We have spent the fall reading two books by the author, Kate Messner. We have read
both Capture the Flag and Hide and Seek aloud and enjoyed these mysteries very much! Students are looking forward to reading the third book in the series soon!
both Capture the Flag and Hide and Seek aloud and enjoyed these mysteries very much! Students are looking forward to reading the third book in the series soon!
Today our fifth graders were able to visit with Kate Messner via Skype. She spent the first half of the session telling students all about the brainstorming process she went through while writing Capture the Flag. She gave them an idea of how she came up with her characters and ideas. She also showed them the graphic organizer that she used to plan out Hide and Seek.
Once she finished sharing the process she uses for writing her novels, she led our students through a brainstorming session of their own. They used a graphic organizer much like the one she uses and by the time they were done, our kids had chosen an item that would be involved in a heist, suspects and their motives, investigators and their motives along with clues and a setting!
Students were also able to ask Kate questions about writing, her ideas and her family. They wondered how long it takes her to publish a book, how much she gets paid and if she had ever thought about making one of her books into a movie! You'll have to ask them what they found out. In the meantime, you can see more questions and read her answers on her website:
http://www.katemessner.com/kids-q-and-a-with-kate/
http://www.katemessner.com/kids-q-and-a-with-kate/