Author Study

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Robert Munsch 

Author Study by Megan Hurley 

• Born on June 11, 1945, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
• Grew up in a house of 9 kids 
• Did not do well in school growing up
• After high school, studied for 7 years to be a Catholic priest 
• While studying to be a priest, he worked in an orphange where he found his love for working with children
• Met his wife while both were working at a day care. Then both moved to Canada to look for work after that daycare lost funding.

Life Before Writing

• Born on June 11, 1945, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
• Grew up in a house of 9 kids
• Did not do well in school growing up
• After high school, studied for 7 years to be a Catholic priest
• While studying to be a priest, he worked in an orphange where he found his love for working with children
• Met his wife while both were working at a day care. Then both moved to Canada to look for work after that daycare lost funding.

Inspiration 

• Enjoyed writing poetry all through elementary school 
• Worked at a daycare after deciding priesthood was not for him 
• Made his first story at Wellsley College Child Studies Preschool during circle time which was then published 12 years later
• After moving to Canada and telling more stories, Munsch's boss gave him two months off of work to go write stories and get them published.
• Munsch wrote Mud Puddle in those two months and it was rejected nine times but accepted on the tenth try. 

• Enjoyed writing poetry all through elementary school
  
• Worked at a daycare after deciding priesthood was not for him
  
• Made his first story at Wellsley College Child Studies Preschool during circle time which was then published 12 years later
  
• After moving to Canada and telling more stories, Munsch's boss gave him two months off of work to go write stories and get them published.
  
• Munsch wrote Mud Puddle in those two months and it was rejected nine times but accepted on the tenth try. 

Inspiration 

Which book do you think was Robert Munsch's first story from a preschool center's circle time that was later published?

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Munsch received a Juno award (Canada's music awards) in 1985 for his recording of Murmel, Murmel, Munsch

Munsch received the Ruth Schwartz Children’s Book Award in 1986 for Thomas' Snowsuit.

On June 17, 2009, it was announced that Munsch would receive a star on Canada's Walk of Fame in Toronto.

Munsch was named Canadian Booksellers' Association's Author of the Year in 1992.

Love You Forever won  the 2004 iParenting Media Best of 2004 Award.

Awards:

Click on all the 

Good Job! Now click on the rest to learn more!

Teachable Themes 

• Stephanie's Ponytail: everyone at school copies Stephanie's hairstyles instead of having their own style. Theme- individuality
  
• Paper Bag Princess: The princess can save the prince too. Theme- Female empowerment
  
• ZOOM!: Story of a girl who wants the fastest wheelchair possible. Theme- Inclusion of children with physical ailments
  
• A Promise is a Promise: Telling of Inuit (indigenous people of the arctic and subarctic regions of North America) folklore about a mythical creature. Theme- Inuit culture 

Common Text Features 

• Bold text to emphasize 
• onomatopoeia 
• All capital letters for yelling
• Different fonts 
• Rhyming 
• repetition 
• different colored fonts

Learning Center Lesson Plan

Materials: Books from spinning wheel by Robert Munsch (slide 9),  paper, markers, pencils 

Standard: 14) Describe the overall structure (e.g., chronology, comparison, cause and effect, problem and solution) of events, ideas, concepts, or information in a text or part of a text. [RI.4.5]

Objective: I can place the story events in chronological order on a timeline. 

Differentiated Instruction: Students can choose to work alone or work 

with a partner to complete their timeline. They will read the book on their 

own but work with a partner to complete the timeline pictures and 

captions. Students may also map out the order of events first on a story 

sequence diagram. 

Learning Center: Procedure

1) Students will go through the presentation with their group members. On slide 9 each group member will spin the wheel. The book it lands on is the book they will read and complete the activity for. 

2) Students will read the book in full then grab a piece of copy paper to draw their timeline. Once the timeline is drawn students will begin drawing illustrations including a short caption in chronological order based on the book. Students will be instructed to use sequence words in their captions such as first, next, then, and finally.

3) Once completed students will present their timelines to their group members explain the events of the story in chronological order. Then they will hang their timelines on the wall for the whole class to see. 

4) Students will rate their understanding on slide 10.

Featured Books

This book was written to help Munsch and his wife cope their grief after having two stillbirths one in 1979 and the other in 1980.

Munsch often stayed with families on tour, including Julia Muckpah's family in Arviat, Nunavut . That is where this story came from.

While working at Bay Area Childcare Center in Coos Bay Oregon het told many stories about princes saving princesses. His wife recommended he write about the princess saving the prince instead. 

Spin the Wheel

 Grab the Book From the Stack

Then Spin Again!

Rate Your Understanding!

1. I need help.
2. I need more practice.
3. I understand pretty well.
4. I completely understand.

References 

• McIntosh, R. A. (2007, May 28). Robert Munsch. The Canadian Encyclopedia. Retrieved October 19, 2021, from https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/robert-munsch.  
• Robert Munsch. Robert Munsch | Biography, Books and Facts. (n.d.). Retrieved October 20, 2021, from https://www.famousauthors.org/robert-munsch. 
• The official website of Robert Munsch. All About Robert Munsch | The Official Website of Robert Munsch. (n.d.). Retrieved October 20, 2021, from https://robertmunsch.com/about.