Inaugural Rooster Games

Thanks to all of the students who read RI Children's Book Award books and participated in the first annual Rooster Games, a test of their knowledge of plots, characters, settings, and illustrations. Here are some photos from the night: 

Teams rotated through 5 stations

Our first two arrivals

Serious team photo

Silly team photo

First station: settings. Photo by Michelle Blanchette.

Click this link to see the second station ... can you identify the books?

Third station: characters. Photo by Michelle Blanchette

Fourth station: Matching objects to books ... anyone want the rat? I have it!

Last station: Debating trivia answers

Decision made!

Next question!

Thanks to siblings who came along to support the team!

Whoosh!

source: chrisbarton.info

The annual Rhode Island Children’s Book Award (RICBA) goes to the book selected by students in grades 3-5 as their favorite from a list of 20 nominees.

Students who read 3 or more nominated books may vote in February, and students who read 5 or more qualify to participate in the Rooster Games (more info on that to come). To give everyone a head start, I'll be reading a few of the shorter nominees to each class. 

One of these shorter books is Whoosh! Lonnie Johnson's Super-Soaking Stream of Inventions. Most kids enjoyed the story; here are some reasons they gave: 

• It had facts and true things.
• You can use your imagination to make lots of stuff.
• I want to invent one day.
• In the summer I can play in the pool with my siblings and we soak each other.
• It had good pictures.
• I like engineering and water guns.
• It tells you should never give up.
• The main character was a really smart kid.
• It was about inventing and I love making stuff and coming up with cool ideas like Lonnie Johnson.
• It taught me about another human's life.
• In summer I use the SuperSoaker all the time.
• I love science and want to be a scientist, so it was so cool!
• I like real stories.
• I enjoyed Lonnie's creativity.

You can learn more on the author's blog.

Now Playing: Ada's Violin

The annual Rhode Island Children’s Book Award (RICBA) goes to the book selected by students in grades 3-5 as their favorite from a list of 20 nominees.

Students who read 3 or more nominated books may vote in February, and students who read 5 or more qualify to participate in the Rooster Games (more info on that to come). To give everyone a head start, I'll be reading a few of the shorter nominees to each class. 

We started with Ada's Violin, since it was on the November discussion list for the RICBA book club at the Cranston Public Library. It's a true story that was actually featured in a documentary; here's the trailer: 

 


Most kids enjoyed the story; here are some reasons they gave:

• It shows that you can do whatever you put your mind to. 
• It teaches you what you can do with recycling.
• It shows how someone came from being small to big.
• We have a different life than them ... it was interesting.
• She started out not good but then she got amazing at it.
• I liked it because I play the violin.
• It shows how we can make a life of trash become a life of music!
• It was inspiring.
• It had a lot of creativity.

RICBA Trailers, Online Form, eBooks Available

I finally finished reading all of the RICBA nominees ... kids, how many have you made it through? As a reminder, here's the list of books. (Titles in blue have book trailers available.) All you need to do is read 3 of them to vote in February. You'll have to read more than 3 to participate in the Rooster Games ... but more on that later (we're meeting with Miss Emily at the public library later this month to figure out how they'll work).

If you've read any this RICBA nominees this summer, you can submit your forms online - fill out a new one for each book.

If you'd like to read a RICBA nominee online, I JUST figured out how to set that up for you using Destiny Discover. Here's what you need to do (12 are currently available):

Via computer

1. Click on this link and then log in: 

• User Name: CKL and your lunch code (school ID number)

Example: CKL12345

• Password: Your birthday in 6 digits (MMDDYY)

Example: If you were born on May 5, 2009, your password would be 050209

2. Search for the book

3. When you find it, click on the "Checkout" button to claim it.

Via a device

To check out the e-book to a device like a phone or tablet, download the Destiny Discover app. Once installed and open, it will ask you to find your library and then have you log in.

NOTE: Any checkouts to your account will be available via all platforms.

Grade 3 Loves The Wild Robot!

Oh my goodness. I am so excited that the third graders like "The Wild Robot" by Peter Brown so much. An accomplished picture book creator, Brown has written his first novel, and it's on the 2018 Rhode Island Children's Book Award list. I love this book!

I started reading it today to the third graders, and they independently drew pictures inspired by the illustrations as I read. Looking forward to continuing the book next week! I love these kids!

Edited to add Twitter response from the author/illustrator:

RICBA Local Voting Results

The Rhode Island Children’s Book Award (RICBA) goes to the book selected by students in grades 3-5 as their favorite from a list of 20 nominees. Students who read 3 or more nominated books were eligible to vote last week. We had a tie at Oak Lawn: 

   

We'll have the official state results soon!

Pedro! Pedro! Pedro!

We read the RICBA nominee Growing Up Pedro by Matt Tavares this week to coincide with the World Series. One illustration shows him taped to a pole by his teammates. The kids asked if it really happened. Here's the tape to prove it.

Most kids enjoyed the story; here are some reasons they gave:

• It was a story about like to never give up.
• I liked it because I love sports.
• It was funny when they tied him to the pole.
• He worked hard to accomplish his goals.
• It was a very sweet story.
• My favorite team is the Red Sox.
• I liked when they taped him to a pole.
• It was exciting and action-packed.
• I liked learning about his baseball career.
• It talked about my culture.
• Kid-friendly nonfiction that is full of facts.
• It shows that anyone can grow up to be anything.
• Pedro is awesome (I have a poster of him in my room).
• I like that they loved baseball so much.
• It is about a kid who will never give up.
• It was interesting to learn about his life.

The book ended with the 1999 American League championships, but Pedro's playing career continued for 10 more years. He was still on the Red Sox when they finally reversed the curse in 2004 and won their first World Series in 86 years. He then played for the New York Mets and the Philadelphia Phillies before retiring in 2009.

Pedro was inducted into the Hall of Fame last year, and the Red Sox retired his number.

Trombone Shorty - RICBA Readaloud

We're gearing up for Election Day in a couple of weeks, but did you know that students get the chance to vote in February? The Rhode Island Children’s Book Award (RICBA) goes to the book selected by students in grades 3-6 as their favorite from a list of 20 nominees.

Students who read 3 or more nominated books may vote in February. They will receive extra credit for each RICBA ratings sheet they submit (either in person or online); it asks them to record what the book was about and how they felt about it. To give everyone a head start, I'll be reading two nominees to each class. 

I started with Trombone Shorty, written by Troy Andrews and illustrated by Bryan Collier. Here's the book trailer:

Most kids enjoyed the story; here are some reasons they gave:

• He was determined. He didn't give up.
• It makes you just want to dance.
• He stood out and didn't hide back his talent.
• I liked it because it was an autobiography. I liked the illustrations too.
• He was so good at the trombone, and he was so small.
• He likes music and so do I.
• I thought it was interesting how he found the trombone and got to play with [Bo Diddley's] band.
• It shows that if you are short, you can still do anything you want to.

During checkout, I played part of a video from Trombone Shorty's web site. One student said, "Now he's Trombone Biggie!" Below the video embed, you'll see a photo of some VERY enthusiastic 5th graders air-banding along with the show.

Summer Reading: RICBA Books

Kids going into grades 3-5 will be eligible to vote for the Rhode Island Children's Book Award if they read 3 of the 20 nominees.

I'm making my way through the list and encourage students to do the same ... why not get started over the summer? If you read one of the RICBA books, add a comment below to tell other kids what you thought. Include your last year's room number and initials, but not your full name.

I just finished A Whole New Ballgame by Phil Bildner yesterday, and am waiting for Upside-Down Magic to get delivered to my Kindle (do you know about Overdrive??). So far, though, my favorite of the 14 I've read so far is probably Full Cicada Moon by Marilyn Hinton. Here's the cover and summary from Goodreads (where I gave it 5 stars):

Inside Out and Back Again meets One Crazy Summer and Brown Girl Dreaming in this novel-in-verse about fitting in and standing up for what’s right.

It's 1969, and the Apollo 11 mission is getting ready to go to the moon. But for half-black, half-Japanese Mimi, moving to a predominantly white Vermont town is enough to make her feel alien. Suddenly, Mimi's appearance is all anyone notices. 

She struggles to fit in with her classmates, even as she fights for her right to stand out by entering science competitions and joining Shop Class instead of Home Ec. And even though teachers and neighbors balk at her mixed-race family and her refusals to conform, Mimi’s dreams of becoming an astronaut never fade—no matter how many times she’s told no.

This historical middle-grade novel is told in poems from Mimi's perspective over the course of one year in her new town, and shows readers that positive change can start with just one person speaking up.