20.2 Rookie at the Top-JenJ IA's Task: LEGO Masters - Play Well, Read Well!

[SRC Moderator, Moderator]

20.2 Rookie at the Top - JenJ IA's Task: LEGO Masters - Play Well, Read Well!

LEGO is a big part of life at our house, so we naturally tuned in to watch the competition TV show LEGO Masters when it premiered in the United States in 2020 (It is based on a British TV show of the same name). The name "LEGO" is a contraction of the Danish words: "leg godt" (English: "play well"). It turns out the word also means either "I collect," "I compose," or "I read” in Latin. What could be better than combining two of my favorite things, LEGO and books?!

Since LEGO is for all ages, MPG Childrens and Middle Grade books are allowed. Also, one part of the fun of LEGO is visual storytelling so books that are MPG Sequential Art, Graphic Novels, Comics, Comic Book, or Manga may be used.

This is a one book task. Select a book for one of the options below.
REQUIRED: State which option you chose.

Option 1: The host and judges of LEGO Masters are a big part of the charm and humor of the show. Since I’m watching in the US, I’m familiar with the cast from the American version of the show. Will Arnett hosts the show and Brickmasters Jamie Berard and Amy Corbett are the judges.

Read a book written by a single author who shares their first AND last initial (ignore middle initials) with the initials of the cast listed above. You can use any of the initials: W, A, J, B, A, C in any combination, in any position, but only as often as they occur (A is the only one you can use twice). Ex. Chris Bohjalian, Jennifer L. Armentrout, or Alexandra Andrews would work. B.K. Borison would not.

Option 2: One episode of LEGO Masters that stands out is Season 1, Episode 6: Need for Speed / Super-Bridges. In this episode, the builders had to build a bridge out of LEGO that would support the most weight. This inspired my kids to compete by building bridges out of LEGO to find out how much weight they could support. We then incorporated LEGO into our new pandemic at-home learning as this originally aired March 11, 2020.
For this option, read a book that has a bridge on the cover. The bridge needs to be recognizable as a bridge, but water or ground beneath the bridge does not need to be visible.

Required: Post the cover.

Option 3: The American LEGO Masters series completed its 4th season at the end of 2023 and the 5th season is anticipated for Fall 2024.
Read a book that is #4 or #5 in a series. Whole numbers only. Half or other decimal numbers (eg #4.5 or #5.7) are not allowed. The series name and number must be noted in gray parenthesis after the book title.

Option 4: LEGO creations are made by connecting different shaped pieces, bricks, tiles, plates, etc. Part of the satisfaction comes when all the interconnected pieces come together and form a new object. Playing on the idea of connection and how books are made of many words connecting to create something new, this option plays with letters and words. Choose one of the following, a or b
Required: State the option

a) Read a book with a two-word title (ignore subtitles) where the second word starts with the last letter of the first word.
EX: Darling Girls The Enchanted Still Life

b) Read a book with a title of at least three words (ignore subtitles) where each word must share at least one letter (in any position) with the word preceding it.
EX: The Cheat Sheet The Echo of Old Books No Two Persons

Optional: Get creative! Build something with LEGO, or your blocks of choice, while listening to an audiobook!

[Michelle]

I LOVE Option 4B! That is so fun. Great task ideas. :)

[Susan A]

Michelle wrote: "I LOVE Option 4B! That is so fun. Great task ideas. :)"

I agree! That's a great task.

[JenJ]

Thank you, both! It was a fun task to create.

[JenJ]

These Books Work:

Option 1:

Option 2:

Option 3:

Option 4a:

Option 4b:

[JenJ]

These Books Don't Work:

Option 1:

Option 2:

Option 3:

Option 4a:

Option 4b:

[Robin P]

Congratulations on being the top rookie!
Option 4 could be a task on its own someday, very clever.

[JenJ]

Robin P wrote: "Congratulations on being the top rookie!
Option 4 could be a task on its own someday, very clever."

Thank you!

[Dee]

i love this task so much - my previous boss used to keep legos on his desk - you could tell how much he was pondering a problem by the legos that he was playing with

[Trish]

Nice task.

I just wanted to double-check. For option 4b, can it be the same letter in all three words that joins them? For example, both Grace Sees Red and The Accidental Alchemist have the letter E in all three words.

Or do they need to be different - in which case, I think The Accidental Alchemist would still work, as it's got E in thE and accidEntal, and then A in Accidental and Alchemist, but the other one wouldn't?

Thanks.

[JenJ]

Thanks, Dee and Trish!

Trish,
Both Grace Sees Red and The Accidental Alchemist work for this task as long as they meet SRC requirements.

For clarification, the word only needs to share a letter with the word immediately preceding it, not all the same letter for all 3+ words.

[Trish]

Thanks, Jen.