Big Mouth & Ugly Girl

Use these questions or activities to help gauge students’ familiarity with and spark their interest in the context of the work, giving them an entry point into the text itself.

Short Answer

1. In what year did a school shooting take place at Columbine High School in Colorado? How do peers play an important role in preventing school violence?

Teaching Suggestion: Big Mouth & Ugly Girl, originally published in 2002, opens with a conflict incited by one of the novel’s protagonists, Matt. Matt jokingly makes a threat to the school in the wake of the Columbine shooting that occurred in 1999. Consider discussing the events at Columbine, which are mentioned in the novel, and why it is important for students to report threats of violence to their school. Depending on your class and with sensitivity in mind, it may be natural for students to want to talk about fears associated with school shootings and violence, your school’s safety plan(s), and what school communities learned after the tragic events at Columbine and other schools.

• This 9-minute video from a PBS affiliate explains one Columbine victim’s experience and thoughts on how peers play a role in reporting school attacks. (Content Warning: discussions of school shootings; disturbing images; language; mental health issues)
• This article describes some of the laws and regulations states have instituted to both prevent and prepare for school violence.

2. What was technology like in 2002? How did people in the early 2000s communicate? How do those technologies compare to technologies used today?

Teaching Suggestion: Big Mouth & Ugly Girl was written in 2002; the setting of the novel may initially confuse some readers with the two main characters’ use of landline communication and email. Consider using resources like the ones below to discuss communication and draw comparisons between the instant access we have today compared with access in the early 2000s. It may be beneficial for students to connect to other works of fiction or movies that show how communication technology has changed over time.

• This article offers some comparisons between technology from the 90s and more recent options.
• This article also looks at technological change over the last few decades, includes a graphic showing social media increases since 2004.
• This 13-minute video describes some of the now outdated technology people used to communicate in the early 2000s.

Personal Connection Prompt

This prompt can be used for in-class discussion, exploratory free-writing, or reflection homework before reading the novel.

Describe a time when you felt compelled to do the right thing while the people around you chose not to. Did you make the right decision, or did you join in with your peers? What are some of the consequences people can experience for doing the right thing when others around them don’t want them to? How can doing the right thing make a person feel isolated?

Teaching Suggestion: With sensitivity to student experiences in mind, consider allowing time for students to reflect on personal experiences before responding on paper. In the novel, Matt has made a threat toward the school, and Ursula overhears his interaction. Even though Matt is in trouble, Ursula speaks up for him and explains Matt was joking. Matt is ostracized by his peers; some of the people Matt attends school with have been told by their parents not to be friends with him anymore. Ursula, who does not care what others think, befriends Matt despite her parents’ advice not to.

Differentiation Suggestion: For students who might benefit from an additional challenge, consider encouraging them to explore through research some of the psychological impacts of social isolation and the consequences it can have on self-esteem and relationships.