Mock Caldecott Results

The American Library Association awards the Caldecott Medal to the artist of "the most distinguished American picture book for children." In the spring, first- and second-graders listened to about a dozen picture books that were published in 2019. Our voting process was interrupted by COVID, but we finally had a chance to select a winner from the list of four finalists this fall.

The winner: Who Wet My Pants?, illustrated by Zachariah O'Hora and written by Bob Shea.  

Here are some reasons why the kids chose it:

• It made me laugh and it was funny
• Because I liked how he talked
• He wanted to find out who wet his pants ... and it was him
• It was like a comic with not that many words on each page.
• He kept asking WHO WET MY PANTS!!!
• It's funny when he says "These pants are broken."
• Because it is hilarious
• He was kind and he was curious and even if one of his friends did it, he would still forgive them.

Full voting results:

The Z Was Zapped!

 In second grade, we read The Z Was Zapped by Chris Van Allsburg, which features the letters of the alphabet meeting sad fates. The students had to guess the action happening to them, which started with the same letter; for example, the F was flattened by a foot and the Q was quartered. Then the kids submitted their own ideas:

RIP RBG

Runner-up

To mark the passing of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg in September, I read two picture-book biographies about her to students in grades 3-5: "I Dissent" by Debbie Levy and "The Case of R.B.G. vs. Inequality" by Jonah Winter. 

We discussed what the authors had chosen to include in their books, working from the same original sources. 

For example, both books mentioned that the library where Ruth borrowed books as a child was over a Chinese restaurant. However, only one talked about how she wasn't allowed to take shop in school (and got bad grades in home economics because she was a terrible cook). 

WINNER

Both books mentioned that she was one of only 9 women out of 500 law-school students. However, only one gave details on the cases she worked on as a lawyer.

The students then voted on which one they liked better; of those who had a preference, twice as many kids voted for "I Dissent."

I also asked the kids if there was a rule or law that they found unfair or unjust. Not surprisingly, most of their answers involved school, COVID, and rules at home. But they brought up other issues at the national level as well. Here are some verbatim comments: 

School

• More time for lunch at school.
  
  
• I think it's unfair that we don't get to wear PJs to school every day. 
  
  
• We should get an equal amount of summer and school.
  
  
• That you can't wear hats in class.
  
  
• I think in school if you don't raise your hand you shouldn't call on someone if they didn't raise their hand. They don't know the answer. 
  
  
• I think private and public school systems are unfair and should be the same, all kids are same and they have a right to learn on equal levels. When I grow up I will make all the schools for all kids same.
  
  
• I think it's unfair that school starts so early. I think it should start at 10.  

School in COVID times

• I don't think it's fair that we don't get to have breakfast during morning meeting. What if your alarm clock breaks and you don't have time to eat. 
  
  
• I cant eat or have a little snack while I am in class online. Because my brain needs food all the time. EAT when I want as long as I do my work.
  
  
• I don't think it's fair that my little brother is back in school, in person, 5 days a week.
  
  
• In school you can't drink from the fountain.
  
  
• I think it is unfair that I can't meet my teacher and see all of my friends. What I would do to change things is try to make everyone know that the virus is serious and people need to follow the rules better. Then, maybe I could return to school.
  
  
• I think that online schooling is unfair because you cant see your friends and it is really difficult to do everything over a laptop.
  
  

Home Rules

• Bedtimes are early because we have school the next day. I could change it if I had the power of an adult so I will block up the time on my cable box with my TV stand that sliding doors to cover the time.
  
  
• Change bedtimes for kids. It’s unfair because some kids I know stay up till 10 and I can’t,  I go to bed at 8. I would make it so everyone has to go to bed at the same time. I would pick 9 so it’s in the middle.
  
  
• It's unfair that my older sister can stay up later and has to get up earlier.
  
  
• My brother has to go to bed 30 minutes before me.
  
  
• A rule I don't like in my house is that I am not allowed to play with slime in the upstairs living room.
  
  
• I can't choose what I want for dinner every night. My mom likes us to have a variety of foods but sometimes I just want a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. 
  
  
• I think its unfair that my my little sister does not have to do chores and I do.
  
  
• I think that not playing ball in the house is unfair because I wanna play but my parents say no.
  
  
• I have to do all work before I can play video games.
  
  
• One rule I would change in the house is that we don't have a electronic time limit.
  
  
• I cannot have my IPad 24/7.
  
  
  

National/General issues

• I hate how in the MLB the National League the pitchers have to bat and in the American League they don't.
  
  
• I think not being able to steal bases until the ball crosses the plate is unfair in Little League. I think its unfair because not all runners run at the same speed. 
  
  
• I think that everyone should have free healthcare. I have a disability and now the Supreme Court may change that for people like me.
  
  
• It's unfair that for some things black people are still treated differently than white people. I think more needs to be done for inequality in our world.
  
  
• I think it is not fair that is matters what color skin color we have... I think we should all respected no matter what.
  
  
• I think it is unfair for people to be picked on because of their religion. People who have different religions should be treated equal.
  
  
• I think it is unfair that teens/children under the age of 18 can not vote for the president. Although we may not be 18 that doesn't mean we are not informed enough to vote. Children/teens deserve to vote too because depending on who wins determines part of their future.
  
  
• A rule I do not think is fair is in hotels they do not let pets go in to the hotel, and what I would do to change it is I would say pets have feelings too.
  
  
• All dogs should be able to go into stores, not just service animals.
  
  
• That dogs cant go in playgrounds. I would change that and let dogs go in but only if they have a leash on.
  

• A unfair rule is that you have to wear matching clothes. You should be able to wear whatever you want. 
  
  
• I don't think it fair that at the beach and pools boys don't have to wear tops but girls do. I think it's unfair because it shows the same body parts. I would make boys wear swimming tops. 
  
  
• It is not fair that some people don't have enough foods. I think that is unfair because everyone should have enough food. I would help get money for people's food. 
  
  
• You need to buy things. I think you should trade instead.
  
  

Three of These Things with Grade 1

A big part of information literacy is being able to recognize patterns and to categorize facts, sources, etc. We're starting to work on these skills in first grade. 

Our latest lesson is one of my favorites; it involves the original Three of These Things from Sesame Street. Original as in from the 1970s. I showed several sample videos to the kids, and they raised their hands as soon as they figured out what didn't belong. Here's one of them:

Then it was the students' turn to pretend they were segment producers and come up with their own "Three of These Things" example. Can you tell what doesn't belong?

What Ms. Moore Read Over the Summer

Here are some of the most recent books I've read and recommend for my students. (I read a lot more books for grownups than usual this summer.) Cover images and descriptions are from Goodreads. 

Picture Books

When Iris's elevator button-pushing is disrupted by a new member of the family, she's pretty put out. That is, until the sudden appearance of a mysterious new button opens up entire realms of possibility, places where she can escape and explore on her own. But when it becomes a question between going it alone or letting someone else tag along, Iris finds that sharing a discovery with the people you love can be the most wonderful experience of all.

Outside is waiting, the most patient playmate of all. The most generous friend. The most miraculous inventor. Our connection with nature is not so easily obscured by lives spent indoors.

Llewellyn, a little rabbit, is a collector. He gathers things in jars--ordinary things like buttercups, feathers, and heart-shaped stones. Then he meets another rabbit, Evelyn, and together they begin to collect extraordinary things--like rainbows, the sound of the ocean, and the wind just before snow falls. And, best of all, when they hold the jars and peer inside, they remember all the wonderful things they've seen and done. But one day, Evelyn has sad news: Her family is moving away. How can the two friends continue their magical collection--and their special friendship--from afar?

A little girl sees an empty lot in a city and imagines what it can be.

She sees
a place to grow,
a place to play,
and a place to love.

With the help of her stuffed bear, the girl brings her community together to create a beautiful garden.

Middle Grade Fiction

Marty, Ralph, and Skyler might make the ultimate secret combo when battling alien-slime ninjas in their favorite video game, but in real life they're just regular kids. That is, until the three best friends discover Awesome Dog 5000, a robotic dog with very real power-ups. Awesome Dog can "bark" a sonic boom, "walk" at speeds over three hundred miles per hour, and "fetch" with an atomic cannon. Life for Marty, Ralph, and Skyler just got a major turbo-boost!

Attention, readers! AWESOME DOG 5000 is a wild action-comedy told through a mix of text and black-and-white illustrations, with a mystery to solve at the end. Can you handle the awesomeness?

Nonfiction

Do you know the difference between a fact and an opinion? It can be a hard thing to understand. Some things are facts--like the number of robots in this book. Other things are opinions--like which robot would make the best friend, or which robot dances best. And sometimes to tell the difference between a fact and an opinion, you need to wait to get more information--that's because facts can be proven true or false, and opinions are things you feel and believe--but that you can't prove.

Honoring the path of a slave, this dramatic picture book biography and concise anthology of Aesop’s most child-friendly fables tells how a child born into slavery in ancient Greece found a way to speak out against injustice by using the skill and wit of his storytelling–storytelling that has survived for 2,500 years.

Beginning at birth, the honeybee emerges through the wax cap of her cell and is driven to protect and take care of her hive. She cleans the nursery and feeds the larvae and the queen. But is she strong enough to fly? Not yet! She builds wax comb to store honey, and transfers pollen from other bees into the storage. She defends the hive from invaders. Apis accomplishes all of this before beginning her life outdoors as an adventurer, seeking nectar to bring back to her hive. Candace Fleming and Eric Rohmann describe the life cycle of the hard-working honeybee in this poetically written, thoroughly researched picture book.

When Sharon Langley was born in the early 1960s, many amusement parks were segregated, and African-American families were not allowed entry. This book reveals how in the summer of 1963, due to demonstrations and public protests, the Gwynn Oak Amusement Park in Maryland became desegregated and opened to all for the first time. Co-author Sharon Langley was the first African-American child to ride the carousel. This was on the same day of Martin Luther King Jr.’s March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. Langley’s ride to remember demonstrated the possibilities of King’s dream.

In 1848, Mary Walker was born into slavery. At age 15, she was freed, and by age 20, she was married and had her first child. By age 68, she had worked numerous jobs, including cooking, cleaning, babysitting, and selling sandwiches to raise money for her church. At 114, she was the last remaining member of her family. And at 116, she learned to read. 

From Rita Lorraine Hubbard and rising star Oge Mora comes the inspirational story of Mary Walker, a woman whose long life spanned from the Civil War to the Civil Rights Movement, and who--with perseverance and dedication--proved that you're never too old to learn.