Mock Caldecott

This has been one of the hardest years to choose a Mock Caldecott list. There are just way too many beautifully-illustrated and beautifully-crafted books.

The Mock Caldecott is to readers what the Academy Awards is to movie goers.  I love each day on this Earth, but the day the awards are announced is exciting beyond exciting.  

Creating the Mock Caldecott list is hard! I was feeling anxious about my list, so I perused a few web resources, mainly bloggers whose opinions I regard well, to see what they were choosing. It's hard to beat @mrschureads' comprehensive Mock Caldecott blog post at Watch.Connect.Read.  He and @colbysharp of SharpRead have pulled together book trailers, interviews and background information for each book they chose. Masterful and wonderful this is. 

So, here's my plan.  

I am going to have a basket of 20 Mock Caldecott titles that students can read at their leisure - during browsing or any other time that they are allowed to come to the library.

I am also going to choose five or six (this is the VERY hard part - G*U*L*P) titles that my students will read, evaluate, discuss and vote upon.  

Now, for each grade level project:

First Grade
After learning about the Caldecott Medal and the criteria.  The students will practice using the criteria by discussing last year's winner, This is Not My Hat.  Over the next few weeks, we will read the five or six titles whole group and then have small group discussions. The unit will culminate in students voting with paper ballots and a ballot box. I am also considering a Kid Pix project.

Second Grade
We will review of the Caldecott Medal and the criteria.  Over several weeks, we will read the five or six titles whole group and then have small group discussions.  The unit will culminate in students voting with paper ballots and a ballot box.  They will also share their opinions in a Voicethread.

Third Grade
After an in-depth exploration of the Caldecott Medal, the students will read the five to six books during a special release time and vote. (These lucky ducks are Skyping with Jarrett Krosczka and will be prepping for that!)

Fourth Grade
The Caldecott Medal and the criteria will be reviewed.  After this, the students will read and discuss the books using various formats. One class will participate in a blog with other Newton students. One class will use Voicethread to record and share their comments.  One class will reflect using a poster splash and word clouds.  The last class will have traditional face-to-face discussions and use a Google Form to record their decisions.  

Fifth Grade 
The fifth grade students will create Animoto Book Trailers for each of the twenty five or six titles. They will all read the five or six books and vote on them.

All the classes will have a student-friendly rubric for judging the books and will vote via a Google Form at the end of the unit.  I am hoping that my Mock Caldecott Unit will get my students excited about all the book awards. 

As I told my students, hold onto your hats, this is going to be a wild ride!