Balloons, Witches, Elephants & Cartoons: 4th Grade Sibert Awards

Fourth graders have been studying the Sibert Informational Book Award. The award is given each year by the American Library Association to the best nonfiction children's book. Students used the following criteria to judge whether a book should win the Sibert Award:

• nonfiction book that is clear and accurate with details
• supportive features (table of contents, index, glossary, etc.)
• interesting to children
• well-organized
• excellent language and illustrations/graphics

I read the same 4 books in 3 different 4th grade classes and the results were different in each. Based on comments from their tally sheets, some students thought Balloons Over Broadway should win because of the illustrations and it was interesting to children. Others students thought Elephant Scientist was the best because it had lots of details and would be interesting to children interested in animals. And still others thought that Witches should win because it was a fascinating topic, had supportive features, and had lots of details. I enjoyed doing this book award because the new Common Core Standards emphasize the need to read more complex informational texts. I have to admit that I was nervous that students would find some of the books boring. While there were a few "boring" comments on their tally sheets, most students were interested, actively engaged, and could appreciate the value of all of the informational books on our list.

Book List (taken from the 2012 winner/honor list)
Witches: The Absolutely True Tale of Disaster in Salem by Rosalyn Schanzer,
Drawing from Memory by Allen Say
Balloons Over Broadway: The True Story of the Puppeteer of Macy's Parade by Melissa Sweet
Elephant Scientist by Caitlin O'Connell

Winners by class:
Patton - Witches: The Absolutely True Tale of Disaster in Salem
Moynihan - Witches: The Absolutely True Tale of Disaster in Salem
Cabral - Balloons Over Broadway:The True Story of the Puppeteer of Macy's Parade

Knuffle Bunny Wins the 2nd Grade Caldecott Award!

Second graders finished up their unit on the Caldecott book award this week. I read the 4 books from the 2005(the year many 2nd graders were born) Caldecott winner/honor list. Students did not know which book won the gold. After reading each book, students had to write whether they thought the book should stay on the list or not and explain why based on the following criteria:

• Excellent illustrations.
• Kids would love the book.
• Illustrations help tell the story.

Based on this criteria, 2nd graders overwhelmingly voted for Knuffle Bunny as the gold even though Kitten's First Full Moon was the actual winner for that year. Many students felt that Kitten's First Full Moon should not have won because it has no color. It was a fun unit with high quality read-alouds, critical thinking and lively debates.

Unanimous Winner!
Knuffle Bunny by Mo Willems

Honor Books
The Red Book by Barbara Lehman
Kitten's First Moon by Kevin Henkes
Coming On Home Soon by Jacqueline Woodson

Top Ten Titles This Week

Library book circulation is in full swing this week. Check out the top 10 books being read by Myron J. Francis students. Both fiction and non fiction titles are in the top ten as well as a reference book and graphic novels. I love that Snakes by Nic Bishop is at the top. It's a great read with gruesome but beautiful closeup photographs of snake life.

1.	Nic Bishop Snakes.	Bishop, Nic,
2.	Jake and Lily	Spinelli, Jerry
3.	Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Cabin Fever	Kinney, Jeff
4.	True (--sort of)	Hannigan, Katherine
5.	Ungifted	Korman, Gordon
6.	The World Almanac for Kids - 2007
7.	The Flying Beaver Brothers and the Evil Penguin Plan	Eaton, Maxwell
8.	King Of The Mound : My Summer With Satchel Paige	Tooke, Wes
9.	Liar & Spy	Stead, Rebecca
10.	Sidekicks	Santat, Dan

Book Awards: Letting Kids be the Judge

We will be studying book awards for the next few weeks in grades 1-5. Each grade level will learn the criteria for judging their book award. I will read 3-4 books that have either won or were honor books and students will use the criteria to vote on which book they think should be the winner. Criteria for each book award is different. For example, the Geisel Award highlights books that beginning and early readers can read and understand. The Caldecott Award highlights excellent illustrations that tell a great story and work well with the text. Below is a picture grid view of all the books we will read as well as a list of the awards and a child-friendly description of each. I was delighted when I asked a class of 2nd graders if they could describe the word "criteria", several hands went up, and someone actually defined that word. This is one of my favorite lessons because it gets students to think critically, they love the idea that they are the judges, and we get to read awesome books!

Grade 1 - Theodore Geisel Award - Best beginning reader
Grade 2 - Caldecott Award - Best illustrations
Grade 3 - Schneider Family Book Award - Best expression of the disability experience
Grade 4  - Sibert Informational Book Award - Best informational (nonfiction) book
Grade 5 - Coretta Scott King Award - Best work showing an appreciation for African American culture and universal human values

Reading Takes Us Places

This week, students in grades 1-5 are learning how to contribute to the library's continents display, "Reading Takes Us Places". Located at the entrance to the library, each window has a map of a different continent. Students who read a book that has a setting in one of the seven continents will have their book title, name, and map marker added to the display. Books can be fiction or nonfiction and can be read by individuals or whole classrooms (a teacher read-aloud, for example). The display is meant to inspire students to read and share books about different places around the world. Students will be doing research later in the year on a geographical location in library as well as learning more about continents through lessons in art and phys ed.

That Is Not a Good Idea

What happens when a fox entices a goose into the deep dark woods as cute baby goslings watch from afar? Well, it's not what you think. That Is Not a Good Idea, another rollicking interactive read-aloud by Mo Willems provides suspense, fun, and a mind-bending twist that K-2nd graders love. Read it a second time and discuss who outfoxes whom. This is one of my new favorites!