HIT: Elem. Mock Caldecotts (Longish)

[Kathleen Odean <KOdean@COMPUSERVE.COM>]

Here are three hits I received describing Elementary Grade Mock Caldecott=
s.
 Thanks for your contributions.  =

Kathleen Odean, Librarian, Lincoln School, Providence, RI,
kodean@compuserve.com

1.      I just finished my first year as a librarian at 2 K-5 schools.  O=
ne
of my =

favorite and most successful units was our mock Caldecott.  I had fun =

planning it and the kids loved it.  We started the unit in mid-December b=
y =

studying illustration techniques and media.  We ended in late January and=
 =

then revisited it when the real winners were announced in early Feb.  Of =

course, in the future I would adjust the schedule to mesh with the next A=
LA

meeting and 2000 announcements. =

        I did this unit with Grades 2 and 3 (13 different classes in 2
schools), using 25 to 30 titles.I used current titles that might possibly=

win the award.  (The only one =

of our winners that was also a Caldecott was No David.) Snowflake Bentley=

was =

a title I wanted to include but I couldn't get hold of a copy.  I scoured=
 =

lists of best books, used the listserv and spent a lot of time in local =

libraries putting together the "contenders."
        Our first "activity" was "A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words."  =
I =

informed the children that they were going to become art reviewers and th=
at

we needed to have a basic understanding of different techniques and media=
. =


We brainstormed different forms of illustration and then I presented a li=
st

of about 15 different media/techniques with illustrations of each.  This =

lesson actually should have been spread out over 2 classes.  Our next
lesson =

was "Award Design."  We looked at the Caldecott medal and brainstormed
ideas =

for our medals.  The children were given a worksheet (designed by me) tha=
t =

had a circle pre-drawn and labeled "Lincolncott" or "Peasleecott" (Lincol=
n =

Street School and Peaslee School are the names of my schools) and a space=

for =

the child's name.  The children loved this activity and felt great pride
when =

their awards were displayed in a hall of fame along with the mock winners=
. =


Several lessons were spent reading and comparing some of the contenders
(for =

example, A Bad Case of Stripes and Sweet Dream Pie.)  "Get Out the Vote"
was =

the lesson devoted to actually choosing our winners.  Each class was
divided =

into four groups.  Each group was given 6 to 7 books to evaluate and come=

to =

a consensus on the top 2.  We then had a classwide vote on the 8 runners-=
up

to choose a winner and 2 honor books.  All these books were displayed alo=
ng

with the mock medals at the 2 schools.  Children were clamoring to know
what =

other books were winners and what the actual winners were on Feb. 1st.  O=
ur

last lesson was "Listen and Look at the Winners" where I shared the winni=
ng

titles with the classes in a storytime format.  =

        The lessons for the third graders were slightly different.  Inste=
ad
of =

learning about media and techniques I had the children analyze previous =

winners to see what makes a winner.
        Basically I see it as a 5-6 week unit: illustration study, medal
design, =

sharing contenders, voting and enjoying the winners (mock and real).
        By the way, our winners were: Bridges Are To Cross, Sweet Dream
Pie, This =

Land is Your Land, A Bad Case of Stripes, No David.

Nancy Riemer Kellner, NKellner@aol.com (home)
Librarian, Peaslee and Lincoln Street Elementary Schools

2. I do a mock-Caldecott project with my 3 third grade classes. =

     My classes meet once each 4 days (we use a 4-day A-B-C-D day
schedule, rather than Mon-Fri), and this project usually takes 6 weeks.
It is designed as a team project, 4 students per team. (Each library
table becomes a team).  I use Caldecott winners and honor books, not
random books from the collection because I want the students to spend
time with them.
     We spend some classtime reading Caldecotts, then discuss the
various types of illustrations, and the ways the illustrations enhance
the stories. Then each team chooses a book from a collection of
Caldecotts. I usually include ones with medium-length text, and varied
types of illustrations, including some of the older ones.
     The team reads their story, and then evaluates the "value" of the
illustrations, based on what we've done together in class. They have
the opportunity to convince all the other 3rd graders that their book
"has the best illustrations because...". =

     "I like the illustrations because..." is one of the starters I
use. AND! they are not allowed to say "because they're pretty", or
...scary", etc. They have (hopefully) learned what makes them pretty,
and can describe it. The colors used, etc...
     They know that the final day of the unit will be voting day, where
each 3rd grader will vote for his/her favorite among all the titles
chosen by teams for the project. Before voting day, toward the end of
the unit, each student designs his/her own "Panama Book Award", and a
team of teachers votes on the one that will be used for the  winner of
the the 3rd grade vote. =

     I'm still refining this project, after using it for 3 years... email=

to:
B. Kane, Librarian
Panama Elementary, Panama NY
bhkane@yahoo.com

3. This is the first year I'll be trying this.  I will be having all 1999=

books on  tables for the third-eighth grades to look through. This takes
some planning.  I am very lucky to live in the middle of several differen=
t
library systems and have access t
        They will vote for the top five they think should receive a
Caldecott award. The younger children will just mark on a sheet in order =
of
five they think should win. I will have the younger kids color a page of
the medal and have that on the wall so that all can get a close up  view.=
  =

The older children have to tell why.  These papers will be on display. =

        The announcements of the top five will be announced a week before=

the actual awards.  I always have a list of the Caldecott and Newberry
award winners posted on my door besides having the spines marked with
special labels.

Angela Gerald, agerald@greenapple.com
St. Mary School, Lancaster, OH

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