Capital Mysteries Series

 

Reading Level: 2.5
Each book is less than 100 pages- GREAT for Reluctant Readers!

What a GREAT SET OF BOOKS!
I stumbled upon these books at the Library and instantly fell in love!
(It might have a HUGE soft spot for Washington D.C.. I grew up a mere 25 min metro ride from our Nations Capital so I relate to romping around the monuments and museums in these stories!)

Meet the Author: Ron Roy has his own site! Ronroy.com



Each book would make a great field trip of its own.

Book 2: Kidnapped at the Capital would make a great field trip to the Air and Space Museum

Book 3: The Skeleton in the Smithsonian is suspenseful and sure to peek interest in visiting the Smithsonian Castle on the Mall.


Other books include plots at the Lincoln Memorial, The National Treasury, The FBI building, Washington Monument and National Zoo.

Weird School Series by Dan Gutman

Miss Daisy is Crazy! Is the first book in this funny series. The book are short (great for reluctant readers and also "beginning to read independently" readers.)

This series is about a boy AJ who hates school. Miss Daisy is Crazy! starts at the first day of second grade. (How perfect is that!? My little guy is starting second grade in two weeks!) AJ meets his teacher (who he thinks is crazy) because she doesn't know anything, she has to have the class teach HER how to add and subtract. The kids in the class promise not to tell the principal, they don't want to get her fired- but they (day-after-day) try to teach her the lessons she is suppose to be "teaching" them. (wink-wink).




Each book in this series- highlights another wacky school character. The Principal is highlighted in Mr. Klutz is Nuts, The Lunch Lady: Ms LaGrange is Strange, etc. I had two copies of book one- so our two second-graders got to read that book. (I hope it inspires them to read more in the series.)

What better book club activity- than WALK TO SCHOOL! As we walked, we talked about the safest route to school. (Using the sidewalks and crossing only at the cross walk.)

 

I let them play on the swings and play ground. They were so excited as they broke all kinds of school play ground rules. (Like running up the slide! Such rebels!) I was just letting them goof- off. But we talked about school rules- and why they were important.

(To keep everyone safe. Ensure no one got hurt.)

 

 

They were pretty hot and sweaty- when I suggested we take a break and have a snack.

We ate "school lunch snacks" and  each boy reported to the club- what his book was about. (Which character and what was "weird" about them.)

 

The boys were sad, this was our last book club.

I wont lie- I was happy they asked if we could continue during the school year!

I told them, we would see- if everyone had time- once school starts.

 

It was a great end- to a summer book club.

 

Magic School Bus Fights Germs

 

In this Magic School Bus book, Wanda gets sick.

Miss Frizzle has the kids take a field trip into Wanda's body to see how our body fights germs.

The kids travel into her blood stream and watch

white blood cells fight off germs.













I was hoping for a nice warm day today- and it was rainy.

So last minute I had to adapt our book club activities.



I wanted to play a chase game- and I bought a bunch of these soft balls. They are for bath time- and I found them at Walmart for 75 cents each. I thought I would give the kids a ball and one be "it". The person who is "it" chases those with the balls. If he tags someone- they have to give him their ball. (So the boy, who happens to be without the ball is always "it".



Since it was a rainy day- we played a game that is a cross between Duck-duck- goose and Hot-Potato.

I had the boys sit in a circle and I gave them a purple ball. (The Germ) I gave another boy a white ball. (it was a rolled up sock = White Blood Cell.) Then we played music as they passed the balls around the circle. When the music stopped. Whoever was holding the white ball (white blood cell) had to chase the boy who was holding the purple ball (germ). That was pretty fun.





The next activity we played in my garage. It involved half the boys wearing a white shower cap on their head, that had been squirted with shaving cream. (Again- they were WHITE BLOOD CELLS).







They took turns wearing the hats- and other people tried to throw cheese puffs on their heads.









It was fun. The kids thought the hats were funny. The Cheese balls made a great book club snack.

Alternative idea: I was thinking a great field trip for this series- would have been to go to a Children's Discovery Museum. When we lived in California there was one not very far away. Every  Magic School Bus book they seem to shrink to explore on their field trip. So going to a Discovery Museum would be a good activity.

Everest Series by Gordon Korman

Everest Series by Gordon Korman
Soo-oo Good!
Reading Level: 4th grade
Would be great for older boys with lower reading skills too.
Trilogy and each is less then 150 pages!

Mount Everest: The highest mountain in the world. The ultimate climb. For four lucky mountaineers it will be their chance to be the youngest person to ever reach the summit.
The mountain has claimed the lives of many adults, so the American Junior Alpine Association hosts a competition of intensive training to weed out the real talent from the wanna-be's. This climbing contest began as a competition. Some are not ready for what they face, while others will stop at nothing to reach the top. Once on the mountain things turn life or death where no one is guaranteed to survive!

This series was so good!

And plausible! Info from Wikipedia says,
"The highest mountain in the world attracts climbers of all levels, from well experienced mountaineers to novice climbers willing to pay substantial sums to professional mountain guides to complete a successful climb."




In book 3: The Summit there is alot of talk about the Ice Falls.
Here is an actual picture.








CLICK HERE- to read an article of a real 13 year old, reaching the summit of Everest!


How to extend the story:


Take boys to a rock wall to try their hand at climbing. I would recommend this and give your boys some experience with grips and ropes. Introduce some vocabulary of common climbing equipment. (Belaying, crevasses, and crampons).



Go for a hike, climb the biggest "mountain" hill in your area- name it something really gnarly! When I was on my High School Cross Country team we had a regular run with a huge hill- we nicknamed Old Nasty. It really did add to our sense of accomplishment- knowing if we could run up Old Nasty we would be able to handle any hill at the State tournament!


If you have scouters this series would be great for the Boy Scouts Mountaineering Merit Badge and Hiking Requirements pg 263, Webelos Outdoorsman Hiking requirements pg 362, or page 107 for Bears- go on a Hike with your family.







Great Field trips or family trips: This series introduces some popular climbs/mountains like El Capitan in Yosemite

If you ever go on a "field trip" here.. could you invite me! ;o) Just thought the boys might like to see pictures of these mountains mentioned in the story.

The Matterhorn

and Annapurna

The Landry News

Mr. Larson is perhaps the worst teacher in the world. Instead of teaching, he prefers to read a newspaper and drink coffee. One day Mr. Larson notices a newspaper published by a new student in his class! As he reads the one page-handwritten newspaper he finds an unfavorable review of his teaching style. Cara Landry not only criticise his methods of "no teaching" but proposes that the real teachers in the classroom- the students- be paid his salary! This newspaper turns into a class project that might just get Mr. Larson fired- finally!

This book really is more like a "HOW to start your own paper- with a plot along the side" type book. Great book to read over a vacation break- when your child might have more time to devote to starting his own paper with his friends!

Go on a field trip to where a local paper is made. (Arrange in advance.) See the real process and ask real reporters questions about their jobs.
(Great book if you have scouters working on Bears Information, Please achievement or Jot it Down achievement pg 136-145 OR Webelo Communicator Requirements pg 177.)

Discuss the first Landry paper Editorial. Was that brave? Smart? Gutsy- or just dumb?
What are the qualities of a reporter or journalist? (pg 16)
What about the topic of Truth and Mercy? Is it important to have both- or does truth always win?

Is there a heart to a newspaper? (p 41)
What are some steps to starting your own paper? ( pg 56)
List Positive- Neutral - Negatively charged words. Have you ever thought about that? Does that change the way you want to talk, write from now on? What power do words hold on influencing people? Expressing ideas?
What are some column ideas from the book? (pg 93) What are some of your own column ideas?

Start your own paper- What is the name? What is the heart of your paper?

Million Dollar Strike by Dan Gutman

Bowling might not be the coolest sport in their town- but two friends, Ouchie and Squishy are motivated to save their favorite bowling alley from City Council. They motivate the owner invest and restore the alley, even host a Million Dollar Strike contest to help revive the bowling interest. Just when things start to look bright, the most nightmarish scenarios start coming to life. Someone-or something wants Bowl-a-Ramas doors to close forever!

Ideas for activities with this book:
Go on a field trip to a local bowling alley!
Create your own "disco-glow" bowling in your home- if you don't live near an alley.
(Great if your boys are working on the Cub Scout Bowling belt loop.)

Book Club Questions to Discuss:
Do you believe in Fate?
Does it matter what we do?
Did Ouchie really get a strike? (What do you think?)
Was the ending fair? Is life always fair? Should life be fair?
How would you have handled what happened if you were Ryan (Ouchie)?

Million Dollar Putt by Dan Gutman

Edward Bogard (Bogie) seems like a typical-spunky kid. He likes to tell jokes, ride bikes, play his guitar and finds out that he is even pretty good at golf. He's not afraid to try new things, but he does get stage fright if asked to perform in public. What makes him different is Bogie is blind! Yup.. blind. He can't see the ball when it's by his feet or see where it falls... Blind golfing is a team sport and Bogie has his friend be his eyes and coach him through the holes. Yet when he is mysteriously entered in the local golf tournament, with a million dollar prize Bogie has to decide if he is willing to put his stage fright aside and go for the big bucks.

I loved this book- so many elements you can extend to hands-on activities.
Ideas for different Activities to do with your book club:

Teach the kids 3 guitar cords and play "Oh, give me a home where the buffalo roam.." (pg 114)
Go play some mini -golf.

Do some challenges- blind- simple every day tasks. (make a pb-j sandwich, get dressed- blind.)
Go to a museum and look at miniature models of things... (models like Birdie makes pg 21)

Have the kids make a miniature model of something.

Go to a golf course and shoot a bucket of balls.
(Great book if your scout is working on the Golf Sports Belt Loop!)
Set up a mini- golf course in your house or back-yard

After your activity: Enjoy a treat- "Shaved Ice" and talk about some topics in the book.

"Shave ice" - if you don't live in Hawaii or a place that sells shaved ice there are machines you can buy to make shave ice. OR- try freezing an ice block inside an old container. ( sour cream container for example.) Pop the ice out and use your grater to grate small slivers of ice. (you will probably have to wear gloves.) Maybe use a food processor or blender? Flavor with your favorite juice.

Which character do you relate most to? and why? (Birdie- are you hesitant to try new things?, Bogie- you like to tackle new challenges? Hunter- very competitive and sometime you forget about other people's feelings?)

How does Bogie handle bullies at school?

What lesson can we learn from Bogie?

What job does Bogie's dad do? Would you like that job? Why?

Why did Bogie's father hate golfing?

What helps him change his mind?

Million Dollar Goal by Dan Gutman

Twins Dawn and Dusk Rosenberg live for hockey. Unfortunately their foul-mouthed grandmother lives with them and thinks they should be working or studying while their dad hates the sport all together. Luckily they live in Canada where it's pretty much unpatriotic to NOT like hockey, so regardless of their American fathers dislike of the game- they play and a lot of it. They can't believe their luck, when their dad gets family tickets to the next Montreal Canadians game. This could be the beginning of a dream come true or might turn into the biggest humiliation of their lives. Family tickets means…grandma is coming along....

Written in the voice of both twins- this is a funny book fulled with BOY HUMOR! (Be warned.)

Before the Book Club Meeting - ask each boy to make-up a jingle for Pirelli Pizza.
Snack: Pizza Party!

Activity: play floor hockey, roller hockey, or ice hockey- whatever is most accessible to your group. (Go to a professional Hockey game!)
Have a shoot-out where boys try to shoot a puck and get it inside a hole in a shoe box. (p133)
Play -Elvis songs- Love Me Tender
Host a contest in honor of Oma- guess how many M&M are in a jar and let the winner take the jar home.

Discussion:
What do you think about Oma? Why does she act the way she act? Is that a good role model for her grand kids or her fans? Is she trying to be a role model?
What can you learn from her?

Did you like how the story was told by both twins? Did that help the story move along? Was it confusing?

Were you surprised by anything in the story?
What was a funny part that you liked in the story?

Have you ever entered a contest? Would you enter a contest where you had to do something in front of millions of people?

Who or what disappointed you? Did anything?
Did something surprise you in the story?

The Kid Who Ran For President by Dan Gutman

Basic Outline:
Book Talk
Snacks- lemonade

Ideas & Preparation:
Gather items for obstacle course.
Make Lemonade.
Have a Lemonade stand.
Set up a “Presidential Relay”.

Energy Game:
Have two sets of white shirt, tie, and men’s shoes
Divide boys into two teams. Boys have to go through an obstacle course and put on the clothes then run to the their team. Next boy in line puts on the “presidential clothes” and runs the course. When they get to the end of the obstacle course they take clothes off and run back to their team while tagging the next boy. Boys alternate putting the clothes on and off, while running the obstacle course.
Ideas for obstacle course could be jump over things, zig and zag between things, toss items, etc.

(Other book club ideas can be found in the Cub Scout Citizenship Belt Loop and Academic Pin requirments. Things like going to the Polls with parents and talking about the right to vote, visit a local site of government and interview someone who is involved with the governemntal process, etc.. )

Book Talk-
1. How does Politics change a person? June Syers said , “It rips your heart out and puts a stone in its place.” What do you think she means?
2. What is the first thing you have to do to run for President? (pg 15 make a petition with signatures of registered voters…)
3. What are the two parties Republican or Democrat in favor of? (Republicans are against government having too much power, Democrats are in favor of a strong government system. Pg 27)
4. Which party did Judd pick? (started his own party- the Lemonade Party. Pg. 63)
5. What is the first rule of politics? Pg 75 (Give the people what they want.)
Is it right that Judd make promised he cannot keep? Do you think real politicians do this?
6. Have you ever watched a real Presidential Debate? How does it compare to Moons debate. (pg 122)
7. Did the end surprise you? Would you want to be president?
8. Did you try to peek in the back of the book ?

Field Trip ideas: If you live near the Washington D.C area- what better field trip than visit the White House and other sites!

Green Eggs and Ham with others by Dr. Seuss

Have book club members read Green Eggs and Ham at home with Parents. Suggest parents read this book to their children and then take turns reading the different parts. (Sometimes reading a whole book by themselves is a daunting task!)

Supplies:
Cat in the Hat book
Cat in the Hat board game or make a game with rhyming words.
Balloons with paper slips inside.
Cartoon movie double feature: Green Eggs and Ham & Cat in the Hat

On Book Club day turn on the movie- while you wait for all Book Club members to arrive.

Starter ENERGY game:
Have three cups placed around the room. One says HAT, one SAM, one says TRAIN
Write on small slips of paper words that rhyme with HAT, SAM and TRAIN.
(CAT, BAT, MAT, FAT, RAT, PAT, NAT, HAM, RAM, PAM, CAIN, RAIN, MAIN,etc..)
Place slips of paper inside balloons and blow them up.

Let the kids run around the room popping the balloons one at a time, and placing the word paper in the cup that rhymes with that word. The game is over when all the balloons are popped and hopefully all the kids have their wiggles out!


For Book Club Treat: Of course it will be dyed GREEN.
Put food coloring in your milk- green milk.
Frost cookies- with green frosting. (green cookies)
Eat green grapes
Take the opportunity to talk about:
Is it hard to try new things? Taste new foods?
Have you ever tried something you thought you wouldn't like... and were surprised you did like it after all?
Let the kids share their experiences

Game:

Dr. Seuss Cat in the Hat board game , with colorful illustrations from the book. Designed for parents and children to play together, this game promotes early reading skills while challenging players to match letters with colors as they race along the board, and makes a great starter game for preschoolers. Includes a game board, 4 playing pieces, a numbered spinner card with a spin dial, 40 picture cards and complete instructions. For 2-4 players. Recommended for ages 4 and up. (Available at Amazon or other stores where games are sold.) We happened to get it for Christmas one year.

Or you can make your own matching/ rhyming game. In preparation for book club- cut out or draw pictures of items that rhyme.

Field Trip:
Live Near Manhattan?
The Children’s Museum of Manhattan has a major, new interactive exhibition with environments and activities themed to the Seuss classic Oh, the Places You'll Go! The exhibit opened first in New York and then will tour select cities around the country.
The Oh, the Places You’ll Go! exhibition bursts with Seussian colors, characters, and off-center structures—from the exhibition’s floor, walls, ceiling, and even from the facade of the museum. Visitors will follow Seussian pathways that lead “straight out of town,” they’ll “join the high fliers who soar to high heights” via raised platforms or descend through tunnels from a “prickle-ly perch” to a Seussian “Slump.”
The exhibition maintains the positive outlook on life inherent in Oh, the Places You’ll Go! and many of Theodor Seuss Geisel’s other books. The exhibition is designed to inspire children to love reading as it weaves together a history of Geisel’s life and work with an interactive journey where children and adults are immersed in activities. Children will be encouraged to try new things and to become explorers and doers with reading the key to finding new places.
Hours: Summer Hours (Now - September 12)Tuesday - Sunday, 10am - 5pm Winter Hours (Beginning September 25)Wednesday - Sunday, 10am - 5pm
Address: The Tisch Building212 West 83rd Street (between Broadway and Amsterdam)New York, NY 10024
Admission Fees: $7 for adults and children $4 for seniors Free for children under one

We really have been here! When my oldest was just 2 years old. Talk about entering the world of Dr. Seuss! Colorful and zany- it was like entering one of his books. My son had a blast!

Al Capone Does My Shirts by Gennifer Choldenko

Summary from book: These guys are not your average neighbors. Unless you live on Alcatraz. It's 1935 and twelve-year-old Moose Flanagan and his family have just moved to the infamous island that's home to criminals like notorious escapee Roy Gardner, Machine Gun Kelly and of course, Al Capone. But that's just the beginning of Moose's troubles because on Alcatraz the kids are all cowed by the clever, danger- loving daughter of the warden, Piper Williams. Now Moose has to try to fit in at his new school, avoid getting caught up in one of Piper's countless schemes and keep an eye on his sister, Natalie, who's not like other kids. All Moose wants to do is protect Natalie, live up to his parents' expectations and stay out of trouble. But on Alcatraz, trouble is never very far away.

Basic Outline:
Make Book club T-shirts
Prepare a ‘treasure hunt’
Bowling or play baseball

I pre-washed the T-shirts, used fabric paint-diluted with water, and clear contact paper to make the stripes. Super easy T-shirt. Use a sponge to apply dye to exposed T-shirt. Let dry- remove the contact paper and you have a white/grey striped shirt. (I always put a flattened cereal box inside each shirt so the dye doesn't bleed to other side. )

Prepare:
Book Club T-shirts
Check out my blog for complete directions. T-shirts really help the boys get excited and feel apart of a real club. Making a book club T-shirt for the year is a great way to get boys excited, they also will come in helpful when you go on field trips as a book club.
You can have the boys make the T-shirts as part of your meeting. Play baseball or catch while you wait for paint to dry. Because we were crunched for time this month, I made the T-shirts, sent the boys on a treasure hunt to find them, then we went bowling.

With fabric paint- add serial numbers and book club name on the back of each shirt!

Energy & Incentive Game
Treasure Hunt- Book Club style
For my treasure hunt I used the following questions and placed them in the mentioned hiding spots. Boys collect the questions/clues. For each right answer they learn a letter and come closer to finding out where their treasure lies.
I hid the book club t-shirts in our dryer. My boys figured out the hiding spot after the two letters D- R… so NEXT time I’m going to have my answers be symbols (star, diamond, heart, etc…) They learn a symbol after each answer and THEN have to decode the results. Boys are clever and cunning!

QUESTION ONE (hidden in the microwave)
The Main Character Moose has a sister who is a little different. What are some of Nathalie’s favorite things?
B- She likes to sing and paint
H- She likes to draw and read
D- she likes to count and eat lemon cake

QUESTION TWO (hidden on our back fence gate)
Moose is new to San Francisco, but he does make some new friends at school who like to play his favorite game. Who is his friend and what game is it?
A- Piper and he likes to play Go Water!
R- Scout and he likes to play baseball!
E- Alex and he plays soccer!

QUESTION THREE (hidden under our mailbox)
Why does Moose change his mind about helping Piper with the Laundry plan? (Piper wants to have kids pay them to get their clothes washed by the inmates in Alcatraz. At first he says no, but then he changes his mind.)
y- Piper promises to not make a big deal about Natalie and how she is different. If she makes a big deal- the warden might make Moose and his family move.
T- Piper promises to give him half the money. Moose wants money so he can call his old friends.
I- Piper promises not to tell the warden that Moose stole a baseball from Alcatraz.

QUESTION FOUR (hidden on our hose)
Why does Moose WANT to talk to the Warden. What problem is Moose trying to help solve?
P- Moose promised Scout he would find a baseball for him, but he hasn’t found one yet. He is wondering if the Warden can give him one.
E- Moose wants to ask the Warden to help get his sister in a special school for kids like Natalie. The Warden knows lots of people who might be able to help.
H- Moose wants to tattle on Piper. She is trying to communicate with the inmates and Moose doesn’t want to get in trouble AGAIN like the laundry business. Piper even tried to talk to Al Capone’s MOTHER! She is always causing problems.

QUESTION FIVE (hidden on our hockey net)
Who ended up helping Natalie get into the private and special school?
W- The warden - he called and made the arrangements.
R- Moose asked Al Capone to ask some of his connections to arrange Natalie to get into the private school.
N- Natalie got in on her own. She worked hard with Miss Kelly.

Let these questions start a conversation about the book. What parts did the boys like? Did they predict what 105 meant the first time Natalie said it? Would you want to live on Alcatraz?

Activity:
Then we went bowling. (My boys like bowling and we have a game center walking distance from our house.) But your club could play baseball instead.

And if you live near San Francisco.. you've got to go visit Alcatraz as a Boys Book Club Field trip! YOU MUST!