Go All In! with The Bletchley Riddle

For schools wanting to use the book for a school-wide read, here’s how to go All In!™ with The Bletchley Riddle. 

All In! Guidelines

1. All participants must have completed the book ahead of time. Students can read the book independently or teachers can use it as a read-aloud experience.
2. Publicize the culminating event to incentivize student participation.
3. Celebrate participants by posting their names as they complete the book.
4. Organize participants into Huts (teams.) 
• For best results, each team should contain at least six players (and can have as many as twenty.) Random team assignments are best. Since the students already have the common experience of reading the same book, this is the perfect opportunity to mix ‘em up!
• Scale for size. If you are doing this with one class (20-30 participants) we recommend putting them in two or four “Huts.” You want enough players on the team for collaboration and chaos and you want them to face off in a competitive setting.
• The five station rotation idea works best with a large group (100+ participants.) If you have a smaller group, you can run one station at a time. Do what is best for you! The goals are to celebrate the book and have fun.
5. Reserve the gym or other large space for the Bletchley Bash. Creative students can prepare the setting with propaganda posters and vintage ads.
6. Divide the gym into five stations. One station (Lizzie’s Burlap Sack) needs to run the width of the space. The remaining four stations can be smaller.
7. Each station will have two teams competing at a time. Rotate all teams through all stations.
8. Embrace the chaos. It’s going to be loud and overwhelming.  And something kids will remember for years. 
9. Allot points accordingly. The team with the highest score wins!

Stations / Challenges

Lizzie's Burlap Sack

Staff - 2 to 3

Materials

• 1 “sack race” sack per team
• 1 of each item per team:

• Pajamas

• Diary
• Sandwich
• Scarf
• Notebook.  

(If gathering these items is challenging, just print pictures of each item)

Directions

1. Set up a traditional sack race, from one end of a space to another.  

2. Children hop from Bletchley Park (starting point) to the Shoulder of Mutton Inn (approximately 25 yards from the starting point).  They put PJs in their sack, and hop back.  They give the sack to the next person in line and that person retrieves the diary.  Repeat until all artifacts are retrieved. 

3. For an added level of difficulty, assign members of other huts to play the role of Fleetwood.  Fleetwood should wear oversized work boots and a blind fold.  He enters the racer perpendicular to the hoppers.   The hoppers must avoid the Fleetwoods.  If  a Fleetwoods tag a hopper, that team is out.  No points!

The fastest team to finish gets an extra 5 points.  Each team earns 1 point per item. 

The Hedge Maze

Staff - 2

Materials 

• Painter's Tape
• Toilet Paper Tube with multiple pieces of string attached. 

Directions

Use painters tape to outline tracks 6-12” inches wide.  The track should include right angle turns.  Stand the toilet paper tube up on one end.  Team members hold one end of the string.  Their task is to guide their team’s tube through the track.   

*Players may only touch the string.

*The tube must stay in contact with the ground.

*If the tube crosses the painters tape, the team must start over.  

First team to cross gets double points.  All teams to cross within the allowed time earn 5 points.

Cracking Emoji Enigma

Staff - 1

Materials - Emoji Code Sheet and Answer Key found below

Directions

Give students a code sheet.  First to complete gets 5 extra points.  1 point per correct answer. 

The Ambassador's Party

Staff - 1 to run, 2 to 3 to judge

Materials - Piles of dress up clothes and accessories

Directions

Teams dress up a student in their best embassy party outfit.  Staff volunteers judge and award points.

Looking for Duck Eggs

Staff - 1

Materials

• Plastic Easter eggs
• Plastic ducks 
• Kiddie pool 
• One question & answer set per duck/egg set. 

Prior to game day, use a Sharpie to write an answer on the bottom of each duck.
We recommend the answers are short (names of people, places, and events from the book.)

Directions

Set the pool in the middle of a space with the plastic ducks inside. (Water optional but highly recommended.)  

Create a large perimeter around the pool using the eggs.   

Students should sit outside the perimeter in quiet lines. Students aren’t allowed to speak and must tiptoe to the pond. (Shhhhh…don’t scare the ducks!)

One team member at a time takes an egg, reads the question, and pulls one duck from the pond.  If the question and answer match, success!  Give the egg to the teacher, take the duck out of the pond, and earn 2 points!!  If it doesn’t match, the duck and egg must be returned. Match or not, the student returns to their line and trades off with the next team member.  They are allowed to whisper (keep quiet so your enemies don’t hear!  Loose lips sink ships!) to their teammates which duck has which answer. When all the ducks and eggs are matched, the game is over and the points tallied.

Emoji Code Sheet for Cracking Emoji Enigma Challenge

Events

👱‍♀️🏃🏼‍♀️👴🏼🇺🇸🚢

👱‍♀️🚪📆📔

👱‍♀️🧑🚂🏙️

👗👔🎥🧙‍♂️🌈🏰

👱‍♂️🫣🐦🚛

👱‍♂️🚬👀🦆👱‍♂️

👱🏼👱‍♀️🫣🚪

😭👱‍♀️🔃👩‍🦰🇺🇸✈️

🇩🇪💣🇬🇧

🚗🛩️💀

🧔🏻‍♂️🧔👨🏻‍🦰🧓🥁💪🏼

👨‍⚕️🔪🌊🦁

✍🏼🤫🤐📜

People

👩‍🦳📌📰

👱‍♂️🚬👀

👩‍🦰📋📝

👵🏻💬🍻🪓

🪖👨‍💼🫡🇬🇧🤫

🐦👱🏼

🛠️👱‍♂️

👨‍🏫🪦

Emoji Code Answer Key

👱‍♀️🏃🏼‍♀️👴🏼🇺🇸🚢 👱‍♀️🚪📆📔 👱‍♀️🧑🚂🏙️ 👗👔🎥🧙‍♂️🌈🏰 👱‍♂️🫣🐦🚛 👱‍♂️🚬👀🦆👱‍♂️ 👱🏼👱‍♀️🫣🚪 😭👱‍♀️🔃👩‍🦰🇺🇸✈️ 🇩🇪💣🇬🇧 🚗🛩️💀 🧔🏻‍♂️🧔👨🏻‍🦰🧓🥁💪🏼 👨‍⚕️🔪🌊🦁 ✍🏼🤫🤐📜

Lizzie escapes from Fleetwood and the boat headed to America. Lizzie finds Willa’s calendar diary in the closet. Lizzie and Jakob take the train to London. The Wizard of Oz is screened at the ambassador’s party. Jakob evades capture by escaping in the pigeon van. Nigel and Jakob look for duck eggs.  Colin and Lizzie get stuck in the closet. Lizzie and Marion trade places (and a grief ensemble) so Marion can go to America. Germany bombs London. Mr. Berrycloth’s car is wrecked in the bombing. Men training with the Local Defense Volunteers. Operation Sea Lion When you sign, you are bound by the Official Secrets Act.

👩‍🦳📌📰 👱‍♂️🚬👀 👩‍🦰📋📝 👵🏻💬🍻🪓 🪖👨‍💼🫡🇬🇧🤫 🐦👱🏼 🛠️👱‍♂️ 👨‍🏫🪦

Willa The smoking scarecrow (Jarvis) Marion Gran, thinking of how she despises Lizzie’s name The Colonel Nigel Colin Jakob

MRA 2024 - "This is such a great conference!"

Picture it.  Sturbridge.  Massachusetts Reading Association Conference 2024.  

Two crazy reading ladies are running late - per usual - and can't find our badges.  People jump to help us.  "This is such a great conference."

We sneak into the keynote, content to stand in the back.  We're quickly ushered to front row seats.   "This is such a great conference!"

They keynote was...chef's kiss.  All around us, heads are nodding.  Pencils are scratching.  Keys are clicking.  The audience is engaged, invested.  Again, we find ourselves saying, "This is SUCH a great conference!"  

As teachers,  we appreciate how rejuvenating and encouraging it can be to spend time with like minded peers. As a principal, Mary reminds us that participation in conferences is excellent evidence for Standard 4.  (Present and you might just earn an Exemplary!)  

The Sturbridge Host Hotel and Conference Center was such an accessible venue.  How lovely to not need escalators and a hover board to go from one session to another within the allotted transition time.  The lobby with the giant fireplace?  The courtyard with the live trees?  The exhibit hall that can be navigated without GPS?  Heaven.  

Gholdy Muhammad, author of Cultivating Genius and Unearthing Joy, spoke to our souls.  Her message was enlightening and truly validating.  Do curriculum designers study our students?  Take their measurements?  Or, when the dress doesn't fit, do they tell the kids they need to go on a diet?  Historically responsible education teaches identity, skills, intellect, criticality, and JOY.  

  

As presenters, we were given the VIP treatment.  Coffee and muffins, super accessible and helpful tech support.  And they gave us a session moderator / reluctant bouncer.  Jodi - call us!  We'll get coffee at An Unlikely Story!  

Perhaps the most cup-filling component of MRA 2024 was the caliber of attendees.  People didn't leave sessions.  They were attentive, taking notes, asking questions, fully engaged.  Dare we say, they were all in?  

And just when we thought the day couldn't get any better: Lauren Wolk.  (Just like Ms. Wolk's next book, Candle Island, more on this encounter is coming soon!)  

    

If you're a Massachusetts educator, you should join MRA.  You can learn more about them here.  And mark your calendars for MRA 2025: March 26 - 28 in Newton.  

It'll be such a great conference.  

"We can't wait for Monday!"

 On Friday afternoon, a pair of sixth graders appeared in my doorway. 

“We need a book,” they said in unison.

Sure! Do you have a title in mind, or do you want to look around?

“It’s The Honest Truth. It’s about this b--- THERE IT IS!”

One of them took a giant step towards the bookshelf, her hand outstretched as if the book might disappear.

“OH! And you have TWO! Can we have them?”

Of course! 

As the happy customers clutched their books, we had a spontaneous conversation about whether the bus driver would report Mark, what Jessie should do, and why Beau is the finest dog in all of young adult literature.

These are students I don’t have in class, but we have a connection now because of a book. Experiences like this can fuel me for days; quite honestly, they make me feel like a magician, but the real magic happened in their sixth grade homeroom. 

In an effort to maintain the expectation of our daily 20-minute reading block, we instituted “read aloud rooms.” One teacher on each team decides to read a book aloud, and students can either opt-in to that experience or choose to read a book on their own. A teacher had recently started The Honest Truth and these two were so invested in the story they needed the book for themselves. I’ll say it again: they needed the book.  Everything about them - from their posture to their gushing gratitude - told me about the emotional connection they had made to the story (and to each other) over the course of just a few days.

Even though I knew the teacher who had started the book earlier that week, the students continued to talk about what she had read and what had happened so far in the story.

“It’s soooo good! We couldn’t wait for Monday!”

If you need a reminder to keep reading out loud - yes, even in middle school - take this as your sign.

We're on TikTok!

Two Crazy Reading Ladies on a Friday afternoon, catchin' up on all this new-fangled social media all the kids are talkin' 'bout. Join us!

Book Expressions

Best. Dog. (or dog adjacent) Ever. 

Do-Over

This or That: Books

Books to Go!

Every once in a while, we get to focus on a positive that came out of the pandemic and its associated response.

 

One of the babies thrown out with the bath water was summer reading. It left in spring 2020 and would not return for three years.

The CRL felt a visceral reaction to this decision; we knew that this was not the time to let reading go. 

We also knew that, if we wanted kids to read, we needed to make ourselves (and our books) available. We decided to promote reading and put books in kids' hands by offering the school lending library during the summer. We set up a table in the lobby and scheduled specific days and times to invite families in.

The idea that was born out of necessity has since become an established practice. We call it Books to Go. It is one of the most well-received programs in our building, it has numerous benefits, and it is one of the simplest, cheapest things we do. 

This is how we launch Books to Go:

• Confer with admin for permission, scheduling, and payment.
• Set up a table or two in the lobby and display books to lend.
• Print sign-out sheets.
• Decorate with posters and cute summer props.
• Promote it (we use signs, Regroup messages, Principal newsletters, and social media.)

Books to Go accomplishes several things: it makes summer reading books accessible to all students, it brings families and students into the building in a comfortable, manageable way, and it promotes summer reading. I love visiting with established families as well as the chance to get to know some of the incoming sixth graders.

The success is in its sustainability - this is an easy set up, and - if scheduled correctly - it takes advantage of a time when the school is already open to the public. We choose the day and time carefully, being mindful of building coverage as well as dismissal times for town summer offerings.

Do you have a similar program? Let us know in the comments!

For the love of librarians

For over a decade, our school district has suffered the loss of librarians. Sure, our middle school boasts a big, beautiful library space - we even have a decent budget for books - but there is no librarian to cull the collection, to staff library time, or to help students select the books that will make them fall in love with reading. We know the science, and we know what a tragedy this is.

Teacher with Ms. Bree

Students at BLAST 2022

We are The Crazy Reading Ladies, after all. We know adolescents, and we know good books. We read YA and middle-grade literature almost exclusively. We're cool! We follow our favorite authors and publishers on Twitter and Instagram. We know how the use the internet. We can talk books all day long; in fact, we love nothing more than spending time with students and matching them to books. We also know that we are not librarians, nor do we have access to the thousands of books and online resources that await public library patrons.  Our students need more than we can give them.  Libraries are the answer. The public library is a wealth of resources - ours offers everything from books, to apps, to clubs, to social opportunities, and safe gathering spaces.

Ms. Caleigh at BLAST launch 2018

Weekly BLAST set up

Four years ago, we secured the necessary approval to get our library collaborative (we call it BLAST: Bringing Libraries and Schools Together) off the ground. We knew what our students were missing and, quite honestly, the town librarians were thrilled to be introduced to so many families. It was a win-win.

Ms. Bree and Erin teaching student to use a Playaway

We had a library card drive and scheduled BLAST to come in weekly (picture a Bookmobile minus the -mobile.) Our students are invited up to the library for an hour each week to browse, pick up requests, check out, and return. Several have made personal connections with the librarian and make an effort to bring their families to library events. In the years since BLASTs' inception, our program has now spread to four other schools in our district and is now extending to neighboring towns.

The youth services librarians from our local public library have reported faithfully each week for over four years. We want to take a moment to thank these wonderful people for the myriad of things they do for our students each week.

They collect requests.

They match books to student interests.

They respond to teacher emails.

They now coordinate with district administrators to get resources in the hands of students and teachers.

They magically manifest multiple copies of the latest Karen McManus or Ruta Sepetys.

They collaborate with us on author visits.

They invite our students to become advisory board members and ask them what they want for library programming.

They train kids to use the library app.

They talk to our kids about what they're reading (and about their pets, younger siblings, favorite teachers, and dance lessons.)

They bring read-alikes when 7th graders are lamenting the end of The Outsiders.

They bring books for teachers who are members of outside book clubs.

They are talented. They are extraordinary team players. They are flexible. They are irreplaceable.

To Felicia, Caleigh, Bree, Mitzi, and all the wonderful librarians who work tirelessly to put good books in the hands of kids: thank you.