Friday Reconnect - Week One!

By Oliver Perry & Chloe Grant, Read to Them Staff

Happy Friday! We are halfway done with EllRay Jakes Is a Rock Star! Can you believe it? This week we got to know our title character, EllRay, a little better in our Character Spotlight. We leave off in our reading today with EllRay finding himself in a bit of a predicament. It’s turning out that EllRay’s “Crystal-Clear Idea” was not so clear after all! As EllRay’s dad arrives home, and we head into the weekend, we wonder what will happen next!

If you remember, EllRay had spread out the crystals in his dad’s office in hopes that no one would notice they were missing. Originally, he planned to replace them after his show & tell, but that didn’t happen. Now, we anxiously wait alongside EllRay to see if his plan will unravel. Will Mr. Jakes realize what’s not the same about his office since he last saw it? We’ll have to read and find out! Until then, we thought it would be fun to create our own version of this situation. Below are two pictures. Aspects in the second have been shifted from their original form. We challenge you to see if you can find all eight differences.

As always, we also have some writing prompts to get your pencils moving over the weekend!

• Do you or any of your siblings/friends have a funny way of saying names or other things, like how Alfie says ‘EllWay’ instead of EllRay? Write about these funny wordings, and try to come up with some funny ways to say other things too.

• What is your favorite holiday? Write about your favorite holiday, and why. Is it Thanksgiving turkey, Halloween costumes, or Valentine’s Day cards?

• EllRay really wants his parents to buy him a new ATV. What are some things you’ve always wanted and why?

• Have you ever wanted people at school to like you, like EllRay? Write about what ways you think are the best to make friends? Was EllRay’s idea of taking his dad’s crystals and giving them to his classmates a good idea, or are there better ways?

• Mr. Jakes has some very valuable crystals, and they mean a lot to him. Do you, your parents, or relatives, have any objects that are special? Write about something that is special to you, and what makes it so special.

We hope you have a nice weekend and we can’t wait to finish EllRay with you next week! Stay well.