Celebrate Poetry All Month Long with Read, Discuss, Do

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  Happy National Poetry Month! We are celebrating National Poetry Month with a weekly poetry challenge all month long. To follow along, subscribe to our newsletter or check back here every Monday and Friday throughout the month of April for updates.  Kickoff: Books and resources for National Poetry Month   Week one: Read and write haiku  Article: A Brief History of Poetry by Marci Whitehurst Week two: Read and write odes Article: Eight Creative Ways to Explore Poetry All Year Long by Rebecca J. Gomez Week three: Read and write riddle poems   Week four: Poet's choice! If you and/or your children/students participate in any of our challenges this month, we'd love to hear from you.  You can  email  us or  tag us  on Instagram (use the hashtag #RDDPoetryChallenge or #RDDPoetryMonth). We will be sharing some readers’ poems in a round-up post at the end of the month, so if you’d like your poems to be considered, please let us know when you s...
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Reading Road Trip: Construction Zone

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Welcome to stop two on the Reading Road Trip! If you’re just joining us, be sure to download the roadmap so you can follow along. Also, sign up here for a chance to win a prize pack at the end of the summer!

The reading road trip continues this week with a drive through a construction zone! Unlike construction zones in real life, which can slow us down or bring us to a full stop and add a lot of frustration to a journey, this construction zone is all about bringing a little construction-themed fun to the summer! So we hope you take some time this week to spend a little “building” time with your kids, reading books with a construction theme—whether that be books about building with blocks or bricks, toys or giant cranes. Continue reading for story time ideas and a construction themed reading list.

Read: Books that fit the theme of “construction zone,” however you want to interpret it!

FEATURED BOOK: Billions of Bricks by Kurt Cyrus

Billions of Bricks by Kurt Cyrus is a book about bricks. And building. And numbers! It’s told in snappy rhyme that is super fun to read aloud. This delightful book shows, in words as well as detailed pictures, how bricks are made and all the various ways they are used to build things, from streets to pools to public schools and beyond! But if you look closer, you just might see another layer to this story: one about community and cooperation. This book is a great read aloud for the whole family.

Discuss:

  • What places have you seen that were built with bricks?

  • If you could build anything using bricks, what would it be?

  • In the book, the illustrations show people of all ages working together to build things. Have you ever worked with someone to build something?

  • Do you think “billions of bricks” is literal or an exaggeration? What makes you think so?

Do: Try one of these building challenges using building blocks or plastic construction bricks.

  1. Stack building blocks as tall as you can. How many blocks high is it before it falls over? Experiment stacking on different surfaces (carpet, mattress, table, etc.) to see how it effects your structure.

  2. Build a bridge using Lego or similar construction toys. How much weight can your bridge hold?

  3. Gather a community of people (like friends or family members) and work together to build a neighborhood using whatever building toys you have on hand. What buildings will your neighborhood have? How will you divide the tasks?

  4. Build a large structure, such as a castle, tower, or big office building. For an extra challenge, give your structure staircases and various rooms.

Download this week’s coloring page!

More book recommendations for the Construction Zone:

  • Hush Little Dozer by Rebecca Colby, illustrated by Katya Longhi. Say goodnight to the construction site with this rhyming lullabye. The illustrations are engaging and the text tucks in each construction vehicle as it completes its task. 

  • Dog on a Digger by Kate Prendergast. A wordless picture book about a dog who works with his person on a construction site, and when his little puppy friend goes missing, it’s “dog on a digger” to the rescue!

  • Goodnight, Goodnight, Construction Site by Sherri Duskey Rinker and Tom Lichtenheld. A rhyming picture book with a unique perspective on bedtime!

  • Built to Last by Minh Lê, illustrated by Dan Santat. An imaginative story about two boys building lots of things together, especially a friendship built to last.

  • Iggy Peck, Architect by Andrea Beaty, illustrated by David Roberts. A hilarious rhyming story about a little boy who loves to design and build structures out of almost anything.

  • The Rabbit Listened by Cori Doerrfeld. A sweet and poignant story about building with blocks, and frustrations, and just needing someone to listen until you’re ready to build again.

  • What About Moose? by Corey Rosen Schwartz and Rebecca J. Gomez, illustrated by Keika Yamaguchi. A fun rhyming story about construction and teamwork.


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