Sew Bookish Blog

December Book & Cookie Club "Where the Mountain Meets the Moon"

12/19/2019

Book and Cookie Club is a monthly book discussion group for students in third through sixth grade and an adult caregiver. I have been facilitating Book and Cookie Club at my library since December of 2015. This is one of my favorite school-age programs to plan and lead.

At my new library, I take turns facilitating Book and Cookie Club with two of my colleagues. Instead of facilitating Book and Cookie monthly, I facilitate it four times a year.

The way that I lead Book and Cookie has changed as well due to the participants that come to the program. Most of the participants that come to Book and Cookie are older (4th and 5th grade) and I have more caregiver engagement. As a result, we have more of a discussion format.

The book: Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin

This is the second time that I have selected Where the Mountain Meets the Moon for Book and Cookie Club. Grace Lin is one of my favorite authors. Grace has such a way for weaving together a story that is compelling, exciting, and wonderous. I also find it fascinating how the children perceive Minli's running away from home versus how the adult caregivers feel about it. The themes of family, fortune, gratitude, friendship, and kindness all lend themselves to a really great discussion.

Icebreaker: Minli's Bag

Materials Needed:

paper treat bags
paper list
pencils

Activity Description:
Before Minli leaves home she places these eleven items in her bag:

chopsticks
fishnet
needle
uncooked rice
copper coin
gourd
pot
water
dried bamboo
knife
rabbit rice bowl

If you were to leave home to change your family's fotune, what items would you take with you? On your paper, write down the eleven items you would take with you and place your list inside of your bag.

When I say "fortune" get into (pairs or a group) to compare your lists.

Discussion

I used the discussion questions from The Educator's Guide by LB School & Library

Activity: Painting Watercolor Dragons

Materials:

Activity Description:
Participants will use the provided materials to create a watercolor dragon

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March Book & Cookie Club: "The Case of the Time Capsule Bandit"

3/18/2019

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Scavenger Hunt

I divided our participants into two groups. They had to answer questions about the book and answer the question correctly in order to be lead to the next question. The questions were hidden in different places within the Children's Department. The last question lead them to the children's reference desk where they were given a cryptogram puzzle to solve. Once they solved the puzzle they could choose a "Top Secret" note pad or pencil as their prize.

Fingerprint Lab

I purchased a Spy Day activity kit from Teachers Pay Teachers that had the idea and printable for this station.

Masters of Disguise

Part of being an excellent detective/spy is being able to come up with amazing disguises. I set-up a mini photo booth, my personal puppet stash, photo booth props from Target, and an iPad for The Crew to snap photos. These are pictures that the kids took.

Laser Obstacle Course

I used crepe paper to create the obstacle course. The kids had a lot of fun trying to squeeze, bend, and wiggle their way through this "laser" obstacle course.

Secret Message Decoder

I used the bookmark Ellison to cut out rectangles of red cellophane paper. I also created the template for the decoder to fit that Ellison die.

The kids made their decoder then used them to read the spy jokes.

Morse Code Keychain

We made Morse Code keychains using our initials! The kids loved getting to make something they can display on their backpacks.

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February Book & Cookie Club: Hidden Figures (Student Adaptation)

2/25/2019

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Book and Cookie Club is a monthly book discussion group for students in third through sixth grade and an adult caregiver. I have been facilitating Book and Cookie Club at my library since December of 2015. This is one of my favorite school-age programs to plan and lead.

Our book for this month was “Hidden Figures (Student Adaptation)” by Margot Lee Shetterly. I have wanted to incorporate some nonfiction titles into our Book and Cookie Club reading for a while. I want to challenge The Crew and try to get them to read some genres that they do not always read on their own. I know that nonfiction can be a bit dry for some readers, so I thought that using a book that was turned into a movie would stir some interest.

Discussion Activity - Padlet

We used a Padlet to talk about two questions: What is it like when you are the first to do something? and Why is it important to have a support system?

Space STEAM Challenges

I found the coolest downloadable resource called "Space STEM Challenges" from Kim Carroll on Teachers Pay Teachers. It had lots of great activities that I just had to print off. It was a huge time saver and I am so glad that I will be able to use some of the activities again in our Makerspace.

I also bought some badges from Amazon and made NASA badges for the kids to wear.

NASA Badges

I created the badges on PicMonkey with graphics from Pixabay and Clipart Library.

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September Book & Cookie Club: Where the Mountain Meets the Moon

9/26/2018

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Create a Dragon

Our discussion game this month involved the neatest dragon floor puzzle I have ever seen and some questions that I wrote and put into a Google Slide presentation. When The Crew answered a question correctly, they were able to select a puzzle piece from the box. I liked that this discussion game had a cooperation component to it. Everyone had to work together to assemble our awesome dragon.

Monkeys in a Barrel

One of my favorite parts of Where the Mountain Meets the Moon is when Minli, our brave and clever heroine, tricks the greedy monkeys in the forest. So, we played Monkeys in a Barrel.

Paper Lanterns

The Crew made paper lanterns. I found instructions on how to make the paper lanterns on Teachers Pay Teachers.

Minli's Bag Word Find

I made a word find with all of the items that Minli packed into her bag before she left to find the Old Man of the Moon. I used this Word Search Maker on The Teacher's Corner to generate the wordsearch.

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Family Storytime: School

9/14/2018

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The 2018 - 2019 school year is upon us! The teacher in me always gets excited about all of the school supplies in the store. I still wander the Target Dollar Spot looking for cute pens and pencils because I need to have a purple pen with cat ears or a mechanical pencil with a llama eraser. If I were a dragon, I'd hoard cute school supplies. #ExTeacherConfessions

While the kiddos (and maybe some of the teachers) may not be quite ready to go back to school, I know that I am looking forward to my last year of grad school!

PRE-STORYTIME MUSIC

These are the songs that we listened to before storytime began. If you are interested in checking out these songs, the album cover images are linked to Amazon so you can listen to a sample and/or purchase these great songs!

"Good Day Sunshine"

"Books! Books! Books!"

"There's a Dog in School"

PRE-STORYTIME ACTIVITY: I-Spy School

I found a really neat school themed I-Spy activity on Teachers Pay Teachers. I-Spy books are very popular at my library so I thought a pre-storytime I-Spy activity would be just the ticket!

HELLO SONG

Credit: Verona Storytime
To the tune of "Jolly Good Fellow"

We’ll wave hello together,
We’ll wave hello together,
We’ll wave hello together,
Because it’s fun to do.

We’ll give a hug together,
We’ll give a hug together,
We’ll give a hug together,
Because it’s kind to do.

We’ll high five together,
We’ll high five together,
We’ll high five together,
Because it’s fun to do.

LETTER OF THE WEEK: Ss

I like to use the collage to talk about different objects that begin with the letter of the week. We sang "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star". We talked about grilled cheese vs. peanut butter and jellly sandwiches.

RECORDED MUSIC

These are the songs that we danced to during storytime. If you are interested in checking out these songs, the album cover images are linked to Amazon so you can listen to a sample and/or purchase these great songs!

"Wheels on the Bus"

"Jump! Jump!"

"Legs and Arms"

"Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes"

BOOKS

ACTION RHYMES & SONGS

Come Along & Walk with Me

from Let’s Do It Again! by Mary Helen Richards an ETM Song
To the tune of "Oats, Peas, Beans and Barley Grow"

Come along and hop with me
Come along and hop with me
We’ll hop and hop
and hop and hop
so come along and hop with me

Come along and march with me
come along and march with me
We’ll march and march
and march and march
so come along and march with me

Come along and twirl with me
come along and twirl with me
We’ll twirl and twirl
and twirl and twirl
so come along and twirl with me

Everybody

Credit: Nicole Lawton

Everybody stomp, stomp, stomp
Everybody jump, jump, jump
Everybody slap, slap, slap (slap knees)
Everybody tap, tap, tap (tap head)
Everybody twist, twist, twist
Everybody bend, bend, bend
Everybody clap, clap, clap
Everybody sit, sit, sit

Tickle the Clouds

Original version from Laptime Songs
Adapted by: Nicole Lawton

Tickle the clouds
Tickle your toes
Turn around
And tickle your nose
Tickle your shoulders
Tickle your knees
Let’s read another story
Sit down please

Dance Your Fingers Up

Credit Storytime Katie

Dance your fingers up, dance your fingers down
Dance your fingers to the side, dance them all around
Dance them on your shoulders, dance them on you head
Dance them on your tummy, and put them all to bed

GOODBYE SONG

from Carole Peterson's Tiny Tunes album, Adapted by Nicole Lawton
To the tune of "Mary Had a Little Lamb"

Now it's time to touch your toes
touch your toes, touch your toes
Now it's time to touch your toes
Touch them now

Now it's time to touch your nose
touch your nose, touch your nose
Now it's time to touch your nose
Touch it now

Now it's time to touch your head
touch your head, touch your head
Now it's time to touch your head
Touch it now

Now it's time to wave goodbye
Wave goodbye, Wave goodbye
Now it's time to wave goodbye
See you all next time

POST-STORYTIME MUSIC

These are the songs that we listened to after storytime. If you are interested in checking out these songs, the album cover images are linked to Amazon so you can listen to a sample and/or purchase these great songs!