Celebrate Nonfiction

Exploring the Joy of Nonfiction Reading and Writing

Sibert Smackdown!


A few weeks ago, I blogged about the Nonfiction Smackdown, a great idea developed by teacher-librarian Judi Paradis who works at Plympton School in Waltham,
MA.

Now that the
kidlit community is starting to buzz about contenders for the ALA Youth Media
Awards, I’ve decided to modify Judi’s idea a bit to create the Sibert
Smackdown.

Here’s how it
works. Students in grades 3-5 read two nonfiction picture books from the fantastic
Mock Sibert list created by Alyson Beecher, Padadena (CA) Unified School
District literacy and curriculum coordinator and highly-respected nonfiction
expert, over at Kid Lit Frenzy (See Alyson’s blog posts here, here, and here for more details.):

The Case for Loving: The Fight for Interracial Marriage
by Selina Alko; Illustrated by Sean Qualls (Arthur A. Levine, January 2015)

A Chicken Followed Me
Home!: Questions and Answers About a Familiar Fowl by Robin Page (Beach
Lane Books, May 2015)

Earmuffs for Everyone!:
How Chester Greenwood Became Known as the Inventor of Earmuffs
by Meghan McCarthy (Simon & Schuster, January 2015)

How to Swallow a Pig: A Step-by-Step Advice from the
Animal Kingdom by Steve Jenkins, Robin Page (HMH Books for
Young Readers, September 2015)

I, Fly: The Buzz About Flies and How Awesome They Are
by Bridget Heos; Illustrated by Jennifer Plecas (Henry Holt and Co., March
2015)

The Most Amazing Creature in the Sea by
Brenda Z. Guiberson; Illustrated by Gennady Spirin (Henry Holt and Co., June
2015)

The Nutcracker Comes to America: How Three Ballet-Loving
Brothers Created a Holiday Tradition by Chris Barton; Illustrated by Cathy Gendron (Millbrook Press, September 2015)

Poet: The Remarkable Story of George Moses Horton
by Don Tate (Peachtree Publishers, September 2015)

Tricky Vic: The
Impossibly True Story of the Man Who Sold the Eiffel Tower
by Greg Pizzoli (Viking Books for Young Readers, March 2015)

Trombone Shorty by
Troy Andrews, Illustrated by Bryan Collier (Abrams Books for Young Readers,
April 2015)

Winnie: The True
Story of the Bear Who Inspired Winnie-the-Pooh by Sally
Walker; Illustrated by Jonathan D. Voss (Henry Holt and Co., January 2015)

Then the
children evaluate and compare the two titles, recording their thinking on a worksheet
like this one, which is a kid-friendly version of the real Sibert criteria (actual
criteria are available here):

When students
are done, they can share their responses with classmates. Or the worksheets can
be posted, so that other students can use the information to help them make
book choices.

If time permits,
students could do multiple rounds of this activity to select grade level or
whole school winners.

This fun
activity gets kids reading and thinking and sharing. It’s great!

Note: You can find a more printable version of the Sibert
Smackdown! worksheet on my pinterest Reading
Nonfiction Board: https://www.pinterest.com/mstewartscience/

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