Posts Tagged writing

STEM Tuesday– Chemistry– In the Classroom

By Jennifer Swanson on February 10, 2026 / Chemistry, STEM Tuesday

How Do Molecules Stay Together?
by Madeline J. Hayes, illustrated by Srimalie Bassani

How Do Molecules Stay Together? is a picture book that introduces readers to some basic chemistry concepts. This could be a good read-aloud as an introduction to chemistry, although I suspect older students may find the call-and-response phrases a little too childish for their liking.

Marie Curie for Kids
by Amy M. O’Quinn

This is a book that’s great for readers who love history and activities. Follow Marie Curie’s life from a bright, young girl in occupied Poland through her Nobel prize winning discoveries. This book is packed from activities that explore a wide range of topics, including geography, culture, and science. I read this book in its e-book version, which had some formatting issues that occasionally made it challenging to absorb. This could be an opportunity to explore those areas with an activity. (See below)

The Radium Girls
by Kate Moore

What happens when people are exposed to light waves emitted from radioactive material? That’s what this book covers, by telling the stories of a group of women who worked with radium. This is not an easy read emotionally, but it tells a very important story. It’s referenced in Marie Curie for Kids, and would be a great follow-on book for that one.

Bonus Books:

Werewolves and States of Matter
by Janet Slingerland, illustrated by Angel Mosquito

For readers who love graphic novels and/or werewolves, this book provides a great introduction to chemistry. It explores the concept of matter, what states it can exist in, and how matter transforms from one state to another.

Explore Atoms and Molecules! (with 25 Great Projects)
by Janet Slingerland, illustrated by Matt Aucoin

If you’re looking for activities that help explore atoms and molecules, be sure to check out this book. It covers lots of different chemistry topics, including atomic structure, the periodic table, and chemical reactions. There’s even a section that introduces readers to Lewis dot diagrams, a great way to visualize how atoms combine.

As always, there are lots of different things that can be done with these books. Be sure to check out the activities provided in the books. Some of the books also have educator materials or informative websites associated with them. Here are links to some of them:

There is a website dedicated to The Radium Girls. There is an educator guide linked on this page of the site: https://www.theradiumgirls.com/the-radium-girls-young-readers

The Atoms and Molecules page of my website has some links of interest: http://janetsbooks.com/atoms-and-molecules

There is a classroom guide and a free downloadable activity on the Nomad Press site: https://nomadpress.net/nomadpress-books/explore-atoms-molecules

Some of this month’s books are older, and the web links provided in them no longer work. However, since the authors thought they were worthy of inclusion, exploring them might be a good exercise. If a link no longer works, can you find the same information on another reliable website or page?

Here are some other ideas for activities.

Create a Timeline

As mentioned in the book descriptions, I had some difficulties with the book formatting in Marie Curie for Kids. This was particularly true for the timeline provided in the book. In order to better visualize the timeline, create one of your own. This could be done on a single sheet of paper, or it could be constructed so it wraps around an entire room. This can also be an opportunity to explore the use of technology in presenting a timeline, whether it’s created with a graphic tool like Canva, a slideshow like PowerPoint, or whatever your favorite tool is.

Students can choose what should be placed on the timeline, based on the books they’ve read. Including pictures or illustrations of the events helps everyone visualize the events better. This provides lots of opportunities to practice research skills. This is also an opportunity for students to work together to create it.

Here are some ideas of things that could be included on the timeline:

Major life events for the people involved in the science (the Curies, Mendeleev, Bohr, etc.).
Important discoveries, including elements, atomic structure, effects of elements, etc.
Key dates related to products using chemicals.
Major world events like the World Wars.

Get Messy!

Chemistry can be one of the messiest of the scientific disciplines. The books on this month’s book list include lots of experiments that explore chemical reactions. Here are a few popular experiments:

Elephant Toothpaste:

Erupting Soda:

Making slime:

Get Thoughtful

Scientific discoveries often have unintended consequences. The stories of the Curies and the Radium Girls are perfect examples of this. Here is an article from the Society of Physics Studies and the American Institute of Physics that addresses this topic: https://students.aip.org/radiations/discoveries-unintended-consequences-and-the-values-of-science. After reading it, have some discussions about the topic. Does the scientific process help to address this?

This opens up the topic of the scientific process. This website from UC Berkeley has lots of information on this topic: https://undsci.berkeley.edu/understanding-science-101/how-science-works

Explore (Largely Unsung) Scientists

Marie Curie was the first women to achieve many accomplishments. There are other groups of people who have historically faced huge obstacles to achieving things like college degrees and scientific discoveries. Often, discoveries made by women and minorities were attributed to others.

Explore some of the underrepresented people who have made great discoveries related to chemistry.

Each student could explore a different scientist and incorporate it into the timeline from above.

February is Black History Month. Here are a few lists of scientists to explore (there is some overlap between the lists):

March is Women’s History Month. Here are some lists of women scientists to explore:

Janet Slingerland has written over 2 dozen books for young readers, including Werewolves and States of Matter and Explore Atoms and Molecules! (with 25 Great Projects). To find out more about Janet and her books, check out her website: http://janetsbooks.com

Author Spotlight: Megan E. Bryant

By Melissa Roske on January 2, 2026 / Articles, Author Interviews

Photo credit: Kris Fulk Photography

Today, let’s give a warm Mixed-Up Files welcome to Megan E. Bryant, author of Abby in Between: Face Forward, the second installment in the Abby in Between series. Praised by Kirkus as “a winning sequel that sees the welcome return of a flawed yet big-hearted protagonist,” the novel is available now from Penguin Workshop.

But first…

Abby in Between: Face Forward – A Summary

Big things are heading Abby McAdams’ way: her eleventh birthday, fifth-grade graduation, and the end of elementary school. There’s also the end-of-year overnight camping trip, and she can’t wait to practice her science skills. Oh, and there’s another thing. Abby suspects she’s going to get her period any day now, but after a few false alarms she’s not quite sure. Can Abby navigate new emotions, friendship dynamics, and her changing body, all while figuring out what kind of person she wants to be?

Q&A with Megan E. Bryant

MR: Welcome to the Mixed-Up Files, Megan. Huge congratulations on the publication of Abby in Between: Face Forward!

MEB: Thank you so much! I’m so excited to chat with you about Abby and all things middle grade!

MR: What was your inspiration behind Abby McAdams? I know she’s a lot like your daughter, Clara, and a lot like you when you were a preteen. Can you elaborate?

MEB: I always envisioned Abby as an “every girl” character, hoping to write about her early puberty experience in a way that would be relatable and reassuring for girls embarking on their own puberty journeys. One of the things I love most about Abby is how deeply she feels emotions. There’s an intensity to the way Abby experiences the world—from her excitement about big milestones in her life to her compassion for animals, the environment, and people in need—that has endeared her to me.

Abby McAdams vs. Margaret Simon

MR: Abby has a very distinctive voice, reminiscent of another preteen protagonist, Margaret Simon, in Judy Blume’s groundbreaking 1974 novel, Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret. How are the two girls similar? In which ways are they different?

MEB: I think both Abby and Margaret are curious about puberty and how their bodies are changing, and they express this curiosity in very natural and normal ways. Margaret is older than Abby—part of the inspiration for writing the Abby books is that puberty tends to start earlier now—and as a result, I think that Margaret grapples with more mature topics. I also think both characters’ puberty experiences are affected by the times in which they live and cultural norms.

That’s SOOOO (NOT) Awkward

MR: Speaking Judy Blume, you write about puberty in a similar, straightforward way, without shame or embarrassment (yay!). What’s the secret to handling potentially awkward topics, from pubic hair and body odor to vaginal discharge and periods, in such a no-nonsense way? I’m sure your readers are beyond grateful! (I know I would have been as a tween. 🙂)

MEB: From the start, I knew I needed to write these books with unflinching honesty—or I shouldn’t bother writing them at all. So anything that made me feel squeamish or cringey was something I needed to work through on my own. It became an opportunity to examine any negative messages I’d absorbed about girls’ and women’s bodies and overcome them, while remembering that the whole range of emotions and reactions to puberty are completely normal. I figured that if a topic were embarrassing for me, an adult woman, to write about, then there would probably be readers who were embarrassed to be experiencing it, and I owed it to them to face it with honesty and compassion.

Dear 11-year-old Megan…

MR: As a follow-up, what advice would you give to 11-year-old Megan?

MEB: While I was deep in the process of writing Face Forward, something remarkable happened: my husband developed an old roll of film from my childhood, and there was a picture of me at my 11^th birthday on it—the same age as Abby. I looked at the image of my younger self with so much tenderness. Incredibly, I wasn’t nearly as ugly, awkward, or messy as I’d felt at the time. So I think I’d tell 11-year-old Megan, “Go easy on yourself. You’re doing just fine.”

Writing about Climate Change

MR: In addition to stressing over the onset of her period, Abby is concerned about the state of the environment, including climate change and global

warming. This is a topic on many middle graders’ minds. What’s your approach to making such a weighty, often confusing subject palatable for young readers?

MEB: Many years ago, I attended a talk by Joyce Carol Oates, who was asked about writing for young people. She said, “You’ve got to give them hope,” which resonated deeply with me. It’s a message that imbues all of my writing. I found the global warming sections of this book to be perhaps even more challenging to write than the puberty ones, because the problem is grave, and young people will inherit a crisis worsened by the inactivity of prior generations. But there is hope, which can inspire us to work toward a solution.

MR: One more Abby question: Abby is desperate for a kitten, and she comes up with a detailed plan to get one. This is relatable to many preteens who ask for pets. Did you have a pet as a child? Do you allow your kids to have one (or maybe more than one 🙂)?

MEB: Goodness, yes! Growing up, I had pet rabbits and cats. We currently have four cats and two dogs. I always say our house is full, but my kids know that if they find an animal that needs a home, I’ll try to make it work—which is how we ended up with six pets, ha!

Advice for Writers

MR: Let’s move on to your writing career. It says in your bio that you’ve written 250 books for children. What is the secret to being so prolific? Also, what advice would you give to new writers? What about to more established ones?

MEB: I’m profoundly grateful for every writing opportunity I’ve had; for every idea that evolved from nebulous thought to printed book; and for every reader who has read my words. I’m not sure if there is a secret to being prolific besides making it a priority to write whenever you can. I often tell my writing students that they are the only ones who can prioritize their writing in a world that makes so many other demands on their time.

I’d tell new writers to persevere above all else—keep dreaming, keep plotting, keep reading, keep learning, keep writing, keep revising, and keep trying! For established writers, I’d encourage them to try mixing up their writing routine. Almost all of my books have been written linearly, but for a variety of reasons, I wrote Face Forward completely out of order, in much shorter writing sessions than I was used to. When it was time to read the manuscript from start to finish, I was really worried that it would be a jumbled mess of disconnected scenes. To my surprise, though, it flowed well, and I learned a good lesson about adapting my established writing process.

The Plot Thickens

MR: What is your writing process like, Megan? Do you have a specific routine or word-count goals? Any writing rituals? Also, are you a plotter or a pantser?

MEB: I am 100% a plotter! I’ll often spend months thinking about a new project before writing a single word. My outlines are usually 10-15 pages or more, and I use them like a roadmap to guide each writing session. As much as I love a detailed outline, though, I also have a notebook close at hand where I write all the new ideas and storylines that pop into my mind as I’m writing.

As for writing rituals, I keep a bottle of nail polish on my desk and when I get stuck on a sentence or paragraph, I’ll paint my nails. So if you see me wearing nail polish—especially if just a few of my nails are polished—chances are I’m working on a manuscript!

MR: What’s next on your writing agenda? More Abby books, I hope…

MEB: I’m always ready to revisit Abby and the McAdams family! Right now, I’m working on two projects—a family comedy focused on the misadventure of two brothers, and a futuristic trilogy. They couldn’t be more different, so no matter what mood I’m in, I have a project that suits it!

Lightning Round!

MR: Last thing: No MUF interview is complete without a lightning round, so…

Preferred writing snack? Chocolate

Coffee or tea? Coffee in the morning, tea in the afternoon

MG authors that inspire you? Madeleine L’Engle, Dana Levy, C.S. Lewis, Raina Telgemeier, Lois Lowry, Katherine Applegate, Jason Reynolds—I could go on and on!

Most cringe-worthy tween moment? Running into my eighth-grade science teacher while I was buying pads—horrors!

Zombie apocalypse: Yea or nay? Hard pass—you’ll find me hiding under the bed with my pets when it happens.

Superpower? Listmaking!

Favorite place on earth? Home is where my heart is.

You’re stranded on a desert island, with only three items in your possession. What are they? Practically: a solar-powered communication device, a water purification system, and sunblock. Whimsically: my knitting, a solar-powered fridge full of chocolate and coffee, and . . . sunblock!

MR: Thank you for chatting with me, Megan—and congratulations on the publication of Abby in Between: Face Forward. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and I know MUF readers will too.

MEB: Thank you so much for your kind words! I really enjoyed answering these thought-provoking questions.

All About Megan

Megan E. Bryant has written more than 250 children’s books for ages ranging from babies to teens. Her most recent books include the middle grade novel series, ABBY IN BETWEEN; the CITIZEN BABY board book series, co-authored with her husband, historian Daniel O. Prosterman; the four-book chapter book series THE TINY GENIUSES; and the Kirkus starred and Best Young Adult Book of the Year GLOW. She lives in Winston-Salem, NC with her family.

Melissa Roske is a writer of middle-grade fiction. Before spending her days with imaginary people, she interviewed real ones as a journalist in Europe. In London she landed a job as an advice columnist for Just Seventeen magazine. Upon returning to her native New York, Melissa contributed to several books and magazines and selected jokes for Reader’s Digest. In addition to her debut novel Kat Greene Comes Clean (Charlesbridge), Melissa’s short story “Grandma Merle’s Last Wish” appears in the Jewish middle-grade anthology, Coming of Age: 13 B’Nai Mitzvah Stories (Albert Whitman). Learn more about Melissa on her Website and follow her on Facebook and Instagram.

Let’s capture personal stories

By Ann Angel on December 19, 2025 / Articles

The winter holidays often bring stories to the table. I think this is the perfect time of year to encourage middle graders to capture their family stories. We can draw parents into reminiscing about growing up, encourage grandparents to tell how they or their grandparents migrated to find their own homes, or how they fell in love, created their families, and chose a variety of holidays to celebrate. We can ask about childhood memories that capture a snapshot of history from a personal perspective. In doing so, we’re encouraging middle graders to gain perspective into the struggles and successes that built their communities and families.

My own kids, who were adopted, have a wide range of emotions about these assignments and they embrace these as part of their stories. I love hearing how they hold the stories coming out of their legacies. One of my daughters has two Ancestry trees; her adopted family tree and her birth family tree. A son wants to learn more about his ancestors who were poor farmers from another country. He’s visited the land of his birth. And he was also close to his adopted grandparents and wants to share their stories. Both of my daughters like to share stories of the relationships they have with birth and adopted siblings and parents.

In reality, most of our stories usually only go back one or two generations before we lose sight of why ancestors left their native countries and how they traveled across the country we now live in. I can trace my family back to the Revolution on my maternal side, but I only know my father’s grandfather was a lumberjack buried in the Northwest. I don’t know how or why my Irish ancestors came to the US on that side of the family. That helps me realize that my children’s responses to family histories is often complicated but it’s also rich. Asking a classroom full of diverse kids means some will balk at telling stories because they’re not traditional, or they’re sad, or confusing. How do we tell stories of leaving a country we love while fearing persecution or poverty? What happens when the parents who raised us have no choice but to send us away? Even when we stay together and remain in the land of our birth, we have stories that should be love-filled but also might include frightening, sad, or lonely events that no one wants to talk about.

I sent myself down a rabbit hole of imagining forgotten stories and how kids can fill in lost histories. My search also focused on the need to talk openly about emotions and how we respond to our own stories. What writing prompts can we offer to bring out these stories? What can we offer kids who don’t feel they have sharable memories?

Memoirist and publisher of She Writes Press Brooke Warner focuses on great guidance for finding and sharing memories. While we think of memoir as truth telling, we also recognize that telling a family story doesn’t always mean others see events in the same way we do. Teaching kids to write personal stories means we need our writers to understand that our stories tell our own emotional truth and two family members might not see the story in the same way. We might tell kids that we interpret meaningful moments in the ways they impact us. That is our truth. Warner focuses on this important distinction when she says. “Emotional truth allows you to fill in those blanks with what would have happened based not on what you remember, but on what you know. What you know, for instance, is how your mother would have reacted to your dad not coming home one night, even if you don’t recall the exactness of the scene you’re writing in which that happened.” Brooke's craft of memoir

She suggests writers take advantage of “memory pops” or those small snapshots of life that pop into your head without any context. The writers’ job is to provide a context musing about what led up to that memory pop and what followed.

To find these “memory pops,” we might ask questions such as what is the first time you remember experiencing joy, or sadness, or hunger, or peace? What is your first memory of your grandparents? Can you tell us about a journey you were excited or afraid to take?

For more information on writing memoir, Warner has written a great guide, Breaking Ground on Your Memoir.

There are tons or game-like resources that writers can use to draw family stories out. Tales is one intriguing game that might be brought into a classroom to wake up those memory pops. A game for families

Warner refers to the Disney film Inside Out. While the film focuses on emotions which always provide a flow of writing ideas, it also follows characters into a memory dump, a site where memories are buried. That might be a great motivator for kids to consider what happens when we leave our memories behind and what gold we might find if we help ourselves or our family members to recall buried memories. I’d take it a step further and ask family members to re-describe a scene from their perspectives to capture multiple viewpoints. The film’s concepts have been re-imagined as a series of books that teachers and librarians might add to your shelves. A film about understanding feelings

Family History Novels are also a great way to get middle graders thinking about how stories shape lives. Two of my favorite are Lisa Yee’s Maizy Chen’s Last Chance which used a unique framework of story within story to show Maizy’s history, her mother’s, her grandparents, and her great grandparents’ stories.

Dan Santat’s graphic memoir, A First Time for Everything, provides readers with insights into being an only child and gaining independence.

Kate DiCamillo’s Because of Winn Dixie is a great look at single parent families. Single Parent Families and community

When I consider most middle grade novels, family history finds its way into the script so use your imagination and bring the books you love to your students. Help them discover the family stories and use these as beginning discussions to get them writing.

We don’t have unlimited budgets to bring in books and movies and games, but we have a ton of imaginative ideas for story starters. Here are some writing prompts I’ve used with students from middle grade through college. Feel free to bring them into your classrooms and, please, feel free to share your ideas in comments:

Bring in a recipe that you love. Write about the experience of making this or tasting this for the first time. Or students can write a recipe and talk about how it might make them feel to make this or eat it.
Find an old photo and write about the circumstances you believe surround the snapshot. Better yet, have students bring photos or create illustrations to tell their family stories and turn these into books that students can bring home as family gifts.
Write down a few memory pops and then fill in the story around that pop.
Bring in a grab bag of different smells or flavors and have kids pick them with their eyes closed. Write about any memories that these smells bring to you. Of course, make sure, ahead of time, that you’re not including any allergens.
Define what is old.
Interview a parent or grandparent about their native land. Ask them why they left or stayed.
Interview family members about the best day of their lives, the worst day of their lives.
Write about what makes you happy, sad, fearful, hopeful.
Where do you spend family celebrations?
What do you celebrate in your home?
What do you wish your family could do together?

For more ideas than you could ever hope for, here are a few websites:

Resilient Writers – 100 New Writing Prompts for Memoir Writers

Storii – 70 Question Prompts to Capture Childhood Memories

Writer-ish – 50 Impactful Memoir Writing Prompts to Get You Writing TODAY