The Miscalculations of Lightning Girl

Use this activity to engage all types of learners, while requiring that they refer to and incorporate details from the text over the course of the activity.

“How to Add Real Friends”

In this activity, students will demonstrate their understanding of characterization, voice, and theme in The Miscalculations of Lightning Girl by creating a presentation on making friends from Lucy’s perspective.

In The Miscalculations of Lightning Girl, Lucy learns important lessons about friendship. In this activity, you will share what Lucy has learned by creating a presentation from her perspective about how to make genuine friendships.

1. Choose Your Key Ideas

• Look back through the story and decide what important lessons Lucy learns about staying true to herself and her love of math while making friends and becoming part of a community.
• Choose three or four main points to share in your presentation.

2. Think About Lucy’s Characterization and Voice

• Make some notes about what kind of a person Lucy is so that you can create your presentation from her point of view: What does she value, and how does she think about herself and other people?
• Make some notes about how Lucy communicates:
• Does she use simple words and sentences, or more complicated ones?
• Are there words or phrases that she uses a lot, or other speech habits that you notice?
• Is she serious, funny, emotional, objective, precise, poetic? What kind of attitude (