Thank you for volunteering with Chat-n-Chew this year!
We hope you find this information helpful as you plan and lead your Chat-n-Chew sessions. The ideas provided are simply meant as a resource for you. We welcome and encourage you to use your own discussion ideas in planning your sessions.
If you have participated in Chat-n-Chew before, you will be familiar with much of this information. We have gathered the games and activities and to help focus on the books as well as discussion questions. If you come up with additional ones that work well in your group, we would love to hear about them and incorporate them for next year. If you have any questions or concerns, don’t hesitate to contact either of us at the numbers below. Again, thanks for your help with this fun and educational program!
The Basics
The schedule follows. Please check all dates and arrange with your co-leader(s) to have coverage for all Chat-n-Chew sessions.
Parents will need to obtain the books for their children. Be sure to remind children at each meeting which book they will be reading for the next meeting. Please email your group members two weeks in advance of each meeting to remind them to finish their book.
Please read the meeting day information that is provided and read the book that you will be discussing. Many leaders find it helpful to mark pages and write down questions as they read the book. We are telling the children they need to read the book. If they don’t read the book, they can still participate and talk about the parts they may have read, share their opinions on related topics and learn about elements of a novel.
Finally, we hope both you and the students have fun! Our purpose is to show the children that reading is a fun activity. Our hope is that each session feels like a fun gathering to talk about a good book.
Chat-n-Chew Meeting Day
Please arrive a few minutes early. Check in at the front with Brenda Graham and Shauna Miller, who will point you to your group's assigned location and load you up with pizza, drinks, plates and napkins. You may choose to use tables or you may bring a blanket and have your discussion “picnic style.” Please get your area ready BEFORE your students arrive. Also, please meet at the same location for each Chat-n-Chew session. It’s confusing for everyone involved (especially the students) if you move around. Thanks!
When it’s time for Chat-n-Chew to begin, meet your students at their classrooms and walk with them to your discussion spot. Your discussion should begin immediately. If you wait until after lunch, there will not be enough time for a good discussion. Please be sure each child in your group has a chance to participate. You may want to make some ground rules about taking turns and listening. Please clean up when you are done! When the time is up, be sure your students clean up their lunch mess. You will be responsible to wipe up tables and return them to their original order if you are the last grade level of Chat-n-Chew for the day. There are paper towels and water available in the bathrooms. Trash cans are located near by.
If you have a student who is not present please check with the child’s teacher. Someone must know where the children are at all times. If you have a behavioral problem with a student during the discussion that you are unable to cope with, please let us know, and we will be happy to help you. Thanks so much for volunteering with Chat-n-Chew this year!
Lunch Schedules 2019-20
Second Grade 11:40-12:10
Third Grade 11:20-11:50
Fourth Grade 12:00-12:30
Fifth Grade 12:40-1:10
We hope you find this information helpful as you plan and lead your Chat-n-Chew sessions. The ideas provided are simply meant as a resource for you. We welcome and encourage you to use your own discussion ideas in planning your sessions.
If you have participated in Chat-n-Chew before, you will be familiar with much of this information. We have gathered the games and activities and to help focus on the books as well as discussion questions. If you come up with additional ones that work well in your group, we would love to hear about them and incorporate them for next year. If you have any questions or concerns, don’t hesitate to contact either of us at the numbers below. Again, thanks for your help with this fun and educational program!
The Basics
The schedule follows. Please check all dates and arrange with your co-leader(s) to have coverage for all Chat-n-Chew sessions.
Parents will need to obtain the books for their children. Be sure to remind children at each meeting which book they will be reading for the next meeting. Please email your group members two weeks in advance of each meeting to remind them to finish their book.
Please read the meeting day information that is provided and read the book that you will be discussing. Many leaders find it helpful to mark pages and write down questions as they read the book. We are telling the children they need to read the book. If they don’t read the book, they can still participate and talk about the parts they may have read, share their opinions on related topics and learn about elements of a novel.
Finally, we hope both you and the students have fun! Our purpose is to show the children that reading is a fun activity. Our hope is that each session feels like a fun gathering to talk about a good book.
Chat-n-Chew Meeting Day
Please arrive a few minutes early. Check in at the front with Brenda Graham and Shauna Miller, who will point you to your group's assigned location and load you up with pizza, drinks, plates and napkins. You may choose to use tables or you may bring a blanket and have your discussion “picnic style.” Please get your area ready BEFORE your students arrive. Also, please meet at the same location for each Chat-n-Chew session. It’s confusing for everyone involved (especially the students) if you move around. Thanks!
When it’s time for Chat-n-Chew to begin, meet your students at their classrooms and walk with them to your discussion spot. Your discussion should begin immediately. If you wait until after lunch, there will not be enough time for a good discussion. Please be sure each child in your group has a chance to participate. You may want to make some ground rules about taking turns and listening. Please clean up when you are done! When the time is up, be sure your students clean up their lunch mess. You will be responsible to wipe up tables and return them to their original order if you are the last grade level of Chat-n-Chew for the day. There are paper towels and water available in the bathrooms. Trash cans are located near by.
If you have a student who is not present please check with the child’s teacher. Someone must know where the children are at all times. If you have a behavioral problem with a student during the discussion that you are unable to cope with, please let us know, and we will be happy to help you. Thanks so much for volunteering with Chat-n-Chew this year!
Lunch Schedules 2019-20
Second Grade 11:40-12:10
Third Grade 11:20-11:50
Fourth Grade 12:00-12:30
Fifth Grade 12:40-1:10
2nd Grade meets 11:40a - 12:10p on the following dates...
LEADER PACKET
October 9 | Mercy Watson to the Rescue by Kate DiCamillo
November 13 | Cam Jansen and the Chocolate Fudge Mystery #14 by Dan Adler January 15 | Flat Stanley: His Original Adventure! by Jeff Brown
April 15 | Magic Treehouse: Day of the Dragon King (#14) by Mary Pope Osborne
LEADER PACKET
October 9 | Mercy Watson to the Rescue by Kate DiCamillo
November 13 | Cam Jansen and the Chocolate Fudge Mystery #14 by Dan Adler January 15 | Flat Stanley: His Original Adventure! by Jeff Brown
- Discussion cards set 1 | set 2
- Mailer
- Parent Letter
April 15 | Magic Treehouse: Day of the Dragon King (#14) by Mary Pope Osborne
3rd Grade meets 11:20 - 11:50a on the following dates...
LEADER PACKET
October 8 | Magic Treehouse: Dogs in the Dead of Night #46 by Mary Pope Osborne November 12 | A to Z Mystery: The Panda Puzzle by Ron Roy
January 14 | Encyclopedia Brown, Boy Detective by Donald Sobol
March 3 | Capital Mysteries #2: Kidnapped at the Capital by Ron Roy April 14 | I Survived 9/11 by Lauren Tarshis
LEADER PACKET
October 8 | Magic Treehouse: Dogs in the Dead of Night #46 by Mary Pope Osborne November 12 | A to Z Mystery: The Panda Puzzle by Ron Roy
January 14 | Encyclopedia Brown, Boy Detective by Donald Sobol
March 3 | Capital Mysteries #2: Kidnapped at the Capital by Ron Roy April 14 | I Survived 9/11 by Lauren Tarshis
4th Grade meets 12:00 - 12:30p on the following dates...
LEADER PACKET
October 8 | Double Fudge by Judy Blume
November 12 | Mr. Popper’s Penguins by Richard Atwater
January 14 | The Boys Start the War by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
March 3 | Who Was Walt Disney? by Whitney Stewart
April 14 | I Survived the Joplin Tornado by Lauren Tarshis
LEADER PACKET
October 8 | Double Fudge by Judy Blume
November 12 | Mr. Popper’s Penguins by Richard Atwater
January 14 | The Boys Start the War by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
March 3 | Who Was Walt Disney? by Whitney Stewart
April 14 | I Survived the Joplin Tornado by Lauren Tarshis
5th Grade meets 12:40 - 1:10p on the following dates...
LEADER PACKET
October 9 | Escaping the Giant Wave by Peg Kehret
November 13 | Lily’s Crossing by Patricia Reilly Giff
January 15 | Island: Shipwreck #1 by Gordon Korman
March 4 | Eleven Birthdays by Wendy Mass
April 15 | Al Capone Does my Shirts by Gennifer Choldenko
LEADER PACKET
October 9 | Escaping the Giant Wave by Peg Kehret
November 13 | Lily’s Crossing by Patricia Reilly Giff
January 15 | Island: Shipwreck #1 by Gordon Korman
March 4 | Eleven Birthdays by Wendy Mass
April 15 | Al Capone Does my Shirts by Gennifer Choldenko