The characters in Edgar Allan’s Official Crime Investigation Notebook write lots of funny poems. Download this pdf to discover how to write your own humorous poetry:
How to Write a Funny Poem by Mary Amato
Edgar Allan’s Official Crime Investigation Notebook by Mary Amato
Vocabulary List
Directions: Fill in the definitions for the following terms.
Professional (p.3)
Nonchalant (p.20)
Forensics (p.30)
Cosmetics (p.32)
Seizure (p.39)
Tread (p.41)
Damaging (p.45)
Sleuthing (p.46)
Neglecting (p.50)
Verified (p.67)
Spectrum (p.68)
Doorjamb (p.94)
Flourish (p.99)
Alibi (p.116)
Precision (117)
Bonus
Using the context of Mary Amato’s book, come up with definitions for the following neologisms (made-up words):
Luminiferous (p.33)
Slobberjaws (p.79)
Create your own neologism and its definition:
Teachers and Librarians, if your school blocks youtube, you can see this on teachertube.
Here is an article about Mary Amato, her new book Invisible Lines, and her work with young writers through Passion For Learning, written by Sandy Moore for The Takoma Voice.
It’s a thrill when a publisher in another country wants to publish one of my books in another language. Sometimes, the publisher will hire a new artist and change the book’s look or even change the title. Here are some of my foreign-language editions. See if you can guess the languages of these translations.
When I do workshops on revision, I often share an example from a draft and a revision to illustrate how I work. At the request of teachers, I have created pdf pages that you can download and print (or project onto your classroom screen) to share with students.
Example of Editing and Revising The Naked Mole-Rat Letters
Example of Revising from Invisible Lines
Example of Editing and Revising Snarf Attack, Underfoodle, and the Secret of Life
Example of Editing and Revising Edgar Allan’s Official Crime Investigation Notebook
Listen to Mary Amato sing one of the songs from her Riot Brother series and talk about how she writes her Riot Brother books.
Fifth graders in Ms. Meyers class at MacFarland Intermediate School in Bordentown, NJ, wrote me the most amazing set of letters. I read every single one and decided to answer some of the questions in video form. Cheers!