"I learned that it must be hard to choose Caldecott Award books."

We're getting to the end of our Mock Caldecott unit. Teaching a Mock Caldecott in November during Picture Book Month has been a wonderful way to promote the power of picture books and the importance of visual literacy.  

The fifth graders have read, Finding Winnie, Growing Up pedro, If You Plant a Seed, Last Stop on Market Street, Mesmerized, and Yard Sale. Today, they ranked the books from one to seven in order of how well they thought each book met the Caldecott criteria. They will bring this viewpoint with them to the small group discussions next week. At the end of the discussion period, the students will choose their top four books and rank them. It will be interesting to see how this initial ranking changes after the discussions.

The overall ranking looked like this:

Growing Up pedro

Finding Winnie

Mesmermized

Leo: A Ghost Story

Yard Sale

If You Plant a Seed

Last Stop on Market Street

Here are the rankings for each book:

I wanted to get a sense before the final assessment (and before the Thanksgiving break) what it is they feel that they learned.  Here are there answers:

I learned that...

Illustrations are important
I will remember the Criteria for Success.
I learned that the pictures in a picture book should tell part of the story without the text.
Pictures are just as important as the text.
I have learned about the what to expect from a good book (ie cover, end pages, and interior).
I have learned how to carefully review and take important details about a book
I learned that picture books can be fun to read
To pay attention to the pictures
don't judge a book by its cover
That it is must be very very hard to choose a Caldecott book
I will remember that the Caldecott Medal looks at art in books.
I learned that the pictures in a picture really help you visualize the story better then not having the pictures at all.
That books can be expressed in different ways
I learned that choosing one book is very hard
I will remember that some picture books can be really good
Don't judge a book by it's color
I will remember all the Caldecott books
How to think about books and to notice small details in every book you read.
I learned about the Caldecott
I have learned from this unit that picture books are not all about the text . The art matters also, and the art has to tie together with the text.
Pictures can contribute greatly to stories.
I have learned that it is very hard to make a book that is Caldecott worthy.
I learned that picture books are very interesting and that they are very hard to rate.
That picture books are very important.
I learned that picture books are amazing and are really make you enjoy the world of books.
that book to meet the criteria is that it has to have excellence, appropriateness, appeal, and importance
I will remember all the criteria in all the picture books.
I learned not to judge books by first looks.
I'll remember that it's important to think about if the book is "good'' and not just if you like it.
You can learn a lot from picture books
no time 
picture books are good to read every once and awhile
I will remember reading Mesmerized
I learned that a lot more time goes into deciding the Caldecoyt award than I thought.
choosing the right book for the Caldecott honor is hard
That book titles and pictures count in how you "feel" the book
I have learned about the picture books and how the Caldecott award works
I learned that the Illustrations in a book matter just as much as the words.
That to be a Caldecott book award you need to have good pictures that match the words and the character has to have a dream
no time
I learned it was hard to rank the books
don't judge books by their cover
I've learned that pictures are important.
That picture books are more special then most people think
End papers give a clue to the story.
Illustrations are helpful
I learned that that pictures play a very important role in picture books
I will remember to look at the back, front, both covers, and sides before I decide to not read a book
You can always make your own ranking for the book you are reading
I will remember Finding Winnie, because it meant the most to me
I learned that the Caldecott Criteria is important because you can use it to see the quality of a book.
I have learned that picture books are very important because they help flow the story along.
I will remember of how the Caldecott system works.
To look very close at the pictures in a book.
To really look into the book for important details.
I learned that picture books are important because you can learn a lot from them.
I learned not to judge a book by its cover
That picture books are very powerful.
It's hard to rank the books!
That you should plant a seed of kindness
I learned that picture books are also fun and that you can really get into them if you read them more often. I will remember that it doesn't matter if a picture book is by the same author your opinion can be different for different picture books.
That it is hard to make a book that meets the requirements, and you have to make your book better than others.
I learned that I should share a picture book I read with other people so I could get their point of view of the book
I learned that there is so much more to Caldecott judging than you would think I mean you have to see if the text and the pictures match the style of the book and the jacket and cover.
I learned that it must be hard to choose a Caldecott award.