Miss Nelson is Missing!

Title: Miss Nelson is Missing!

Author: Harry Allard

Illustrator: James Marshall

Genre: Realistic Fiction

Awards: None

Age Group: K–3rd

Uh oh, Miss Nelson is Missing! Room 207 is the most badly behaved class in the whole school, and nothing Miss Nelson does can stop it. Well, except for one thing...

Miss Nelson does not show up to school one day, and instead, Miss Viola Swamp whips the students into shape. She is mean and scary-looking, and the children begin working harder than they ever have. Just when they give up hope that Miss Nelson will return, she shows up! Now they are very well-behaved and have a new-found appreciation for Miss Nelson. Miss Nelson's secret? She was living a double life as Viola Swamp! And Detective McSmogg is still looking for Viola Swamp to this day...

I love this book and will totally use it in my classroom some day! It is something that all classrooms can relate to at times, as there are days with amazing behavior and some with not-so-great behavior. But the way Miss Nelson handles the problem is a bit more...unique...than the methods most teachers use, which makes it a fun read for children and for teachers. And, as a bonus, it's kind of a warning against behavior problems, because you never know when Miss Viola Swamp may return. 😆 Kidding, but could make students think twice about their behavior.

Miss Nelson is Missing! would be great for Kindergarten up to third grade, in my opinion! It does not have many words on each page and it is not complex plot-wise. It offers a good moral and promotes good behavior in the classroom. Kids always seem to get a kick out of Miss Nelson dressing up as Viola Swamp!

One activity that I found to go along with this book is an escape room! The goal is to find Miss Nelson, and students have to complete different challenges to get clues. This would be a really fun and engaging way to work on reading comprehension, critical thinking, and problem solving. Another activity would be to create a Venn diagram of the similarities and differences between Miss Nelson and Viola Swamp.