Mock Caldecott Finalists - Batch 1

Each January, the American Library Association awards the Caldecott Medal to the artist of "the most distinguished American picture book for children." Who will win in 2014? Well, first- and second-graders are going to make their pick in library, and we'll see how our choice lines up with the national award. After round one, the following were cleared to move on with near unanimity:

Don't Play With Your Food!
Bob Shea

Bob Shea wrote and illustrated last year's winner, Unicorn Thinks He's Pretty Great. I let him know via Twitter, and he appreciated it ... here we are meeting in person at the Lincoln school author event back in October:

source: bobshea.com

His latest starts Buddy the Monster, who is determined to eat the cute little bunnies he comes across ... but they seem to be able to outwit him. The book started out slightly differently. Here is his original storyboard (with narration):

My Teacher is a Monster! (No, I am Not.)
Peter Brown

peterbrownstudio.com

I LOVED that in every second-grade class, at least one person recognized Brown's style from last year's finalist Mr. Tiger Goes Wild. It's very different from the one he used in Creepy Carrots, which I ready to the first-graders last year in kindergarten.

One thing I like about this book is that the pictures help to tell the story. The moment when the kids realize that the teacher is changing color and shape is awesome!

You can download a parent/teacher kit that goes with the book.

7 Continents and 5 Oceans with Grade 4

Fourth-graders are learning about maps and atlases.

How quickly can you correctly identify the world's continents and oceans on your first try? 

If you need a refresher before clicking the link above, watch this video.

C.P. in Room 11 is our champion - I think his best time was 19 seconds.

If you'd like to be able to identify the countries on each continent, try playing the geography games on freerice.com. This site donates 10 grains of rice to the World Food Programme for every correct answer.

6th Grade Keyword Challenge - Taboo!

source: hasbro.com

We've been talking about keywords, which are the words you type into a search query. To get good results (before you even start evaluating the sources), you need to use precise terms and consider alternative ways of expressing them.

Sixth graders practiced this skill by taking turns describing objects to their classmates. We kept track of how many wrong answers were given until we had enough information to definitively identify the object ... usually at least three terms were needed.

The activity is similar to the board game Taboo!, where the person giving the clues has to avoid saying certain giveaway words. The students decided to play their own version during checkout the next week, using the terms on the card as the keywords.

You can play Taboo! at home with this online version. 

There are also apps out there that you can download to your phone or tablet. Have fun!

Daytrip Idea: Concord Museum Family Trees Exhibit

If you're looking for a fun family daytrip, why not consider the Family Trees: A Celebration of Children's Literature exhibit at the Concord Museum? This annual display uses picture books to inspire Christmas tree decorations (but it's open through January 4, so you can go over vacation).

Can you figure out which books are featured below?