This week we were assigned to read two articles. One was about a teacher who decided he wanted to do his own mock Caldecott book ratings. He decided to have the second graders from his school participate in this and have them rate the books he chose from 1-5 for illustrations and then 1-5 on the story. He got two copies of each book and circulated them around for each classroom. The kids would read the book and as a class they would rate the books. Travis (the teacher) found picking out the books to be the hardest part of this mock trial. He had to make sure he picked books that really had a chance to win the Caldecott award.
I think doing a mock Caldecott book rating would be such a good idea for my classroom. I can see it being such a great way to get kids reading and excited about it. It would be perfect for a bigger school system that had many level of a single grade. If you chose a school with only 1 class of a grade level it could be more difficult because then there would really only be that class judging the books.
If you could find a school with enough classes this would be a great way to have the kids really give their opinions on different books. Kids might even realize they like a certain kind of book and start reading more. They might even refer a book to a friend. You never know.
The second article we read was an article from Mr. Schu. He made a list of books he thought he would use for a mock Caldecott as well. He chose some great books to use for his and I loved that he put a book trailer with almost every book and really took the time to talk to us about most of them. If I had to pick a few books from his list to use for my own mock Caldecott I would have to pick,
- A Boy, a Mouse, & a Spider: The Story of E.B. White by Barbara Herkert; illustrated by Lauren Castillo – This author is the same author who wrote Charlotte’s Web and so I think that this would be just a fun interesting book for kids to read. The illustrations that he pictures with the book look really simple but detailed at the same time.
- All the Way to Havana by Margarita Engle; illustrated by Mike Curato – There isn’t a description that goes with this book but just looking at the front cover of it I was wowed. The detail that was on the cover of that book just made me want to read it for myself.
- That Neighbor Kid by Daniel Miyares – Once again this book doesn’t have a description with it but the art done on the cover just blew me away and I just knew that I wanted to read this for myself.
Life as seen by Brooke 
I too think it would be extremely interesting to have a Mock book rating in the classroom. Not only would this provide you with instant feedback on what the students think, but this would also allow you to take note on what things you might change in the future as an educator! The years to follow, you would know which books you may way to include or dismiss from your list of novels, and feedback from students can greatly effect your decision. Awesome post!
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Thank you so much! I loved the idea of it though. I think it’s such a smart idea that way you really get feedback on the what books the kids like.
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I think it would get more kids interested in books in general. I am not much of a book worm myself, but with other students posting all different genres of books I have seen some that have interested me. I would love to do mock trial in my classroom. It would be a great way for children to have a discussion among other students.
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I think it would be perfect to get more kids interested!
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I agree with you, I think that it can be difficult to organize so many students and so many classrooms. All the way to Havana interested me as well.
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Yea I think it would be pretty difficult
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Awesome post! The more new books you are able to bring can spark some students who never like reading before to want to read if they are able to find that one book. I only takes one book to change a students life.
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I totally agree with that! If they just find the one they like they will want to read more like it and become a book lover
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Mr. Schu’s reading list was really neat. I’m so glad there are people like him out there who put forth the effort and time to construct quality lists for people like us. I know I’m going to rely on these kinds of blogs to help me find quality reading materials for my students. And I totally agree with you that this is a great way to engage students in the reading process. I love the idea of working with other grades to get more students involved.
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He really had a great idea and it’s so cool that so many other teachers are going to consider doing this in thier own classrooms!
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What were your thoughts about how the teacher had his students rate the books by 1-5 for illustrations and 1-5 for the story? In my opinion, I love that rating system he came up with and it’s something I would use in my future classroom, since I plan on teaching lower elementary! 🙂
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