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Home › Classroom Resources › Calendar Activities
October 01
Find favorite book picks in the Children's Choices.
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| Grades | K – 6 |
| Calendar Activity Type | Literacy-Related Event |
Each year, thousands of children, young adults, and teachers around the United States select their favorite recently published books to be included in the Choices annotated booklists. Published annually by the International Reading Association and cosponsored by the Children's Book Council, these booklists are used in classrooms, libraries, and homes to help young people find books they will enjoy reading.
Celebrate your students' favorite books by creating your own "Top Picks" class booklist. Begin by asking each student to create an individual list of his or her favorite 10 books read throughout the year. For each book chosen, ask students to write a sentence or two explaining why they like the book.
Once students have created individual lists, divide the class into small groups. Invite each group to nominate three books from those lists for a class list of favorites. Students should compare their lists and the reasons for their choices during this small-group time.
Gather the class together and ask each group to share its three nominations. Write the titles on the board or chart paper. After each group has shared, review the entire list with the class, eliminating any repetition. Invite the class to discuss the assembled list. If there are books on the list that are not familiar to all of the students, take the opportunity to read the text or ask someone who has read the book to share more information about it.
Publish your class list in the classroom or share it with your school librarian for display in the library. Have students use the Book Cover Creator to create a book jacket for their favorite book to add to the display. See the Book Cover Creator page for more information about this tool.
- Choices Reading Lists
Access the Children's Choices, Young Adults' Choices, and Teachers' Choices for 2012, in addition to previous years. This site also includes information about how books are selected and how you can get involved.
- Write a Book Review With Rodman Philbrick
This Scholastic resource provides tips on writing and revising a book review. At the end of the tutorial, students can publish their book reviews.
- ReadWriteThink.org: Parent & Afterschool Resources
Learn about more books for children and teens, including Choices selections, through two podcast series: Chatting About Books (for elementary-aged readers) and Text Messages (for adolescent readers). Review past episodes and subscribe so that you don't miss future ones.
- Recommended Books for Kids
Reading Rockets provides this list of children's books organized by theme, as well as a list of award-winning kids' books.
| Lesson Plans | Other Calendar Activities | Printouts | Professional Development | Parent & Afterschool Resources |
Activities & Projects
Grades 9 – 12 | Activity & Project
This activity gives teens an opportunity to write reviews on the movies, television shows, music, restaurants, and books they love—and hate!
Tips & How-To's
Grades 6 – 8 | Tip & How-To
Help a Child Write a Book Review
Learning how to evaluate and write a review of a book is an excellent foundation for the critical thinking skills that a child will continue to draw on and refine throughout his or her life.
Grades 6 – 12 | Tip & How-To
How to Help a Teen Choose a Book
There are many ways to help teens choose appropriate and engaging titles. The following tips will help you find the resources necessary to choices that will appeal to the teen readers in your life.
Printouts
Grades 3 – 5 | Printout | Writing It Out
Children in the upper elementary grades can use this form to write a book review to share with friends.
Podcast Episodes
Grades 6 – 12 | Podcast Episode
In this episode, you'll hear about those qualities along with a wide range of great new titles including adventure books, historical fiction, coming of age books, and story collections.
