Earth's Point of View

by Laura Gehl

Get your class thinking about writing fun, humorous nonfiction with Stacy McAnulty’s Earth: My First 4.54 Billion Years (illustrated by David Litchfield).

After you read Earth out loud, here are some ideas for getting your students writing:

1)    Earth is written in first person, from Earth’s point of view. Think of an object in your classroom. Write about the school day from the point of view of that object. Make sure to show your object’s personality in your writing…is the object shy? A know-it-all? Silly? Vain?

2)    Earth tells the life story of our planet. Whose life story would you like to tell? Pick a person, object, or animal in your life, and write a short autobiography. (Hint: before you start writing, you will need to decide what are the most important events and details to share…you can’t include everything, or your story will be too long and boring!)

3)    At the end of the book Earth, author Stacy McAnulty has a funny note addressed to an “alien visitor.” What if an alien visited Earth and it was YOUR job to teach that alien everything important about our planet? Write a speech, make a pamphlet or poster, draw a cartoon…use your creativity to show what facts you would tell the alien visitor about Earth, and how you would make those facts seem interesting to your audience!

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