentence rom page 50 o Mercy Watson to theRescue:

The Watsons bed sighed loudly and crashed allthe way through the foor.

A tud nt : Can a bed really sigh? I the bed couldsigh, why do you think it would? What does the sentence mean? What might the author have been trying to convey by this choice

o wording?Explain that the author chose to make her sentence moreinteresting (and unny) by imagining that the bed sighed likea person carrying a heavy load. Ask students to practice using

gurative language by replacing sighedin the sentence above withother words. (You may wish to write the sentence on a sentencestrip or chalkboard.) Ask the class or substitute words thatwould retain the basic meaning o the sentence (such as moaned, whimpered,or groaned). Then ask them or words that mightchange the meaning (such as sang, whistled,or laughed).

Mercy Watson


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When Pigs Fly: Figures of Speech, Part In Mercy Watson: Something Wonky This Way Comes, Eugeniatries to explain that the expression when pigs fy is a gure o speech (page 8).

Talk with the students about gures o speech words used in anunusual way in order to produce a di erent meaning.

A tud nt : Can pigs really fy? What does the expression mean? Which is more un to say and read: That will never happen

or When pigs fy?

Review a list o popular gures o speech and discuss theirmeanings. Here are a ew:

Hit the road Dying o hunger Dog-tired Weighs a ton

Over the hill Fish out o water Stay on your toes The pen is mightier than the sword.

ext n i n:Invite students to choose a gure o speech and illustrate it as i thewords meant what they usually do (an exhausted dog, or example,or a sh on dry land).

Fact Versus Opinion Eugenia Lincoln has many opinions (see Mercy Watson to theRescue, page 26). As a class, discuss the di erence between act(truths) and opinion (belie s).

Pr parati n: On chart paper, draw a T-table and write the heading FACT on

the le t and OPINION on the right.

Read the ollowing sentences aloud to the class, and ask the groupto determine whether each is act or opinion.

Pigs like to eat. Pigs do not sweat. Pigs are clean animals. Pigs should not live in houses. Pigs shouldnt be kept as pets. Pigs ought to be put on leashes.

Write each sentence on the chart under the heading studentsbelieve to be correct.

Immerse children in research on pigs to nd out whether theyput each statement in the proper category. (You might wish toguide them through the search or in ormation as a class, or assignindividual research i students are old enough.) Use library books othe Internet. Allow an amount o time appropriate to the age groupand then come back together as a class to share results.I any statements were incorrectly listed, rewrite them in the correccolumn.

Help Is on the Way The re and police departments are involved in many o the MercyWatson books. Here are a ew sa ety awareness activities you couluse with Mercy books:

Ask students how they would call the police or re department inan emergency (dial 911).

Discuss when to call and when not to call the re or police

departments. Which instances in the Mercy books wereappropriate times to call, and which were not? Invite a local re ghter or police o cer to come to the classroom

and speak to the children about the role o the re or policedepartment in the community.

As a homework assignment, have students work with theircaregivers to complete an In Case o Emergency orm.In ormation should include address, phone number, emergencycontact, and so on.


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Folly!In Mercy Watson Goes or a Ride,Eugenia Lincoln re ers to Mr.Watsons Saturday drives with Mercy as olly (page 14).

A tud nt : What does ollymean? A ter student ideas are put orward, check

a dictionary (as a group or individually) and write the de nitionon a chalkboard.

What are some synonyms or olly? List on the board. Why does Eugenia think the rides are olly, while Mr. Watson and

Mercy think they are great un? Baby thinks the rides are both olly and un. Can this be true?

Assign each student to write and draw about one o their own ollies(a time when they acted oolishly or recklessly). Optional:I this activity is done during the all, have students write or drawon lea -shaped paper. Post them on a class bulletin board entitledFall Follies.

Lingo Bingo The Mercy Watson books contain many great vocabulary words orprimary students. Lingo Bingo is a un way to rein orce study o vocabulary, synonyms, and antonyms.

Pr parati n: On a piece o 8 x 11 paper, create a large, simple bingo grid

composed o three boxes across and three boxes down, totalingnine in all.

Reproduce the empty Lingo Bingo sheets, one or each student. Write each o the Mercy Watson vocabulary words below on a slip

o paper and place the slips in a container. Write each Mercy Watson vocabulary word on the chalkboard

as well.

Vocabulary Words:B 1: alert (p. 19); disappointment(p. 20); scowled(p. 35)B 2: displeased(p. 12); menace (p. 12); caromed (p. 53);

prodigy(p. 60)B 3: re reshment(p. 45); snu fe(p. 49); sly(p. 67);

re orm(ing)(p. 69)B 4: splendid(p. 3); array (p. 26); pursuit (p. 43);

potentially(p. 67)B 5: gracious(p. 5); extreme measures(p. 24);

unmentionable (p. 35)B 6: inspiring (p. 2); aux(p. 21); investigate(p. 36);

distress(p. 53)

Distribute empty Lingo Bingo sheets to students. Instruct studentsto individualize their grids by looking at the board and choosing oneword to write in each box. (Words should not be repeated.)

Choose what kind o Lingo Bingo to play (de nitions, synonyms,or opposites).

Draw one slip at a time rom the container and call out thede nition, synonym, or antonym o the word on the slip. Studentsshould place a marker on their grid i they have the correct word.(For example: i youre playing De nition Lingo Bingo and call the de nition wide awake, students who have the word alert ontheir grid would place a marker on it.)

To urther incorporate the theme o Mercy Watson: Something Wonky This Way Comes, consider using popcorn as bingo markers

and having the rst child to get three in a row yell, Yippie-i-oh!Then the whole class can celebrate the win by enjoying the rest o the popcorn together.

P is for Pig, Porcine Wonder, and PopcornIn Mercy Watson: Something Wonky This Way Comes, Leroy Nink

sells bottomless buckets o popcorn at the drive-in. Begin a letterstudy by brainstorming some P words. Then have each student drawa large P on a piece o oak tag or construction paper and decorateit with as many P words as they can think o . For an extra pinch oP-ness, use purple or pink markers!

What a Character! Part The characters in the Mercy Watson books are unique and unny.Begin a character study by copying the blank table below onto largechart paper.

CharacterName

What doeshe/she like?

What doeshe/she do?

Favorite sceneinvolving thischaracter?


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Fill in the chart together as a class,listing characters in the rst column.Students can re er to any o the booksin the Mercy Watson series to helpcomplete the character study.

Extension: Ask each student to imaginea new character or a Mercy Watsonstory. Then they can create characterstudies or their new characters bycopying the chart headings and lling inresponses on a sheet o notebook paper.

What a Character! Part To keep Mercy hanging around your classroom and in yourstudents minds, use this mobile-making project. Each studentwill need:

a hanger 4 2- oot lengths o yarn 4 oak-tag circles, 5 to 6 inches in diameter, with one hole

punched in eachOn the ront o each circle, students should write the name o onecharacter rom the Mercy Watson books and draw a picture o him or her. On the back o the circle, they should write two actsabout the character.

When all the circles are completed, students should tie one end o each string to a circle (through the punched hole) and the other totheir hanger. Hang the mobiles throughout the classroom.

Think Like a Pig In Mercy Watson Thinks Like a Pig,Francine Poulet tries to thinklike a pig in order to capture Mercy. Put yoursel in Mercys hooveand think like a pig. The Mercy books are written in the thirdperson but what i they were written rom Mercys perspective?

As a group, retell one o the Mercy Watson books rom Mercyspoint o view instead o the narrators. Start o by reading a pagor two o the book to students, then ask a volunteer to retell that

part o the story rom Mercys point o view. Proceed this waythrough the rest o the book.

This should be an activity in oral retelling rather than a writtenexercise. Children may even enjoy trying on their theatrical wingsby acting out the di erent parts in the story as they retell.

The Great Pig Debate Children love to argue, so heres an activity to channel thoseargumentation muscles into e ective debating skills.

Pose the ollowing question to the class: Which makes a betterpet: a pig or a dog? Divide the students into small groups andassign each group one side o the dispute. Ask each group to writeat least ve reasons de ending their position.

Finally, stage a class debate. Have each group take turns sharingtheir reasons in ront o the rest o the class. Continue until everygroup has had their turn.

When Pigs Fly: The Next Adventure Ask students to imagine that they are the author o one morebook in the Mercy Watson series. Invite students to imaginewhere Mercy and her riends might go. A toaster actory? A

bakery? The moon?As a class, brainstorm major events o the story. What troublewill Mercy get into? Which characters will be involved? How willit end?

I desired, write the story on pink or pig-shaped paper and bindas a class book, or have each student write and illustrate his orher own Mercy Watson story.

Students will no doubt enjoy exercising their creativity in thisculmination o the Mercy Watson adventures!

Prepared by Karen Cardillo, educational consultantto publishers of childrens books

Illustrations copyright 2009 by Chris Van Dusen


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Mercy Watson

to the Rescue ISBN: 978-0-7636-2270-1Is Mercy going or help, or

does she have something elseon her mind, such as herneighbors sugar cookies?

Mercy Watson

Goes for a Ride ISBN: 978-0-7636-2332-6How is it that our porcine wonder

nds hersel behind the wheelinstead o in the passenger seat?

Mercy Watson

Fights Crime ISBN: 978-0-7636-2590-0The beguiling Mercy turns buckingbronco to snare a robber about tosteal o all things her toaster!

Mercy Watson:Princess in Disguise

ISBN: 978-0-7636-3014-0

Can visions o treats entice aporcine wonder to wear her

princess costume? Hold on orsome Halloween havoc,Mercy Watson style!

Mercy Watson Thinks Like a Pig ISBN: 978-0-7636-3265-6

Can Mercy Watson outwit . . .Animal Control? This time theporcine wonder is on the lam in

a wry and wily adventure!

Mercy Watson: Something Wonky This Way Comes

ISBN: 978-0-7636-3644-9

In her nal story, the porcinewonder is o to the drive-in and

driven to ollow that buttery smell in a comic crescendo that reunites

a amiliar cast o characters.

The Books The Books

Documents

Mercy Watson Series Teachers' Guide