We are having lots of fun with the Poppins Book Nook blog series. This month's theme was school. This month I decide to utilize a book that we had on our bookshelf rather than get one from the library. Not only are we doing Poppins Book Nook virtual book club but we also started participating in our homeschool group book club. The theme for our homeschool group book club was mystery so I tried to find a book that would kill two birds with one stone. After looking through our large book collection I found a Box Car Children book called The Schoolhouse Mystery. It was the perfect fit for both of our book clubs. Below you will find a couple resources we used with this book as well as a fun craft we made.
I was a little worried my kids were not ready for the Boxcar Children because there are very few pictures in the book. But they loved The Schoolhouse Mystery. They really were excited about figuring out the mystery and begged to read more after I finished a chapter. While we read the book I had the children make a list of items that described things from the book for our hands on project (see more below).
In The Schoolhouse Mystery Benny's friend Max challenges him to visit a dull, boring fishing town and find an adventuere. So the Alden children and their grandfather set out to do just that during their summer vacation. They make new friends, teach at the local schoolhouse and learn about a suspicious man who the townspeople dub the money man. The townspeople love the money man because he offer them amazing gifts and money in exchange for their old junky things. But the Aldens set out to find out what he is really up to and who he is before it is time to leave the town. Let the mystery begin......
Resources:
I found a few resources online to help us get the most out of the The Schoolhouse Mystery book.
-TeachingBooks.net has a couple great lessons plans
-Download The Schoolhouse Mystery eBook
-Lesson plan questions
-Great lesson plan suggestions for many of the Box Car Children books
Hands On Project - Mystery Bottle:
For our mystery book the children made "Search and Find" mystery bottles. As I mentioned above they made lists of various items that described the book. Then we found small items, toys, etc to add to our bottle so our friends and family could play a fun iSpy game to guess what the book was about and/or what occurred in the book. It was a great conversation starter for the children and made it much easier for them to describe their book to friends and family. Our bottles included things like a bell, key, net, paintbrush, fish, boat, book, etc.
Materials:
-Water bottle, mason jar, soda bottle, etc
-Rice, sand, etc
-Small items, toys, etc
-Hot glue
What to do:
1. Clean and dry your bottle, jar, etc out really well.
2. Gather your small small items/toys.
3. Fill the bottle with rice, alternating rice with a few toys until bottle is about 3/4 full. Be sure to leave some room at the top so you can shake and move the rice around the bottle.
4. You may want to consider hot gluing the lid on as well to prevent any messes later.
5. Give the bottle to friends and family and have them try to guess what your book was about and/or what occurred in your book.
Here is a list of the wonderful bloggers participating in the Poppins Book Nook be sure to visit them for more fun school themed ideas:
For our mystery book the children made "Search and Find" mystery bottles. As I mentioned above they made lists of various items that described the book. Then we found small items, toys, etc to add to our bottle so our friends and family could play a fun iSpy game to guess what the book was about and/or what occurred in the book. It was a great conversation starter for the children and made it much easier for them to describe their book to friends and family. Our bottles included things like a bell, key, net, paintbrush, fish, boat, book, etc.
Materials:
-Water bottle, mason jar, soda bottle, etc
-Rice, sand, etc
-Small items, toys, etc
-Hot glue
What to do:
1. Clean and dry your bottle, jar, etc out really well.
2. Gather your small small items/toys.
3. Fill the bottle with rice, alternating rice with a few toys until bottle is about 3/4 full. Be sure to leave some room at the top so you can shake and move the rice around the bottle.
4. You may want to consider hot gluing the lid on as well to prevent any messes later.
5. Give the bottle to friends and family and have them try to guess what your book was about and/or what occurred in your book.
Here is a list of the wonderful bloggers participating in the Poppins Book Nook be sure to visit them for more fun school themed ideas:
Enchanted Homeschooling Mom - 3 Dinosaurs - Monsters Ed - Chestnut Grove Academy - Growing in God's Grace - Royal Little Lambs - Life with Moore Babies - Teach Beside Me - The Usual Mayhem - Mum Central - Fantastic Fun and Learning - Kathys Cluttered Mind - Toddler Approved - Growing Book by Book - Adventures in Mommydom - B-Inspired Mama - The Fairy and The Frog - Edventures with Kids - Learning & Growing the Piwi way - A Gluten Free Journey - Preschool Powol Packets - To The Moon and Back - Our Craft ~N~ Things - Fresh Farm Adventures - Are We There Yet? -
NEW! Every month the Poppins Book Nook group will be offering readers a chance to win a brand new storybook that ties in with our theme for the month. This month one lucky winner will win a copy of A First Book of Fairy Tales! The winner must reside within the United States. Just enter the Rafflecopter below to win:
Linking up with: Jay Daniel 4's Mom, Mama to 4 Blessings
1 comment:
I've been surprised at how well my kids do with read alouds too. We're reading Lord of the Rings right now and it's been a lot of fun with them.
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