Posts tagged children's books

How to Train Your Dragon, by Cressida Crowell, is always a lot of fun to talk about with 5th graders.  The story is laugh-out-loud funny, it is peppered with silly illustrations, it has a lot of appeal factors for both boys and girls, and most students have seen the movie (which is quite different from the book) and can compare the two to see which version they prefer.  Plus, y’know, Vikings!

Activity: Handprint Dragon

I found this craft idea on Activity Village and it turned into a fun hands-on art project for all of my students.  Using the template from the website, some colored paper and scissions, and the student’s handprints, we worked together to create a giant colorful dragon (a toothless one, of course, to honor the book!).

Snack: Viking Helmet Cupcakes

These babies are SO simple and fun.  Make chocolate cupcakes with chocolate frosting (use your favorite recipe or a mix—whichever is your forte!) and put two Bugles on top of each to create horns.  Instant Viking helmets.  Unexpectedly, my students were more excited about the Bugles than the chocolate and they cleaned out my whole bag!

Lynn Reid Banks’s classic book The Indian in the Cupboard was a big favorite of mine when I was a kid, and I was excited to share it with my students.  They loved the premise, and I was happy to see that it has held up pretty well over the years.

Activity: Create Your Own Cupboard

Using Microsoft Publisher and some good old-fashioned scissors and glue sticks, I created paper cabinets for each of my students and tasked them with using art supplies to illustrate what kinds of things they would bring to life if they owned a magical cupboard like Omri does in the book.  We ended up with some toy soldiers and dragons, as well as some more unexpected items like a dollar bill (student: “I just want to see a dollar dance, okay?”) and a spoon (student: “That way I’ll never have to feed myself again!”).

Snack: Monkey Bread

This is such a fun snack to eat with a group!  For those not in the know, monkey bread is a tasty pull-apart cinnamon bread.  It’s very easy to make (see the simple Pillsbury recipe here), and you can usually find it in the frozen food aisle of the grocery store.  Either way, you’ve got an interactive dessert that kids will paw all over, and that’s half the fun!

Now that’s official, I’m very excited to announce that I have been asked to present at this year’s Maryland Library Association and Delaware Library Association Joint Conference in Ocean City, MD at 3:45 pm on May 9th.  

I will be talking about my library’s Lunch Bunch Book Club program in a presentation called “New Roads for Outreach.”  Joining me will be three other librarians who also do non-traditional outreach for their communities.

If you’re at the conference, come check it out and say hello!

This week, my Lunch Bunch Book Club 5th graders and I discussed Gary Paulsen’s book Hatchet, in which a teen boy is stranded in the Canadian wilderness with only a hatchet to survive with.  We talked a lot about wilderness skills, what supplies we would want to have if we were in a similar situation, and the first things we would do if we were rescued and brought back to society.  We also did a team-building activity and had some munchies!

Activity: Build a Shelter

Divide your students into small teams of 2 or 3 and give each team a bag full of supplies: 50 toothpicks, 40 mini marshmallows, 5 rubber bands, 10 paper clips, and a small stack of post-it notes.  They get 10 minutes to work together as a team to create a shelter using only their found objects (as Brian has to use only the supplies he has with him to create his shelter in the wilderness).  Encourage them to think about what their needs would be in the wild.  The structure below was created by my students to include all the essentials for survival: fishing poles, paperclip hatchets, a firepit, and a bear trap!

Dessert: Trail Mix

I mixed up a quick and easy trail mix that blended M&Ms, raisins, peanuts, almonds, peanut butter chips, mini pretzels, and chocolate covered cranberries.  We bet Brian would have loved to have some handy in Hatchet!

This week, my 5th grade book club and I will be chatting about Gennifer Choldenko’s great book Al Capone Does My Shirts, which features a boy whose family lives on Alcatraz Island in the 1930s.  It’s got healthy doses of intrigue, baseball, gangsters, and humor, so I hope they enjoy it.  Here’s what we’ll be doing while we hang out.

Activity: Guess the Ganster Slang

The 1930s is ripe with excellent gansgter slang, so I made some playing cards to challenge the kids and see how well they can decipher the criminals of yesteryear.  Below is one of the cards I whipped up:

I’ll also be sharing a copy of the rules and regulations of Alcatraz and showing them what the cells looked like.

Snack: California Walnut Brownies

The book is set in California, and, really, who doesn’t like brownies?  I usually bake from scratch, but I was running short on time and hit the easy button with this mix from Duncan Hines.

Today, my 5th graders and I will be discussing Andrew Clements’s book No Talking, which centers around a competition between an unruly group of 5th grade boys and girls called “The Unshushables.”

Activity: Picture Puzzle

Distribute the students into small teams and give them a picture that has been cut into 32 squares (in this case, I’m using an image of Gandhi since he inspires a character in the book).  Instruct the teams to work together to put the pieces together without talking and see who can finish the puzzle first.  (Idea borrowed enthusiastically from my coworker Glenda.) 

 Dessert: Peanut Butter Rice Krispie Treats

Using this recipe from Kelloggs: http://www.ricekrispies.com/en_US/recipes/peanut-butter-treats.html#/en_US/recipes/peanut-butter-treats

Today, my 5th grade book club and I will be talking about Carl Hiaasen’s book Flush, which takes place in Florida and centers around a boy’s quest to clear his imprisoned father’s name and save the environment along the way.  Here’s what we’ll be doing in addition to talking about the book:

Activity: Florida Trivia Time

I have a bunch of trivia questions about the state of Florida to get them in the mood to chat about the book (state symbols, geography, fun facts, etc.).  Each time a question is answered correctly, that student will get a section of this paper orange, which I printed out on card stock.

Whoever earns the most wedges by the end of the round will win a prize (probably an actual orange to go with their lunches).

Dessert: Coconut Chocolate Patties

A quick and simple no-bake Floridian recipe from Martha Stewart that features toasted coconut and yummy melted chocolate.  If I’m feeling especially benevolent, I’ll toss in some gummy sea creatures to go with the patties.