Yesterday
at 10:00 a.m. EST I was glued to my computer to watch the live stream of the
ALA Youth Media Awards. Were you?
people were excited to find out who won the Caldecott and Newbery Awards, but I
was looking forward to the Sibert announcement, and I wasn’t alone.
year a growing number of students participated in the #SibertSmackdown, and they wanted to know if the books they’d
championed would be selected by the actual Sibert committee.
programs, and a few went whole hog. Here
are some reflections on this year’s program from Michelle Knott (@knott_michele) in Illinois. They
are invaluable if you are thinking of
jumping on the #SibertSmackdown bandwagon next year.
an international school in Malaysia, Mrs. Victor’s (@ErikaMVictor) students discussed
their favorite books in Flipgrid videos. You can watch them here. Their winner was Grace
Hopper: Queen of Code by Laurie Wallmark, with honors to The Youngest Marcher by Cynthia
Levinson, Balderdash! by Michelle
Markel, Dazzle Ships by Chris Barton,
and Grand Canyon by Jason Chin.
Jaimes at Flagstone School (@msjaimes) in Colorado, posted
great photos of students reading the books aloud. Here are some examples:
the students selected If Sharks
Disappeared by Lily Williams as the winner.
At Center School (@libraryatcenter), fifth graders
read and discussed the books in pairs.
At a
school in Illinois, Mrs. Rench’s students took their responsibility very
seriously. They carefully analyzed the books and recorded their ideas.
the students focused on.
At a
school in in Michigan, Mrs. Weakland’s (@mrsweakland) fourth graders selected Shark Lady by Jess Keating as their
winner.
Mrs.
Thompson (@LTeacher10) tweeted me to share what one of her students had written
about How the Cookie Crumbled by
Gilbert Ford while filling out his #SibertSmackdown worksheet:
“How the Cookie Crumbled tells the very
lip-smacking tale of how the chocolate chip cookie was whipped up in the first
place! It’s no wonder how this book could become the cookie of your eye!”
in this google doc. It’s so interesting
to read their comments.
enamored by books like Dazzle Ships
by Chris Barton and Grand Canyon by Jason Chin.
for the Sibert Smackdown project. Definitely recommend this and plan on doing
in library next year. Students evaluated nonfiction with purpose and it helped
me add quality titles to the collection. So much fun!”
That’s music to my ears! Here’s a list of their winners: 1) This is
How We Do It by Matt Lamothe 2) The Youngest Marcher by Cynthia Levinson and tied for 3) A Hundred Billion Trillion Stars by Seth
Fishman & How the Cookie Crumbled
by Gilbert Ford.
Mrs. Pryde’s (@MrsPryde_CES) students
did some unbelievably wonderful
projects and then defended their book picks to classmates. Here’s a collage of
the children reading the books.
To see photos of the whole process, check out this google album. Here are some of the final projects:
in Maine, Arizona, Massachusetts, and Connecticut participated
too.
the books or the authors and illustrators. The biggest winners were the
students who learned to analyze fascinating, high-quality informational texts
and discuss and debate their ideas with their peers. I hope even more schools participate in
#SibertSmackdown activities next year. Until then, keep on reading nonfiction!
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7 Responses
Thanks for championing the #SibertSmackdown and for including us in your post. Three years in, it feels like an important element in the ebb and flow of the year. Discovering a treasure trove of brilliant new nonfiction, fresh mentor text for our informational writing, and online community with other passionate book lovers has grown our enthusiasm each year. Our interactions with authors have made this year extra special, so thank you again for leading that charge!
So glad to hear that your students are loving the #SibertSmackdown. Nonfiction rocks!
I loved all of the books discussed here! I was actually surprised by several of the Sibert selections this year–totally off of my radar (with the exception of Grand Canyon). I liked the Sea Otters book, but didn't expect it to get a Sibert. Sad that How to Be An Elephant didn't get a nod.
What you've shown is one reason I'm sad to be retired. I'm missing all those students learning from their love of non-fiction books, what works, what doesn't for them! Thanks for sharing so much book love!
I love how this process gets kids thinking and comparing.
What a way to get kids thinking and recording their outtake of their chosen stories. THIS IS what learning is all about. Thank you so much for leading this. You are instrumental in this science world.
I like the idea of a SibertSmackdown and the projects that go along with them. Leave it to hard-working teachers to come up with such a creative approach to work the Sibert awards into their curriculum. Bravo!