It's that time a year again. That's right, the ALA Youth Media Awards are right around the corner. This year they're announced at 8am Pacific on January 28th. My classes will be streaming the announcement and you can too at this LINK.
For the past eight or so years, I've done some type of book club for one of the awards in my class. Each year I've done it differently, some years focusing on multiple awards, some years only on one. This year, I'm focusing on the Caldecott and doing the book study as a lunch option.
Margie Myers-Culver and I have joined together for many years to select a list of twenty books that could possibly win this prestigious award. The list is never easy to come by, but that just speaks to the amazing books out in our world right now. The image at the top of the post is a quick visual representation of our twenty books, the list can also be found below. There are some amazing books on it and, hopefully, some winners come January 28th.
So far my seventh grade students have had ten of these fabulous books read to them as part of our Classroom Book A Day, which I've written about before. I'll read many more when we return from break. For the students who choose to come in the room to each lunch with me, we will meet during their lunch period once the week of 1/7, once the week of 1/14, and once to Skype with Margie the week of 1/21. During our first two lunchtime meetings we will debate the merits of the books on the list and then, ultimately, vote for our favorite books. When we Skype with Margie we will share our favorites and she will share hers.
Do you have a favorite book you're rooting for come January 28th? For the Caldecott, Newbery, Printz, or one of the many other amazing awards announced that day? If you do, please share! My students are compiling their reading lists for break and I'd be glad to share your suggestions with them.
Happy Reading!
Our list for the 2019 Caldecott...
