Today, my district held its third annual Mock Newbery Committee meeting. Since October, fourth grade students from our three elementary schools have been reading...reading...reading. They have been meeting a couple times a month to discuss their reading with their respective school Newbery clubs. Finally, today, they were able to meet with the other clubs from the district for a day of discussion, sharing and evaluation.
Working together with my amazing colleagues Carrie Davies and Leah Pietrusza we transformed our district's Board Room into our committee meeting place.
And then our amazing readers arrived.
Students were welcomed and given the agenda for the day!
Then, committee members were able to explore their gift bags...
Students started their day with a Skype visit with Newbery Committee member, Cathy Potter to learn about the process of becoming a Newbery judge and how she has managed the massive amount of reading involved.
The next large amount of time was spent meeting in small subcommittees to discuss books....
,,,and skyping with amazing authors, Elana Arnold (A Boy Called BAT) and Tamara Bundy (Walking With Miss Millie). We, also, received a video message from author, Dan Gemeinhart (Scar Island). We appreciate that they took the time to share their inspirations and creative processes with us.
Committee members then had some time to reflect upon their thinking by quietly writing and sketching.
After having the opportunity to champion their book choice, students were finally ready to cast their votes.
Then,,,lunch time...complete with gold medal cookies!
Finally, it was time to announce our winners.
Our three honor books...
And our 2018 Mock Newbery winner was........
It was an incredible day with amazing kids, amazing authors and amazing books! The depth of understanding and insightful discussions made me a very proud teacher. And most importantly, these 33 awesome readers read 343 books from October-February.
Congratulations, Mock Newbery Committee on a job very well done!
