Friday Reconnect - Granny Week One

By Oliver Perry, Read to Them Staff

Hello friends! Happy Friday, and congratulations on finishing the first week of Granny Torrelli Makes Soup by Sharon Creech. We’ve met some incredible characters so far: Rosie, Bailey, and Granny Torrelli. We hear the story of Pardo, Granny Torrelli’s friend, and we even hear about a couple dogs! Who is your favorite character so far? What do you think about Bailey getting angry at Rosie for learning Braille? There’s so much to think about, and so much to be revealed as we start the rest of the book next week.

For this week’s activity, we thought we’d take a page out of Granny Torelli’s book and get cooking! The first section of our book is called “soup” and there’s no better to way to celebrate fall weather than with a pot of soup! The possibilities are endless, and we encourage you to explore whatever recipe sounds yummy to you. Perhaps you’d like to take on Zuppa like in the book, or go another route like chicken noodle, butternut squash, tomato, or even chili! Watch the video below from a previous program for some instruction and inspiration for your soup making. We hope that you'll share with us your soup recipes and your finished products on the Flipgrid page!

While you sip on some delicious zuppa, take a peek at this week’s writing prompts:

• Create a new dish! In the spirit of today’s activity, we want you to imagine and write down the ingredients to a brand new, never-before-seen recipe. What are your ingredients? How do you make it? What is it called? Be creative!

• Do you know somebody with a disability? Who are they to you? What is their disability? How is their daily life different than yours? How is it the same?

• Rosie and Bailey have fun with plays in our reading. If you could act as a character in a play, what character would you be, and why? Would it be an existing character from another play? Or would you make your own?

• Granny Torrelli tells stories from her childhood. Tell one of your own in a few sentences. There should be a main character, either you or a friend like Pardo, and there should be a plot. What happened in this memory? Who was there? Why do you think you remember this story so well?

• Rosie and Bailey, although they are in an argument, are best friends. Who is one of your best friends? Write a few sentences about them, and what makes them so special to you.

Thanks for tuning in to this week’s Friday Reconnect. We’ve got a ton of fun stuff planned for next week! Enjoy your weekend, be kind, stay safe, and we’ll catch you next week when we finish Granny Torrelli Makes Soup by Sharon Creech.