Students study the criteria used to select notable book awards, including the Caldecott Medal and the Newbery Medal. Then they develop their own Class Book Awards to bestow upon favorite books in the classroom library. They decide on...

Second graders complete a KWL chart about libraries. They create a book using writing patterns of a particular author. Students decide criteria for awarding the Second Grade Librarian Award to books in the classroom library, and use a...

In this personal health worksheet, young scholars research biographies of famous people using the Internet or library in order to nominate someone for an empathy award. They fill out the nomination form for this fictitious award by...

Students create a class book award. In this book award lesson, students review the book awards already created (Caldecott or Newbery) and look at books that have received these awards. They come up with their own award and nominate new...

Fifth graders complete a project for a Newberry Award winning book. This ambitious lesson outlines the expectations for students regarding their project. Included is a list of possible books and a variety of writing, art, music and...

Sixth graders select a book from the Newbery list and read it. They write a short summary of the book without giving away the ending and then research the book's author. They write a book review and, finally, incorporate all of this onto...

Learners engage in a variety of activities as they study illustrators, how illustrations enhance a studenT book, and the Caldecott Award. They write a report about their favorite illustrator.

Foreshadowing, flashbacks, and imaginary places are the three topics of focus in this two-lesson packet written especially for the book, Bridge to Terabithia. Each lesson also comes with worksheets and activities to support student...

Fourth graders examine the Caldecott award. They recognize the medal and explore books/illustrators that have won the award in the past. They vote for their favorite.

Fourth graders locate books in the library. In this Dewey Decimal System lesson, 4th graders listen to the Dewey Rap via power point or audio file. Students view a card from the Dewey system in their library and practice finding the book...

Students read Newbery award books. In this Newbery book lesson, students look online to find all the books that have received this award and look through online reviews to find one they would like to read. After finishing the book, they...

Students list the five best films of the year, in their opinion; brainstorm a list of criteria for a "good" film. They compare their own lists with the nominees in this year's Academy Awards; consider patterns in Academy Award winners of...

5 Broken Cameras, the award-winning documentary nominated for a 2013 Academy Award and winner of the Sundance 2012 Directors Award is the focus of a resource packet that includes a lesson plan, discussion guide, reading lists, background...

Eliminate the hard work of creating an entire literature unit with this reading guide for the novel Sarah, Plain and Tall. From background information about the author and her motivation for writing the story to...

The characters in The Grapes of Wrath come to life through an activity that asks groups to craft a dramatic monologue for a character in John Steinbeck's National Book Award and Pulitzer Prize winning novel.  Writers are...

Andrew, Katrina, Irene. Recognize these names? They are all retired hurricane names. Investigating why these storm names were retired is just one activity in a 33-page packet designed to be used in conjunction with a study...

The Academy Award-winning documentary A Time for Justice launches a unit that examines America's civil rights movement. Class members examine key events and participants in the movement and consider how the civil rights movement...

Help readers understand the roles of authors and illustrators and why they have been recognized by medals of excellence. Your class will discuss and then create illustrations for a book. When they have finished, you can hold your own...

Rainbow Fish is on the move again and kids will enjoy these activities designed to accompany a reading of Marcus Pfister's Rainbow Fish Discovers the Deep Sea. A great packet to add to your curriculum library.

Candace Fleming's award winning Ben Franklin's Almanac is the anchor text for a classroom guide that provides teachers with a cache of pre, during, and post-reading activities.

Before sending your third graders to the library, help them build a solid foundation for their research with this plan. Following the "I do, we do, you do" method, the teacher starts by modeling how to create a research question and...

After looking at pictures of trees, discussing tree growth, and identifying the parts of a tree, lead your class on a nature walk and have them collect samples and record their observations. They then work in pairs to polish the...

Second graders identify Caldecott Medal winners. For this library media lesson, 2nd graders view an overhead transparency of Caldecott Medal winners from 1987-2004 and answer questions based on the data that is displayed.

For this research worksheet, students use Internet searches or a research library to find answers to 15 questions about a variety of subjects.