Friday Reconnect - Finishing EllRay!

By Oliver Perry & Chloe Grant, Read to Them Staff

Happy Valentine's Day! We know it’s not actually Valentines Day, but we’re celebrating in the spirit of the book. Today we finish EllRay Jakes Is a Rock Star! and we are so grateful you joined us to read this story with a mission. EllRay achieves his goal in giving back all of his father’s crystals, and learns a major lesson along the way. He had to jump through many hoops to get those crystals back, and he would’ve been better off if he’d just been himself! You don’t have to have something to brag about to fit in, you are enough. As we bring this title to a close, we hope you’ve learned something, too. Here on the blog we were lucky enough to learn a few things ourselves! From chatting with EllRay’s creator, Sally Warner, to finding out more about geology with Roger Lowe, we gained lots of knowledge during this read.

Until then, as we say so long to EllRay, we thought it would be fun to replicate EllRay’s experience. We’ve created a scavenger hunt for you! While we won’t be hunting for crystals, we’ve made a quick list of things for you to find. Happy hunting!

To recap our time with EllRay, the activities we originally did live on Facebook can be rewatched here. We hope enjoyed these activities as much as we did!

Lastly, in an effort to spark your creativity, we’ve culminated a list of writing prompts for you:

• Create your own crystals. Write about at least two brand new crystals that don’t already exist. Describe them in detail: size, shape, color, location, texture, and more. Feel free to draw what your new crystals look like as well.

• Ms. Sanchez’ class makes cards for many holidays. See if you can create a brand new holiday. What will your holiday celebrate? When will it be held? What kind of traditions will be associated with it? What foods will people eat on your new holiday?

• EllRay has many classmates at school, and they are all different. Try to add a new character to EllRay’s class. What do they look, sound, and act like? Are they really tall, or really short? Are they loud, or quiet? Make your new EllRay character as unique as possible.

• Make a journal entry from the perspective of one of the other characters in EllRay. We get to see EllRay’s journal entries, but what about the other characters? Choose a character, like Cynthia, Annie Pat, or Jared. You could write about their experience receiving a crystal, or being asked to give it back. Or you could write about their favorite holiday, and what they draw on their cards.

• Now that we’ve finished EllRay, try writing your own story. If there were techniques used in EllRay Jakes Is a Rock Star! that you liked, try them out. Were there things you wished the book had? Experiment with those things in your own story. Or, if a story isn’t your style, try a journal entry about your real life.

We hope you enjoyed your time with EllRay, thanks for reading with us. Stay safe & be kind!