Create Your Own Book Award: April 2011

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Introduction

Have you ever wondered about the stickers on the front of some books? Well, those are books that have won awards. In this webquest, we're going to learn about some of the book awards out there.

Task

You are going to create your own book award. This will include:

The title of the award
A list of criteria for your award
Your award logo
Your nomination of three books for your award which your classmates will vote on.

Process

Before you create your own award you will need to learn about some of the awards out there.

Caldecott Medal

This award is named after the 19th century illustrator, Randolph Caldecott. It is given each year to an artist for the best illustrations in a picture book. How well does the picture fit the story?

Check out these previous winners;
A Sick Day for Amos McGee          E Stead

The Lion and the Mouse                 E Pinkney

The House in the Night                   E Swanson

Newbery Medal

This award is named after the man who was first recognized for writing children's books, John Newbery. This award is given each year to the author of the best children's book. How well are the plot, characters and setting developed?

Check out these previous winners:

When You Reach Me F Stead

The Graveyard Book F Gaiman

Good Masters! Sweet Ladies!: Voices from a Medieval Village 812.6 Schlitz

Beverly Cleary Children's Choice Award

This award is named after an Oregonian Author, Beverly Cleary! A committee of adults pick quality books that can be either fiction or non-fiction. These books are at the 3rd grade reading level. Children get to vote for the winners. To vote, you must have read at least two books from the list. Would you like to vote?

Check out these previous winners:

Sticky Burr 741.5 Lechner

Clementine F Pennypacker

The SOS File F Byars

Oregon Readers Choice Awards (ORCA)

This is a new award, created just last year. It is designed to help readers in the 4th-12th grade become excited about reading ally types of books. There are three categories for this award: Junior (4th-6th grade), Intermediate (7th-9th grade) and Senior (10th-12th grade). Students, teachers and librarians in Oregon may nominate books. However, only students in 4th-12th grade may vote. Are you interested in reading and voting?

Here are some of the books nominated in the Junior division:

The Willoughbys F Lowry

Savvy F Law

Rapunzel's Revenge 741.5 Hale

To check out the winners and new list of nominations click here.

Now that you have learned a bit about different book awards, I want you to create your own!

You will:

Think up a name for your award
Create a Word document that includes at least three criteria for your award. (author or illustrator? grade level? kids or adults nominate? fiction or non-fiction?) The font on this document will need to be large enough to fill up one piece of paper
Find three books that fit into your criteria that you would like to nominate
Create a Word document that lists your three nominated books.

After you have created your list of criteria, I want you to open Kidpix and create a logo for your award. The logo needs to include the title or initials of your award, at least three colors and a design of some sort. I will show the class how to insert your logo into your list of nominations.

Evaluation

This is how your work will be evaluated:

CATEGORY	4	3	2	1
Award Logo	Logo includes the name or initials of the award, at least three colors and a design.	Logo includes the name or initials of the award, two colors and a design.	Logo includes the name or initials of the award and only one color or no design.	Logo is missin name or initials. Or, no logo is created.
Criteria List	At least three criteria are given for the award.	Two criteria are given for the award.	One criteria is given for the award.	No criteria given.
Book Nominations	Three books are nominated and all three fit into the criteria.	Only two books fit into the criteria.	Only one book fits into the criteria.	Books randomly chosen and don't fit into the criteria.