Vote for Books!

Our school election, Vote for Books, is in full swing! The students have all had an introduction to how an election works, discussed the difference between authors and illustrators, learned about the Caldecott and Newbery awards, previewed the authors and illustrators that will be on the ballots, chosen their party (authors or illustrators), and registered to vote! Whew! In the next two weeks, kindergarten through 2nd grades will learn the importance of voting and see how each vote counts; third and fourth grades will learn how to conduct a poll, graph their data, and discuss the relevance of their results; fifth graders will learn about debates and compose questions for their debate during our school convention. Here is a rundown of the dates for the rest of the election:

1. Primary vote will be Friday, October 17. Please have your ballot box decorated (include your name or room number) and ready by this date. I will put the ballots in your box along with a break down of the party your students joined. Please bring your ballot box to the library after your class has voted. The winning candidates for each party will be announced on Monday's morning news.

2. Convention will be the morning of Thursday, October 30. Each class will be a "delegation," walking into the cafeteria with their delegate sign (courtesy of Mrs. Woodlief). Each grade level will perform a little skit or song, with the fifth grade having a debate. I will need each teacher to recommend 2 students from their class to participate on stage in the skit or song (by Friday, Oct. 17th). 1st grade will do a chant, second grade will do a song, TMH will do a cheer, fourth grade will do a reading rap, third grade will introduce the candidates and their works, and we will finish with the fifth grade debate (I will select the participating 5th graders).

3. Final vote will be Tuesday, November 4th. I will have returned your ballot boxes to you and put the ballots in your box. Please bring the box to the library when your class has voted. Results will be announced on Wednesday's morning news.

Some ideas of what you can do in the classroom during the next few weeks:

1. Campaign! Campaigning is encouraged! Have your class make posters, buttons, brochures for their nominee.

2. Author and Illustrator Keynote: I have saved the author and illustrator keynote (Mac ppt) I used in lessons in quicktime movie format and will upload it on the share drive. This would be good to show to your class to review the authors, illustrators, and their works before the primary vote.

3. Videos: watch the Brainpop and Brainpop JR. videos on elections and voting. Safari Montage has many choices as well.

4. Teachingbooks.net: go to www.teachingbooks.net for a plethora of resources on the different authors and illustrators. There are videos of the illustrators demonstrating how they make their illustrations, interviews with the authors, and links to author websites. There is even a feature where students can hear the pronunciation of an author and/or illustrator's name spoken by the author and illustrator! It is an incredibly valuable resource.

5. District resources: The district resource guide is linked from the library webpage on the teacher's page. There is also a video of instructions on using the resource guide. 

6. Student resources: I will be putting links for kid-friendly election resources on the student page of the library website, too. I'll send an email when I have added this.

FYI: Here are the illustrators and authors again:

ILLUSTRATORS: AUTHORS:

Jan Brett Avi

Janell Cannon Judy Blume

Eric Carle Eve Bunting

Kevin Henkes Matt Christopher

Ezra Jack Keats Beverly Cleary

Leo Lionni Andrew Clements

Dav Pilkey Christopher Paul Curtis

Jerry Pinkney Roald Dahl

Patricia Polacco Kate Dicamillo

Allen Say Lois Lowry

Maurice Sendak Mary Pope Osborne

Dr. Seuss Barbara Park

Chris Van Allsburg Rick Riordan

David Weisner JK Rowling

Mo Willems Cynthia Rylant

Vera B. Williams Louis Sachar

Jon Scieszka

RL Stine

I will put a voter's registration card in your boxes so that you will be able to vote as well. Have fun with this! This kids are super excited! Thanks for all you do and for collaborating with me to make our CTE kids successful and to ensure they have fun while learning.