NEW ADDITIONS

Hi All,

I have attached some new activities and comprehension materials for each story to help spark your imagination after listening to our stories. They will appear in RED at the end of the blogpost. Below I have posted the direct link to listen to the stories along with the direct link to the corresponding blogpost.

Please feel free to share our stories and website with a friend, teacher, or family member. We are going to be including these new activities, along with our vocabulary words, in all future episodes. Speaking of future episodes, keep a look out! We have a new Flashlight episode coming up as well as a new Mojo episode in the next few weeks.

Remember too, we wanted to start sending bright birthday wishes to our loyal listeners at the end of each episode. If you want to be a part of getting a Night Light Birthday wish, send us an email at nightlightstories@gmail.com. Send us your first name and last name initial only along with your age and date of your birthday. There are no age limits!

As always, I look forward to watching the glow grow brighter with the many stories we can share together.



Click here to listen to: Mojo and the Magic Couch

Click here to view the blogpost for Episode 1: Mojo and the Magic Couch


Click here to listen to: Chilly's Christmas

Click here to to view the blogpost for Episode 2: Chilly's Christmas

Click here to listen to: Dale

Click here to view the blogpost for Episode 3: Dale

Click here to listen to: Squircles

Click here to view the blogpost for Episode 4: Squircles

Click here to listen to: A Tooth's Story

Click here to view the blogpost for Episode 5: A Tooth's Story

Click here to listen to: Daylight Savings Time

Click here to view the blogspost for Episode 6: Daylight Savings Time

Click here to listen to: The Walk

Click here to view the blogpost for Episode 7: The Walk

Episode 7: The Walk

Click here to listen to The Walk

Hello All,

Happy Spring! As we have shared in our past few entries, one of our most favorite activities to do is take a walk or hike. On weeknights after dinner, we enjoy walking around our mountain as a family. We love to check on the level of the babbling creek, hike off the beaten path to the many interesting rocks formations, run as fast as we can down the dirt roads, and listen for birds chirping and other little critters skittering around. Sometimes we are really lucky and see our deer friends "Hoppy" and "Twirly" and their babies that are the new spring additions to our majestic mountain. As you listen to the story, consider the following:

What do you enjoy doing most with your family?

Leave us a message on the blog about your favorite family activity, the story, or any past story and you can enter a chance to win some great books from Hatchette Books!

CH-CH-CH-CHANGES

This week we have a special treat! When you listen to the story, you will notice a difference. Did my voice drop a few octaves? Not exactly, but good guess. We are delighted to have Mr. Chris Bugaj, who has written all the stories with Miss Mel, to make his narrating debut. Mr. Chris is also the host of the award winning podcast A.T.Tipscast, which provides at least one strategy per episode about technology used to help struggling students.

What did you say? A word of the day!

That is right! In our story there are many juicy

words that are fun to learn and say!

Concoction: To prepare by mixing ingredients

Embarked: To set out on a venture

Emblem: A sign, design, or figure that identifies or represents something

Interweaving: To weave together, as threads, strands, branches, or roots

Bright Birthdays

We wanted to start sending bright birthday wishes to our loyal listeners at the end of each episode. If you want to be a part of getting a Night Light Birthday wish, send us an email at nightlightstories@gmail.com. Please send us your first name and last name initial only along with your age and date of your birthday. There are no age limits! For example, this weeks episode we want to send out Bright Birthday wishes to Will D, Joe D and John D from Valencia Spain. We hope your day SPARKLED!

More Worthy Websites

Celebrate Spring with some clever crafts

All about Spring

JUST ADD IMAGINATION!

Try these activities to keep your imagination glowing after hearing the story.

1. There were many different colors the boy saw on his walk. How many different colors can you find in your house and/or classroom.

2. Take a walk around your yard or area you live with your family. Collect some things from your walk such as flowers, rocks, and/or leaves. Sort them by color, size and/or type.

COMPREHENSION CHALLENGE

After listening to the story, can you recall the details to answer these questions?

1. How does the boy keep from toppling head over heel down when walking down the hill?

2. Why is the last corner of the walk called "Danger Bay"?

3. Help the boy. Think of some other words that have the same meaning as "delicious".

Hi All,

What a wonderful start to Daylight Savings Time. In our last post, we mentioned how we love to use the extra hours of light in the day to take a hike on the Appalachian Trail. We are lucky enough to live close by to some of the entry points to the AT. This weekend we chose to go to "Keys Gap" which is on the border of Virginia and West Virgina. We wanted to share some of the photos we took from the hike. We would love to hear about your Daylight Savings Time! Leave us a post about what you did with your extra hours of light!

Check out how bare the trees still are.

Buds should be coming in the next few weeks!

Do you see the white rectangle on the tree?
They are "markers" to help guide the hikers along the AT.

Look at this old cocoon that we found protected by this leaf.

I was wondering how long it had been there and what had emerged from it.

Episode 6: Daylight Savings Time

Click here to listen to Daylight Savings Time

Hello All,

Happy Daylight Savings Time! I know we are thrilled to move an hour ahead in this household. We love that our two young children, who really like to wake up at 6 AM, will now wake up at 7AM. Well, OK, maybe just for Sunday, but at least we get one day of feeling that we are waking up at a normal hour! Also, we are so excited that longer, lighter, warmer days are on their way. The Appalachian Trail is one of our favorite spots to spend our weekends and nights. It is such an awesome hike with a lot of different entry points close to us and alternate terrains to choose from.

What did you say? A word of the day!
That is right! In our story there are many juicy words that
are fun to learn and say!

Pressure: a force or influence

Dismay: a breakdown of courage

Discussion: an exchange of views about a topic

JUST ADD IMAGINATION!

Try these activities to keep your imagination glowing after hearing the story.

1. Rhyming words such as DATE and LATE have the same vowel sound and consonant vowel sound(s). Can you think of words of words that rhyme with GROW and TALL?

2. We change the clocks in the Fall and the Spring. Learn this saying to help you remember if you turn the clock forward or backward. "Fall back and Spring forward"

COMPREHENSION CHALLENGE

After listening to the story, can you recall the details to answer these questions?

1. The clocks were turned back an hour in November and went forward one hour in March. How many months are between November and March ?

2. Why was the boy worried about what he learned in school?

3. Who was the boy going to talk to when he arrived home from school?

Episode 5: A Tooth's Story

Click here to listen to A TOOTH'S STORY

Hello All,

The month of February flew by and the Night Light Stories' household has successfully healed from surgery, edited a book, and completed a fun story for your listening pleasure. Since February is National Children’s Dental Health Month, we though our story fit this month perfectly. A Tooth's Story was written by Chris and Melissa Bugaj. Enjoy!

What did you say? A word of the day!

That is right! In our story there are many juicy words that

are fun to learn and say! I am going to post a word

or two or three or more from the story that

would be fun to try to use in your

conversations throughout the week.

Coax: To persuade or try to persuade by pleading or flattery

Grumble: to express or utter with murmuring or complaining

Muffled: being or made softer or less loud or clear

Perspective: the appearance of things relative to one another as determined by their distance from the viewer

JUST ADD IMAGINATION!

Try these activities to keep your imagination glowing after hearing the story.

1. As children we have 20 primary teeth. As adults you will have 32 adult teeth . Write a number story (word problem) to find out how many more adult teeth there are than primary teeth.

2. Brushing your teeth is important to keeping them healthy. Try singing the ABC song in your head while you brush your teeth. Keep brushing your top row of teeth and bottom row of teeth until you are finished with the song.

COMPREHENSION CHALLENGE

After listening to the story, can you recall the details to answer these questions?

1. Can you remember some of the names for the mouth that Talula and Toby were discussing?

2. What was the voice that Toby was hearing?

3. Who do you think the "boss" is that is coming to pick up Toby?