Kids' Reading Clubhouse--Ruby Lu

This month the Kids' Reading Clubhouse read Ruby Lu: Empress of Everything by Lenore Look.

It's a smart, fun, and well-written book for girls. In this story, there are lots of laughs, problems to solve, and new things to learn. (The author also has a series for boys that is all of the above, plus some.)

We talked about words like immigration on Friday, and discussed what it would be like if your cousin from another country came to live with you. We talked about what it would be like to be deaf and also how friends can solve some of their own problems by apologizing to each other.

Then we got busy with our activities of the day. Each girl got to try her hand at origami. We made Fortune Cookies.

Remember these?

Then we got some practice eating edamame and pot stickers (by far the most popular snack so far) with chop sticks. 

Finally, the girls got to memorize how to say something in sign language using a pictorial sign language chart and demonstrate it for the group. By the end, they all knew how to say "I love you" and "Thank you" in sign language. Always handy to know!

Kids' Reading Clubhouse--The Quilt Walk

This month, we read The Quilt Walk by Sandra Dallas.

Isn't this a gorgeous cover

It was a bit slower than the other books we've read--kind of like the long walk Emmy Blue and her family took from Illinois to Colorado. It wasn't magical like Pippi Longstocking or thrilling like The Spiderwick Chronicles. But still, it was good. We laughed a bit, gasped some, and we learned a lot.

When the girls and I met, we focused on the stories quilts tell.

Each girl made a log cabin quilt square.

And we put them all together to make a paper quilt. 

Then we looked at a quilt that a friend made for our family.

And each girl wrote about what she thought the bear was doing. We made up our own stories.

We ate dried apple pie for snack and named the two things (and only two) that we would bring along if we had to walk from Illinois to Colorado back in 1863. Tough choice. My favorite answer was from a little girl who said, "I'd bring my blanket and a huge stack of books." I told her she could only bring one book if she brought her blanket. "Well, hmm," she said. "That's impossible."

Kids' Reading Clubhouse--Pippi Longstocking

The Kids' Reading Clubhouse met this week at the bookstore. We had read Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren.

The girls were so excited to start talking about the book that I had to forget about my general talk about reading that I usually open with. The hands were flying in the air so fast and furiously that I could barely keep up.

One of the things we did was draw a picture of Pippi in a scene from the book. Here are a couple of my favorites.

I also let them take turns acting like Pippi. The only rule was that they could not spill their hot chocolate no matter what Pippi would have done in the same situation.

One thing is for sure, Pippi still appeals to little girls today.

And EVERYONE agreed that they would LOVE to be friends with Pippi.

They also agreed that she would be expelled from school if she was in their class. 

Here's our meeting in a nutshell below. Insert tons of laughter and utter goofiness throughout for a taste of what the real meeting was like.

Kids Reading Clubhouse #7

Pippi Longstocking

Talk about the Story

• Did you like the book?
• What was your favorite part?
• What makes Pippi special?
• Do you think you’d like to be friends with Pippi? What would be some good things about having her as a friend?
• What would it be like to go to school with Pippi? What would your teachers do if Pippi were in your class.
• Talk about Sweden                          

Centers:

• Snack and Game
1. Gingerbread cookies and hot chocolate.
2. Take turns acting like Pippi.
• Draw a picture of Pippi based on the description of her in the book. Make sure you draw her in a scene from the book
• Become a Thing-Finder
1. Hunt for things in the store
2. Name the thing you found and as a group invent as many creative uses for your thing as you can.

Give Stars

Present Quilt Walk

Bring:  12 different “things”—tin can, spool of thread, clothes pin, bottle cap, etc., lined paper, drawing paper, markers and crayons

Gingerbread cookies, hot chocolate

Kids' Reading Clubhouse

Once a month, a small group of second graders and I get together and transform our local bookstore into the Kids' Reading Clubhouse. The girls show up having read the book of the month, and I show up with a basketful of tricks. You would not believe how excited these girls get about the books we read. They jump up and down, shout details from the book, laugh, and wave their arms in the air.

It's awesome.

For October, we read the The Spiderwick Chronicles: the Field Guide, which is, in my opinion, everything a middle reader should be. It's high for second graders to read independently, but I encourage parents to share the book with their kids and to embrace reading aloud to them.

We truly explore the books we read. After our initial group discussion, we break into centers and really bring the book to life. Below is my lesson plan.

Kids Reading Clubhouse

The Spiderwick Chronicles: The Field Guide

General reading discussion

Talk about Read-alouds

            Talk about Vocabulary—Ask girls to share a new word they learned from the book

Talk about the Story

• Did you like the book?
• What was your favorite part?
• Did you think it was scary or suspenseful? What’s the difference?
• Is the book meant to entertain, inform, or persuade?
• What is the field guide? Entertain, inform, or persuade?
• Name some of the magical creatures in the book.

                                   

Centers:

• Snack and Game
1. Brownies and milk. Play board game.
• Build a house for Thimbletack
1. Add to birdhouse to make it a suitable home
2. Create Thimbletack—Brownie versus Boggart
• Create a Field Guide
1. Draw your own magical creature
2. Name it
3. Write a description 

Give Stars

Present Pippi Longstocking

Bring:  birdhouse, mirrors, brown paper, string, glue, magazines, fabric, foam

table cloth, milk, cups, brownies, knife, plates, board game, cards, and game pieces

Field Guide worksheet, markers, crayons, and pencils