Book Club Babes II: Knuffle Bunny

Book Club Babes II member Miss Riley selected Mo Willems' Knuffle Bunny for our latest discussion.

A successful search on Pinterest resulted in the discovery of the Kids Activities Blog and the coolest activity to use as means of experiencing Knuffle Bunny.  In preparation for the meeting, my squirts and I visited our favorite park, Droste Park in Maryville, IL. and took several pictures of the playground, walking path, and dock.  At home, we converted these pictures into black and white before printing onto 8 1/2" x 11" paper.

When members arrived, they were allowed to choose from the scenes offered.  Then, they drew a color picture of themselves, glued it onto the black and white page, and added a caption.  Completed artwork was laminated so that further people, objects, etc. may be added and erased again and again to the picture using dry erase markers.

Discussion followed with each member sharing her journal picture and favorite part of the book.

For snack, supplies of bagels, thin carrots, raisins, peanut butter, cream cheese, and Annie's Cheddar Bunnies were provided by Miss Riley's mother so that each member could create her own Knuffle Bunny.

Next discussion:  Miss Morgan's selection of The Little Mouse, the Red Ripe Strawberry, and the Big Hungry Bear

Book Club Babes: Nick and Tesla's High-Voltage Danger Lab

Miss Colleen's selection of Nick and Tesla's High-Voltage Danger Lab was a hit not only for the book club members, but also the adults.  A thriller full of suspense and pretty cool experiments (this coming from a liberal arts person), I read my copy in one night.

Due to the high volume (sweet!) of experiments Miss Colleen's mom brought with her, we changed the mode of discussion.  Each member chose a favorite question out of the three written in her journal, wrote said question on an index card, and placed it in a bowl.  Members then chose a question (blindly) from the bowl and were given time to think about the answer before sharing with the rest of the group.

After discussion it was experiment time, their favorite.  

Volcano Kit Purchased at Happy Up

To conclude, members were given a choice of ice cream flavors including mint chip and double chocolate chunk (the hub was unable to find double chocolate praline)  because this was what Nick and Tesla devoured at the end of the book.  Takeaway was a sandwich bag full of diluted highlighter juice to be used in a top secret manner of the Book Club Babe's choosing much like Nick and Tesla used it to track the van in chapters 9-10.

Next discussion:  Miss Grace's The Puppy Place:  Chewy and Chica

Book Club Babes: Frozen

Book Club Babes (a third-grade book club) met and discussed Disney's chapter book, Frozen, selected by Miss Bella.  As members arrived, they were asked to decorate a cup to be used for the frozen punch, SoBe pina colada drink (found at Schnucks for $1/bottle . . . score).

Frozen SoBe was used as ice cubes to chill the punch.

After a dinner of sandwiches (which is mentioned in "Love is an Open Door"), a frozen dessert bar was served complete with a cake like the one found in the movie (minus the head statue) and various white/silver-colored treats (thank you Miss Faith for the white-iced snack cakes).

 
Discussion ensued with thought provoking open-ended questions such as, "What makes a family?" and "What is true love?"  to close reading questions such as, "What are the names of the three trolls?  Look in chapter 2."  One member's question of "What was your favorite scene?" led to third-grade members acting their answers out for the rest of the group.  Yes, goosebumps ran up and down my arms and legs as literacy in action unfolded before my eyes.  Even first and second grade siblings joined in on the discussion.  Be still my heart.

The remainder of book club was spent watching the movie Frozen (okay, I think one member ended up watching the movie in its entirety) and playing;  hey, they earned it.

Next discussion:  Miss Colleen's pick of Nick and Tesla's High-Voltage Danger Lab