The Hundred Dresses

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.

“Creative Writing: Maddie’s Letter to Peggy”

In this activity, students will write a creative response from Maddie’s point of view addressing Peggy about her bullying.

In Chapter 4, Maddie considers approaching Peggy about her “game” with Wanda but ultimately decides against it. Pretend that you are Maddie and write Peggy the letter about bullying. What would it say? From Maddie’s perspective, use the following questions to guide your letter writing:

• Why do you not like Peggy’s game?
• How does it make you feel?
• Why are you concerned for Wanda?
•  What do you think that Peggy should do from now on?

Once you have finished drafting and proofreading your work for any grammatical mistakes, share your letter with the class. Consider the similarities and differences between your response and your classmates’ responses; how does your letter and your classmates’ letters emphasize both The Damaging Effect of Bullying and Discrimination and The Importance of Respect and Kindness?

Teaching Suggestion: This activity supports students’ creative writing skills within the context of the novel. As Maddie struggles with the guilt of not standing up for Wanda, this activity allows students to imagine what Maddie would say if she defended Wanda. Students should remember to write from a first-person perspective and use the above questions to guide their draft. For students that may struggle with structuring their responses, use this activity to introduce focus-writing techniques, such as using each of the above questions as a separate paragraph in students’ responses.

Differentiation Suggestion: For an alternative subject, students may write a creative writing piece on the following prompt: In Chapter 7, Maddie and Peggy decide to write a letter to Wanda apologizing; however, they ultimately choose to write a “friendly letter.” Pretend you are either Maddie or Peggy, and you have decided to write and send a letter where you apologize to Wanda. What would this letter say?

For this differentiated assignment, English learners or less advanced students may benefit from sentence stems to help them write friendly letters. Consider offering them the following stems:

• I’m sorry for bullying you because…
• It was wrong, and it made you feel…
• I have learned that bullying is…
• I promise to…