Classroom Resources > Resource Type

The winners of the Children's Choice book awards will be announced during National Book Week. Before the winners are announced, children across the nation will be able to vote for their favorites. Invite your students to show why their favorite finalist should win by designing a promotional book cover.

• First, have students read Children's Choice finalist books in their grade range. Younger students can read all five finalists, while older students may read fewer.
• Then, ask each student to select his or her favorite finalist and brainstorm reasons why it is so good. Encourage students to consider specific elements, such as characters or plot.
• Next, have students look at their brainstormed lists and select the ideas that could be depicted on the book cover. Challenge each student to design a book cover that will convince others that his or her favorite should win.
• Finally, have students use the Book Cover Creator to create their book covers. They can then display their book covers with the book in a classroom or school display or on a bulletin board.

Have your students conduct research and write original works of nonfiction on topics of their choice. Students may wish to work collaboratively on this project as coauthors or author-illustrator teams.

• First, have students brainstorm possible topics individually or in small groups.
   
• After each student or team has selected a topic, have them conduct research using appropriate Orbis Pictus Award-winners, Internet resources, and other reference sources.
   
• Have students plan and write informational picture books, biographies, or other works of nonfiction. You may wish to have students create a Flip Book to help them organize their information.

Create a classroom literary award modeled after the Caldecott Medal. Begin by having your students explore the history of the Caldecott and review the criteria used for selection of Caldecott winners and honor books. Then have students work in small groups or as a whole group to create a class award:

• Select a name for the award. This may be based on the school name or mascot, or students may want to honor a student, staff member, or even their favorite author/illustrator.
• Decide on selection criteria and create a written document.
• Design the award, in the form of a ribbon, medal, or certificate.
• Select a book from those read during the school year or a previous year. Have students nominate their favorites, and then write essays justifying their selections. After essays have been read aloud, have the class vote on their choice.

Share your selection with your school with a display outside your classroom or in the school library. You may wish to have students "present" the award by locating author websites to contact the authors of the selected books.

Have your students explore Walker's use of dialect in The Color Purple and then extend their understanding through experimentation in their own writing. First, have your students read the novel. To start the discussion on dialect, select a passage from the novel and rewrite it using standard or formal English. Share your revision with students and have them compare it with the original. Have students find and discuss additional examples of African American dialect in the novel, and then explore the following questions:

• How does Walker's use of dialect affect the story?
  
  
• Would the story have the same impact if passages were rewritten in formal English? How would the impact be different?
  
  
• Does the use of dialect challenge the reader? Why or why not?

Invite students to write a short piece of fiction or poetry using the dialect of their peer group. Have them rewrite the piece in formal English, and then ask them to compare the two and select their favorite.

Invite your students to "step into the shoes" of their favorite author or illustrator. Have students first read several of the author's books and then conduct research on his or her background and career. Next, have students become their favorite authors and prepare presentations for the class. Presentations can include displays representing the authors' work, question and answer sessions, interviews, press releases on the authors' latest books, and so on. Students' presentations can also include creative costumes or props representing their authors' and illustrators' backgrounds and works (e.g., a Winn-Dixie shopping bag for Kate DiCamillo, or a teddy bear for Don Freeman).

Hold an "Authors Open House" and invite other classes in to meet the authors!

The first weeks of school can set the tone for the rest of the year, so community-building is a priority. Ask students to share details about their lives with one another using the interactive Graphic Map.

• Ask students to identify key moments in their lives. Younger students can brainstorm a list of events from the summer, while older students might focus more specifically on significant events from previous years at school.
   
• Have students assign a positive or negative value to each event based on their feelings about it. Happy events like "meeting a new friend" would have a high number, and sad events like "having to leave a sibling at home" would have a lower number.
   
• Once students have gathered their ideas, ask them to publish the entries using the interactive Graphic Map. Have students record a brief description and include an image for each memory. If computers are not available, have students draw graphics and add captions for their memories on construction paper.
   
• When everyone has completed their graphic maps, invite students to share their memories in small groups or with the whole class. Encourage students to look for feelings that they have all experienced and to identify details that they want to know more about.

See the Graphic Map page for more information and activities for this interactive tool.

Discuss with your students some of the ways in which illustrations can enhance a story. Begin by reading just the text of a picture book. Then share the actual book, pointing out the illustrations. Ask students how the pictures help them understand the story better. Then, have your students become illustrators, using a variety of media. Offer choices including paint, pencil or colored pencil, pen and ink, felt-tipped markers, or collage. Offer students a variety of choices such as:

• Illustrate a favorite story they have written.
  
  
• Collaborate with a partner and become an author—illustrator team. Alternatively, each student writes a story and then illustrates each other's works.
  
  
• Select a favorite children's book and mimic the illustrator's style, or create illustrations for the story in their own style.

When students have completed their illustrations and stories, be sure to display them in the classroom or school library!

Monster is presented in the form of a film script, written by the main character. Discuss how this format affects the story and why the author may have selected this writing style. Have students write a story using a similar format. Some options include:

• Have students rewrite a story as a screenplay from a character's point of view. Younger students could select a favorite children's story or picture book for this activity, while older students may choose their favorite novel.
  
  
• Ask students to write an autobiographical story. Have students first list interesting events from their lives, and then write a true or fictional account based on the facts.

Have students share their stories by creating a class book or reading them aloud.

Have students explore their own roots by interviewing family members. Students then use their family history as a basis for their writing.

• First, ask students to identify family members who could share a detailed and interesting family story. Then, have the class brainstorm a list of appropriate questions to "jumpstart" the interview. (Help students think about using both open-ended questions such as "What do you remember about...?" or more specific questions, such as "Where were your parents born?")
  
  
• Have students select and interview (by e-mail, regular mail, telephone, or in person) one or two people.
  
  
• Ask students to use their interviews as a basis for writing a fictional account of their roots, in the way Haley's Roots was based on his own family history.

Many of Natalie Babbitt's books address the concept of immortality, an issue that has intrigued humanity for centuries. From the ancient Egyptians' determination to reach the afterlife, to the more recent quests to locate the mythical "Fountain of Youth," history offers numerous examples of humankind's attempts to achieve immortality.

• Have students research these and additional beliefs from around the world, and then compare them to Babbitt's vision in Tuck Everlasting.

• Have students consider questions such as:

  • What are some similarities and differences among these different views?
  • Why do people find the prospect of eternal life so intriguing?
  • What would be the positive and negative aspects of immortality?
• After considering the issues, have students compose a short story, myth, or poem that addresses immortality.
• Finally, have students illustrate their works in a style similar to Babbitt's black-and-white line drawings.