In the past, I’ve written a #SibertSmackdown Wrap-up
post with tidbits from some of the schools that participated. But last year, I
decided to invite educators to share reflections of their students’
experiences. And it was a great decision—teachers and librarians loved hearing
directly from their colleagues. So this year, I’m doing it again.
Today’s post comes from school librarian
Meredith Inkeles. Thanks so much for sharing, Meredith!
So many spectacular nonfiction books published in 2022
could be eligible to win the Robert F. Sibert Information Book Medal. I wanted
to include as many as possible for my students to examine during our annual Sibert Smackdown.
Some books were already in my collection, some I borrowed
from other libraries, and some I purchased, amassing 26 titles. I only have
students for 40 minutes every six days, so I simplified the criteria checklist (which
is based on criteria I’ve seen from many other librarians and teachers) to 6
yes/no/maybe questions, and then students included one interesting new fact
they learned from the book. My fifth and sixth graders read two books and then filled
out the checklist.
Students started by selecting one of the books I set out
at their table, and then they could choose a second book from any other table.
It was fascinating to step back and watch the students work.
approach of Washed Ashore: Making Art
from Ocean Plastic by Kelly Crull really excited some students.
One sixth grader became completely engrossed in Good Eating: The Short Life of Krill by
Matt Lilley and illustrated by Dan Tavis. He read every single word and closely
examined every detail in the illustrations. He was so enthralled that I didn’t
think he’d leave at the end of class!
A group of three fifth-grade girls took turns reading When the Sky Glows by Nell Cross
Beckerman and then discussed the illustrations together. So many of my
students, boys and girls, commented on how beautiful the illustrations are in
this book.
As students discussed the books, I noticed an interesting
gender trend; all of the students who voted for Annette Feels Free by Katie Mazeika were girls, and most of the
students who selected Caves by Nell
Cross Beckerman were boys.
I also noticed that some students quickly skimmed through
Where Butterflies Filled the Sky by
Zahra Marwan and said they didn’t get it, while others took their time and
realized how important and moving this story is.
A few students looked for the shortest book or the book
with the least amount of text, and a few didn’t want to do the work. In those
cases, I paired the hesitant student with a friend who likes to read. After
reading a book, they filled out the checklist together.
No matter what class was in the library, there was one
book everyone wanted to read—Pizza! A
Slice of History by Greg Pizzoli. It won our Sibert Smackdown with 9.9% of
the vote. The shorter text, relatable topic, and the pizza rat are big reasons
students liked this book the best.
Our honor book was Blue:
A History of the Color as Deep as the Sea and as Wide as the Sky by Nana
Ekua Brew-Hammond and Daniel Minter.
chart that shows how students voted:
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On the morning of the Youth Media Awards announcements, I had
students in the library for a live-stream watch party with water bottles, fruit
snacks, and popcorn. As winning and honor books were announced, students
commented on the ones they wanted to read. If we didn’t have a winning book,
they asked why. (Usually, the answer was that it was a high school-level book.)
The fifth-grade students cheered loudly whenever Jason Reynolds’s
name was announced because they had all read his Track series. My heart was
full of all this book joy happening on a Monday morning.
When the announcer mentioned the Sibert Medal, all the students
got quiet. First, the honor books were announced. The students noticed
that Choosing Brave had
been mentioned a few times now, “so it must be good,” as stated by a 5th
grader. Then they got excited about The
Tower of Life being named an honor title because we had just
added it to the library, and it was on display. However, many of my students
were disappointed when Seen
and Unseen was announced as the winner. Not a single one of
the 26 books we read was selected.
Some of the students were visibly sad but were good sports about
it, saying the book must be excellent to have won. There were many groans and
some yelling at the screen.
One student got up and started pacing and mumbling things like
“how could this happen.” I was amazed at his reaction because he’s not an avid
reader. Seeing his reaction and how invested he was in the books he’d read
showed me that this activity really made a huge impact.
This Sibert Smackdown was a major success! It was a great
way to get a variety of engaging, high-quality nonfiction into students’ hands.
And I was delighted to see students check out and reserve the Sibert Smackdown
titles. They couldn’t wait to spend more time with books. I’m already looking
forward to next year.
Meredith
Inkeles is a Nationally Board Certified Library
Media Teacher at the Wappingers Central School District’s Kinry Road Elementary
School in New York State’s Hudson Valley. Meredith is in her 25th year as a
teacher-librarian and cannot wait to share more nonfiction with her
students
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2 Responses
Hi Melissa! How can I get in touch with Meredith Inkeles? I would like to know how she got the list of nonfiction nominees for her #Sibert Smackdown. Thanks!
Hi! You can email me at meredith.inkeles@wcsdny.org or DM me on twitter @KRESLibrary.