Monday, November 17, 2014

Ramona Quimby, Age 8- Meeting #9

Our third meeting of the 2014-15 school year was on Ramona Quimby, Age 8 by Beverly Cleary.  A classic we all remember from our childhoods, and oh so appropriate for a group of 8 year old girls who just started 3rd grade just like Ramona.  This book was a success.  Four girls gave it a thumbs up and two gave it a sideways thumb.   Not bad for this group of critics ;)

The girls snacked on veggies, egg rolls, and sweet and sour chicken while we had our discussion.  We used our general discussion questions to help guide the discussion.  The girls had a lively discussion about the chapter in which Ramona and Beezus eat tongue.  One of the Girls with Opinions looooves eating tongue tacos.  It made the other girls squirm.  She pointed out that Ramona and Beezus liked it until they discovered what it was ;)  One of our girls loves the concept of Pay It Forward, so it was fun to discuss the "pay it forward" moment in the book when a man bought dinner at a restaurant for the Quimbys anonymously.  The girls all overwhelmingly agreed that the family was very realistic.

Discussion- Thumbs up for tongue tacos!...party of 1.  

The host mama had a variety of art materials including stickers, cardstock paper, markers, and embellishments for the girls to make a "fancy name" picture.  Ramona liked to write her name fancily in the book.  When they were finished, the host mama put the pages in laminating paper.  They were sticky sheets you just place around picture and press down.  The girls really loved this activity.






After lamination, we had the girls show their work.


In case you wondered how hard it was to get all six to smile at once, here is a glimpse at the activity level we're dealing with.



And here's a fun video of the girls goofing around using SlowPro on host mama's phone.



We all had a great time!  Next month, we are reading The Best (Worst) Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson.  Another classic ;)