I Love Reading

Surrounded by Caldecotts old and new, tonight I thought about the books I have read so far and the Caldecott Challenge. I have been talking to my students about my reading goals and theirs. I am excited to share some Caldecotts winners with my classes next week as we get prepped for The Caldecotte Award Annoouncement on the 23rd.  I had a volunteer pull all of the Caldecott Winners in my library, and we are going to read/admire/learn about them next week.  Then, I hope they will be checked out! Teachers have also been talking to me about the challenge.

Caldecott Stack and F. sorting Winnerand Honor books

In my reflections, I was surprised that my favorite part of this challenge has not been in the actual books. It has been reading them with my own kids, and teaching them about the Caldecott Medal. Tonight my five year old and two year old were looking at the medals on the books and sorting them into two piles (Medal Winners and Honor Books--by the color of the medals). I guess the math teacher is still in me--as my heart soared to see this sort (and with books no less). While they were working away,  my husband shouted from the kitchen, "Does the Caldecott winner have to be illustrated by the author?" My salesman of a husband is even getting involved with this challenge

The kids and their favorites so far (I am partial to these as well)

Tonight we all reflected on the challenge so far.  My kids haven't read all of the books (more on Animals from the Bible  and They Were Strong and Good in another post) but we rated our favorites that we had read. "I think I'm going to have a lot of favorites.  I love reading," said F. as we discussed which book was our favorite so far (F. liked April's Kittens and Madeline) (O. likes Wee Gillis) I can't say that I disagree with their choices.  These books have kid appeal, and the pictures are beautiful.  We have a lot more to go though!

So tonight, we read some more Caldecottes, and loved every minute of it.

Tonight we read Mei Li and Andy and the Lion--both were enjoyed by all!

Some favorite illustrations from April's Kittens (last nights read)--Aren't those cats adorable!

Famous Faces

Today our 6th graders put on a wax museum of "Famous Faces." Our whole school and many parents learned from our 6th graders as they brought to life people from the past.

Students researched a person that was no longer living and told us about their life.  Students used books and the internet for research.  In the library, I taught them about databases and how to use them to find information we can trust.  We also learned how to do more effective searches on the internet. Here are some photos of our kiddos in costume.  (Some are a little blurry as the hallways were crowded, and I got bumped!)

Very proud of these kids!

The Beckoning Cat

This week in grades k-2 we read The Beckoning Cat: Based on a Japanese Folktale by Koko Nishizuka for the 15 Books Student Choice Award.  We learned about folktales as a genre.  Then learned the word "beckoning." Students helped during the read-a-loud by beckoning and mewing like a cat when the cat in the story did.

We enjoyed finding out why we frequently see beckoning cats in Asian restaurants--especially Japanese ones.  Here are our favorite parts:

A Family Affair

The Caldecott Challenge is becoming a family affair.  As the kiddos read in bed last night, my almost five year old gave a shout out from down the hall, "Mom, did Officer Buckle and Gloria win a Caldecott Medal or an Honor?" Tonight, I was late too story time, and stumbled upon this delightful scene.

Husband and Kiddos reading Olivia. Notice F. making a connection.

The kiddos chose Caldecotts again tonight.  They read Olivia (honor book 2001) and Where the Wild Things Are (winner 1965).  Olivia is a favorite at our house because F. has so much in common with this adorable pig.  I love Olivia too--the only fault I have with this book is the recent commercialization of so many "Olivia" books that are not near the same quality.  As I reread Where the Wild Things Are for what seemed like the millionth time, I was again enamored with Maurice Sendak's illustrations and arrangement of his pictures on the page.  Love. Love. Love. This book (but who doesn't?!)

As I went to take photos of Yo! Yes? and Wee Gillis (our reads last night) I could not find them anywhere.  They along with The Big Snow were in our guest bedroom, as F. had chosen them for quiet time today.  These books really do have lasting value, with illustrations that can help a very beginning reader retell a story.

Wee Gillis by Munroe Leaf and illustrated by Robert Lawson (you might know these two as the guys that brought you Ferdinand) was surprisingly a fun read. The pictures and story were quite delightful.We liked this book a lot.

My Favorite illustrations and todays quiet time favorites

I had read Yo! Yes? (written and illustrated by Chris Raschka) the Honor book for 1994, many times before, but never outloud.  My perceptions of this book changed dramatically as I read it to my kids and as I watched F. reread it to her brother using the different kinds of punctuation to change her expression.  What a fun story. I am now embarrased to say I didn't like it before.

It's not to late to join the Caldecott Challenge.  My family and I would be excited to see what you are reading.

Happy 2012!

Back at school. It was hard to get my groove on this morning especially when two year old O. asked me to stay home and snuggle.  If I had to leave the kiddos behind today--it was great to be coming back to the library.

This week we are keeping busy by:

• Learning about the Dewey Decimal System.  After our lesson students laughed along with the Dewey Rap

• 5th graders learned the basics of making a Professional Powerpoint for their research projects.  We learned about appropriate transitions, font size, images, slide content, and overall look of a presentation.  Then we practiced inserting images and grouping them together.  Not a small feat!
• Grades K-2 learned about folktales as a genre before we read The Beckoning Cat which we read for 15 Books 

I have made some reading goals for 2012 and hope that you can enjoy some good books this coming year.

Caldecott Challenge Is On!

After much thought, I have decided to read the Caldecotts and Honor Books in the order that makes sense for me on any given day (very technical of me I know!)  Today, I wanted to begin, so I chose books I thought my kiddos could sit through at story time before bed. Many of the books I have right now had a lot of text in them (if you are a parent trying to get your kids to bed--this is sometime not the best mix). 

I frequently test read-a-loud books out on my own kids, so they were excited to hear about the Caldecott Challenge and help me out.  We dug out all of our "medal" books and went though the bag that Laura brought over today.  We finally decided on The Big Snow and Madeline to read together.

My favorite illustration in the book--and me and the kids reading:

The Big Snow by Berta and Elmer Hader won the award in 1949. My daughter F. made it through the entire story.  O. was rolling around on the floor midway through.  The pictures are delightful--the text got a bit long--although F. said she enjoyed it. I wonder if the book is better if read silently? F.did ask me if it was fiction or non-fiction so we got to have a good conversation about realistic fiction.

 Madeline by Ludwig Bemelmans the Honor book for 1940 was a book I remember enjoying as a child.  As seen in the photos, it was a much bigger hit.  Here is F. "rereading" the story to her younger brother.  The rhyme helped the story move along.  She did ask me what it meant to "Pooh pooh" someone as Madeline did to the tiger, which made me laugh--I guess that isn't a term used too often anymore.

 F's favorite illustrations from Madeline:

Creating a Goodreads Shelf--Finally!

Some of our kiddos taking a moment to READ

My pal LibLaura5 has been a much more active blogger and reader than I have for the Caldecott Challenge these past few days. My family is finally home from visiting the in-laws in North Dakota. We traveled to Jamestown (which is almost the geographical center of North America as my 10 year old niece pointed out to me--just in case you were wondering) and celebrated the holdidays.

My husband is child number five of eight children--many who now have their own children. It was a whirlwind of a trip, very noisy (not much reading to be done), and a lot of fun. I did get to talk books with lots of the kiddos and their moms. It is fun to see what my family is reading, and recommend books to them.

Needless to say, I am finally feeling like I am getting on board for the Caldecott Challenge.  The bad news is...I could see readers tweeting away and could not join in with the talk (I finally just put my phone away it was just too painful).  The good news is...being late on the bandwagon, much of the legwork of getting books on my to-read shelf was already done.  My goodreads shelf practically created itself--so yeah for that. So join our challenge over on Laura's page--and go check out our Caldecott Challenge Shelves--and "steal" away--I did.

There are still many Honor books to be added--Laura has a great little tutorial and list started over on her blog.  Check it out.

*photo taken by my brother-in-law and photographer Stephen Geffre