Marisol McDonald Does Not Match

Marisol McDonald Does Not Match

By Gabriella Marie Desriee Stevens

Poll

What was the genre of the story Marisol McDonald Does Not Match?

• fiction

• non fiction

• realistic fiction

• fantasy

Multiple Choice

What does 'Realistic Fiction' mean?

• In a Realistic Fiction story - the characters and setting looks real, but the story is made up by the author.

• In a Realistic Fiction story, we would find magic, dragons, and fairies

Poll

My name is Marisol McDonald, and I don’t match. At least, that’s what everyone tells me. I play soccer with my cousin Tato and he says, “Marisol, your skin is brown like mine, but your hair is the color of carrots. You don’t match!”

I play soccer with my cousin Tato and he says, “Marisol, your skin is brown like mine, but your hair is the color of carrots. You don’t match!

“Actually, my hair is the color of fire,” I say and kick the ball over Tato’s head and into the goal.

Q. What did Marisol compare the colour of her hair to?

• carrots

• fire

Poll

My brother says, “Marisol, those pants don’t match that shirt! They clash.”

But I love green polka dots and purple stripes. I think they go great together. Don’t you?

I also love peanut butter and jelly burritos, and speaking Spanish, English, and sometimes both.

“Can I have a puppy? A furry, sweet perrito?” I ask my parents. “Por favor?”

“Quizas,” Mami says.

“Maybe,” Dad says, smiling and winking.

My teacher, Ms. Apple, doesn’t like the way I sign my name. “Marisol McDonald,” she says, “this doesn’t match! At school we learn to print and use cursive, but not at the same time.”

But I like the way Marisol McDonald looks.

Q. What was different about the way Marisol wrote her name?

• She would write Marisol McDonald in Print

• She would write Marisol in Cursive and McDonald in Print.

Poll

The next day I wake up and decide that today I, Marisol McDonald, will match.

It’s a little hard to find clothes that are all the same color.

I play pirates with Ollie at recess, but it’s not very fun. Why can’t pirates play soccer, anyway?

I have a regular peanut butter and jelly sandwich at lunch and the bread tastes . . . mushy.

Even art class is a little bit boring.

“Marisol,” Ms. Apple says, “What’s wrong? This doesn’t look like your usual work.”

“I’m trying to match,” I say with a frown.

“Why?” asks Ms. Apple.

I can’t think of a single good reason.

At the end of the day, Ms. Apple hands me a note. I open it and it says:

Marisol,

I want you to know that I like you just the way you are, because the Marisol McDonald that I know is a creative, unique, bilingual, Peruvian-Scottish- American, soccer-playing artist and simply marvelous!

–Ms. Tamiko Apple

I skip all the way home.

Q. What made Marisol change her mind and stay true to herself?

• A note from Ms. Apple.

• A chocolate from Ms. Apple.

Poll

When I wake up on Saturday I put on my pink shirt, my polka dot skirt, and my favorite hat— the one my abuelita brought me from Peru.

At breakfast I say, “My name is Marisol McDonald and I don’t match because . . . I don’t want to!”

“Bravo!” says Mami.

“Good for you,” says Dad. “Now let’s go to the pound and get a puppy!”

When we get to the pound, there are big dogs and little dogs. There are dogs with long noses and dogs with smushed faces. There are chocolate colored puppies and smoky gray puppies and puppies the color of caramel.

How will I ever choose?

Then I see him. He has one floppy ear and one pointy ear, one blue eye and one brown eye. He is beautiful!

I walk over and he leaps into my lap. I cuddle him and it sounds like he purrs.

“I think we found just the right dog for you, Marisol,” Mami says.

My puppy is perfect. He’s mismatched and simply marvelous, just like me. I think I’ll name him . . . Kitty!

Q. Why did Marisol choose the puppy that had one floppy ear and one pointy ear, one blue eye and one brown eye?

• The puppy needed a home.

• The puppy was mismatched just like Marisol.

Poll

At recess, Ollie and Emma want to play pirates, and Noah wants to play soccer.

“How about soccer-playing pirates?” I suggest.

“No way!” they say, so I run off to play on the swings by myself.

After recess, we have art—my favorite subject. I think my drawings surprise my friends.

At lunch, Ollie walks over to me and scrunches his nose.

“A peanut butter and jelly burrito?” he asks.

“I know, I know,” I say, “it doesn’t match. But it sure tastes good.”

“Marisol, you couldn’t match if you wanted to!” Ollie says.

“Oh yeah? I bet I can!

Q. Why did Marisol decide to match?

• Marisol decided to match because she was tired of being mismatched.

• Marisol decided to match because Ollie said that she couldn't match even if she wanted to.

Multiple Choice

What moral have you learnt from this lesson?

• Stay true to yourself.

• Take a leap of faith.

• When the going gets tough, the tough gets going.

• Spread kindness like confetti.

Open Ended

Exit Ticket

Today I learnt _____________________________