TEACHING GUIDE

NOTE TO TEACHERS

ABOUT LUCY ROSE
Lucy Rose is very unique, except she’d be the first to tell you that is not the right thing to say because you either are unique or not but you can’t be very unique–though if someone would qualify Lucy Rose would be it. First, there’s Lucy Rose’s fashion sense. She likes color–pink, orange, yellow, green it all looks good on her, especially on the same day. Plus, she likes words. Lucy Rose collects palindromes and words that knock her colorful socks off. But Lucy Rose is worried about some things too, like the fact that her parents are separated and how she lives in Washington, D.C., 500 miles away from her dad and old friends. Plus it’s not easy being the new girl or trying to make new friends, but Lucy Rose is a girl that will face the challenge with her red boots on!

ABOUT THIS BOOK

It’s the beginning of fourth grade for Lucy Rose and that comes with lots of new adventures, including trying to get along with Ashley and trying out for the play Annie. And while she’s certain she’ll get the lead in the play (she has red hair, after all, not to mention wads of talent), she’s not sure she can get along with that Ashley! One thing Lucy Rose is sure of is that she wants to know what is going on and she has figured out a most excellent way of knowing: eavesdropping.

Themes:
Family & Relationships
Friendship • Growing Up
Emotions & Feelings • Humor • School

Grades 3–5


ABOUT THIS AUTHOR

Here’s the thing about Katy Kelly: If you look at Lucy Rose’s life and then look at Katy’s, you’ll see that in some ways they’re very similar. Katy grew up on Capitol Hill and had a dog named Gumbo. Her parents are very much like Madam and Pop . . . and she’s an original thinker, at least according to her dad. Now working as a writer, Katy Kelly has worked as a reporter for People magazine, a feature writer for the Life section of USA Today, and was a senior editor at US News & World Report. She comes from a family of writers. Katy’s mom, Marguerite Kelly, is the author of The Mother’s Almanac and the syndicated column, The Family Almanac. Her father, Tom, wrote for the long-gone Washington Daily News and her brother, Michael, was a syndicated columnist and the editor of the Atlantic Monthly. Her sister, Meg Kelly, is an Emmy Award-winning television writer. Katy, her husband, and their daughters, Emily and Marguerite, now live in Washington, D.C.

SUGGESTED ACTIVITIES

PRE-READING ACTIVITY
Ask the class: Do you know what eavesdropping is? Do you think it is a good idea or not?

COMPREHENSION
Encourage students to complete these activities as they read:
• Good readers make predictions about what will happen next in a story. At the end of each chapter write a prediction about what you think might happen next. Remember that it is not important that you’re right but it’s important to try to figure it out!
• Create a bookmark by folding a piece of paper in half lengthwise. On it list all the things Lucy Rose learns while she’s eavesdropping on her mom and friends. At the end of the novel, go back through and decide what Lucy Rose learned in the end about all those pieces of information!
• After testing out Jonique’s trick for the nine times table, write the steps out as a how-to for others struggling with the table. Include pictures like the ones in the back of the book.

POST-READING ACTIVITIES
• In groups, have students write a short reader’s theater script from their favorite scene in the book and then act it out.
• Have the class create posters about the book like the one Lucy Rose made about the play. They should use the poster to attract new readers.

BEYOND THE BOOK

ASK KATY KELLY
Do your students have questions for the author about her writing and characters? Have them e-mail her at AskKatyKelly@gmail.com today!

OTHER TITLES OF INTEREST

Lucy Rose: Here’s the Thing About Me
Yearling
PB: 978-0-440-42026-2

Lucy Rose: Big on Plans
Yearling
PB: 978-0-440-42027-9
Delacorte Press
HC: 978-0-385-73204-8
GLB: 978-0-385-90235-9
CD: 978-0-307-20713-3

Lucy Rose: Working Myself to Pieces & Bits
Yearling
PB: 978-0-440-42186-3
Delacorte Press
HC: 978-0-385-73408-0
GLB: 978-0-385-90425-4

Melonhead
Delacorte Press
HC: 978-0-385-73409-7
GLB: 978-0-385-90426-1