Mock Caldecott 2015

I began our Mock Caldecott last week with third and fourth graders. Before the winter break, I had pulled out every previous Caldecott winner we had in our library and put them all on a cart. During our library time,  I discussed the award, visited the website, and booktalked a few of the winners. Using the Caldecott poster by my Smartboard, I also pointed to a few of the covers and shared more. My students asked questions about the criteria, and we talked through them together.

My students then perused through the books and discussed them with a partner.

We discussed the different artwork used, and I defined some of the terms (gouache, lithograph, collage, etc.).

Most of my student have already heard me talk about the Caldecott. (I confess that I get very excited about them at this time of year. Or any time of year really!) Originally, I had only thought about having only 3rd graders participate. But when I remembered that last year's third graders had voted in my first Mock Caldecott, I decided to include them, too. 

I have drawn up a ballot that will simply ask readers to list their first, second, and third choices. I will remind them of the criteria beforehand. We will vote this coming week, and I will ask 5th graders to tabulate the results. I also will have students design our own school Mock Caldecott medal. 

And finally, although it was extremely difficult to do, I narrowed down a list of 25 books to  these ten candidates for our Mock Caldecott 2015. (Ten books seems to be the right amount, and everyone is able to finish each one.)

Last week, our readers previewed each title after hearing me introduce each one. It was very easy to talk about them!

It was also wonderful to see my students excitedly open each book and discuss them. They definitely have their opinions! Some took notes, and I think the voting will be very close.

How exciting it will be if our school winner matches the actual winner! I cannot wait to find out on February 2nd!

I will post our winner here on Friday, Jan. 16th.