Wednesday, September 24, 2014

Happy Blogiversary to Me!

What Is Bridget Reading? turns 6 today!

When I first started this blog is was just a place to put the booktalks I created for my programming class. Over the years, it's grown into so much more. I review books, write up my programs plans, contribute to Flannel Friday,  and serve as a Flannel Friday host.



Today also seems like a good time to announce that I'll be serving as a Cybils Round 1 Judge for the poetry category again this year. I'm looking forward to reading, reviewing, and interacting with my fellow judges.

Friday, September 19, 2014

Flannel Friday: Mouse Count

This set was inspired by Mary. Like Mary, I used the patterns from Making Learning Fun.



I used this set in tandem with Mouse County by Ellen Stoll Walsh. After reading the book, I pulled out my flannel board. Kids really liked this set. It got a lot of giggles. I may add a snake to the set one day.

After our jar was filled up with mice, I took a moment to have the kids identify the colors.

Katie has the roundup this week.

Important Links:
Flannel Friday Blog
Flannel Friday on Pinterest
Flannel Friday on Facebook
Follow Flannel Friday on Twitter with the hashtag #flannelstorytime.
Our September/October Flannel Friday Fairy Godmother is Melissa (@melissaZD).

Friday, September 12, 2014

Flannel Friday: "Who Is Tapping At My Window?" by A. G. Deming

I was inspired to make this felt set by Katie over at Storytime Secrets. Katie created a Google Drive Presentation, but I opted to go with my favorite medium...felt!


The window is a clipart image. I used clipart or coloring sheets to make the following pieces: ox, coon, loon, cony, and raindrop.

I borrowed the others from the following sets:

Older kids loved guessing the next animal based on the rhyme. Younger kids liked making the animal sounds for the animals they knew. This was a very successful set. I used it for my seasons & weather storytime over the summer. 

Kelly has the roundup this week.

Important Links:
Flannel Friday Blog
Flannel Friday on Pinterest
Flannel Friday on Facebook
Follow Flannel Friday on Twitter with the hashtag #flannelstorytime.
Our September/October Flannel Friday Fairy Godmother is Melissa (@melissaZD).

Saturday, September 6, 2014

Flannel Friday Roundup for September 5, 2014


Here's your Flannel Friday Roundup for the week.

(I'll check in again on Saturday morning to make sure I haven't missed anyone.)

Lisa shares apple activities for the flannel board just in time for fall! 

Kathryn is re-sharing a post from the spring based on the book Kite Flying by Grace Lin.

Laura debuts with her first ever Flannel Friday post. She's turned Clip Clop by Nicola Smee into a set for her flannel board.

Mrs. Todd has a puppet for us this week: Richard Scarry's Huckle puppet.

Abby has a fabulous idea for Library Card Sign-Up: felt library cards.

Kathryn has a new post for this week: a set based on the book All God's Critters by Bill Staines.

We have another debut this week: Cassandra with Birthday Cake in the Oven.

Welcome to Flannel Friday, Laura and Cassandra! Thanks to all for contributing this week.

Kelly has the roundup next week.

Important Links:
Flannel Friday Blog
Flannel Friday on Pinterest
Flannel Friday on Facebook
Follow Flannel Friday on Twitter with the hashtag #flannelstorytime.
Our September/October Flannel Friday Fairy Godmother is Melissa (@melissaZD).

Thursday, September 4, 2014

Hunger Games Trilogy Party for Teens

This event was a request by my teens. They like fandom events and I aim to please.

Pinterest was a tremendous help in planning this event. Check out my Hunger Games Event board.

Upon arrival, teens helped themselves to refreshments and made up their own Hunger Games names using three different name generators I found online (details on my Pinterest board). The names were pretty awful, but it was fun.

Refreshments were themed. We enjoyed Peeta chips and dip, Prim's Goat (not really) cheese, a selection from the Mellark Bakery (bread, turnovers, and cupcakes), Finnick's Fish (goldfish crackers), Girl on Fire Red Hots, Coal cookies (oreos), and mini cornucopias (bugles).
 

While we were eating, I also gave teens a choice of Hunger Games Trivia or Jeopardy. They picked Trivia so I asked them a few questions while they finished up with their names and snacks.

After that we did two Cornucopia Challenges. Many thanks to the wonderful ladies at Amity Middle School for first coming up with these and then sharing them with the world. My teens loved this!


We also played quarterstaff which really just ended up being the teens hitting each other with pool noodles.

Other ideas I had but that we didn't have time for or the teens weren't interested in were knot tying, edible plant identification, sardines, Hunger Games Would You Rather, and Fire, Beast, Tribute.


I also did a Hunger Games Read-Alikes Display with booklist.


I kept the decor simple. The refreshment table with its foam flames was the most elaborate thing I attempted. The tables had the district symbols on them as a runner. I put a few quotes from the books and a couple of movie stills on the doors.



 

Tuesday, September 2, 2014

Life Size Sorry for Teens

After we had such fun with Life Size Clue last fall, I knew I wanted to do another life size game in the summer.

I was inspired by this picture and also this one on Pinterest to host Life Size Sorry for my teens.


I went low cost and low tech with the layout. The Sorry game board was much easier to set up than the Clue board was. I always turn the game board into a table in Microsoft Word. It makes it easier for me to gather my supplies and lay the board out.

 
The game board itself was pieces of cardstock (8.5x11). The slides I marked using circles, rectangles, and triangles of construction paper. The start bays, safety zones, and homes were all made using construction paper.
 
 

Pawns were made by blowing up a clipart image from clker.com and coloring them. Ideally, I wanted 4 pawns and 1 captain for each color. The pawns move and the captain draws the cards and directs them. We ended up with just enough teens to have the pawns. I drew the cards for all colors and they decided amongst themselves how to move.



Prizes were boxes of movie candy.


This event was lots of fun and simple to set up. We played almost twice in two hours. I look forward to playing it again soon.