In the past, I’ve
written a #SibertSmackdown Wrap-up post with tidbits from some of the classes
and schools who participated. But this year, I decided to invite participating
teachers to share a reflection of their class’s experience. It was a great
decision.
It’s exciting to find out
exactly how educators integrated the activity into their curriculum and how
they modified my suggestions to meet the specific needs of their
students. Today’s post comes from fourth grade
teacher Mandy Robek. Thanks so much for sharing, Mandy!
Participating in our first #SibertSmackdown was
inspiring, enjoyable, and an authentic literacy experience for my third-grade classroom
community.
I set up the collection of books on our long
windowsill with the front covers facing forward. An automatic invitation for
wondering.
Our first read aloud was The Beak Book by
Robin Page, and we were fascinated by the different kinds of beaks and how they
were used. I followed that up with 13 Ways to Eat a Fly by Sue
Heavenrich and David Clark, which required some stopping and ooo-ing and
ah-ing. Both of these books showed us how interesting nonfiction reading could
be. We anticipated a #SibertSmackdown book each day.
We started connecting books to other books. As
we finished, What’s in Your Pocket? Collecting Nature’s Treasures by
Heather L. Montgomery and Maribel Lechuga, a student shared:
“I think Meg is Margaret Lowman, the Leaf Detective.”
She ran to the shelf, and we opened both books.
They were the same person!
The class was excited to make this connection,
and they burst into conversation, sharing what was the same in each book.
Our learning was put on hold as we finished Unbound
the Life and Art of Judith Scott by Joyce Scott, Brie Spangler, and Melissa
Sweet. The story of twins being separated and one living in an institution
increased my students’ attentiveness. Our classroom became wrapped in a blanket
of quiet. Students were sad and spent time processing what Down Syndrome is.
They were inspired by Judith’s fiber work and asked if they could create
sculptures just like Judith. So we did.
I opened cupboards, set up an art studio on the
carpet, and they became fiber artists. The students’ creative process helped
them process this biography.
As we continued to read other titles, we were
fascinated by the facts shared. They offered us new learning and wonderings.
Before the students acted as mock judges, I felt
they needed more information about the criteria used in picking the Sibert
Medal. The class had recently been introduced to sketchnoting as a way to
remember and recall things we learned, so we visited the American Library
Association’s annual Youth Media Awards webpage and students sketchnoted as I read
through the criteria.
Using Melissa’s simplified criteria sheet, each student reflected on
two books they wanted to compare and decided which would be their prediction
favorite. Then we shared our predictions and made plans to watch the Youth
Media Awards announcements.
As awards were announced on
January 24, we cheered for books we’d read and recognized. Afterward, students
reflected on the whole #SibertSmackdown experience in writing. Here are some quotes
from some of their papers:
“I knew The People’s Painter would win the medal because of the juicy
words. . . . I also liked all the illustrations too!”
“I thought the
book Out of the Blue would win. . . . It taught me more than the other
books.”
“I thought Flip!
How the Frisbee Took Flight would win. . . . I LOVED reading all the
books because they all had some information that I didn’t know.”
“I think the book
The People’s Painter won the Sibert book award because the boy (I am
calling him boy because I forgot his name) stood up for justice and followed
his dream of becoming a painter.”
“I just had so
much fun reading these books.”
“Unbound
should have won because I thought it was inspiring! and I absolutely love the
art.”
“My favorite was Nina
because I bet that she had a beautiful singing voice.”
“I really liked Unbound.
It was really inspiring. . . and I’m
surprised Out of the Blue didn’t get an honor . . . it was jam-packed
with information.”
I wish you could read snippets from each student. I know
participating in the #SibertSmackdown generated excitement about reading. Our
nonfiction classroom library shelves are being visited more. We understand the
characteristics for the genre of nonfiction more.
I think the greatest outcome, though, happened the
following week. In the planning stage of writing our own informational books, I
could reference mentor texts from the #SibertSmackdown list and the class instantly
knew what I was talking about. I can’t wait to participate next year!
Mandy Robek is currently teaching
third grade in Central Ohio. She’s also spent time teaching kindergarten,
first, and second grade. She loves using children’s literature throughout her
day. She is a co-founder for Picture Book 10 for 10 #pb10for10 and a
contributor to Choice Literacy.
You can follow her on Twitter @mandyrobek and on Instagram @mandyrobek_edu
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