My students need copies of the California Young Reader Medal book nominees in order to participate in a book club focused on the reading and critical review of them.
How often does an elementary school student get to review a book and cast a vote for his or her choice to receive a medal? Every year, the California Young Reader Medal is awarded to books based on votes cast my California students and the opportunity to participate is an exciting one.
Our students come from diverse backgrounds ranging from Asian to Latin immigrants to upper class urban families.
One thing they all have in common is a love of books. Every class comes to the library weekly to enjoy read-alouds, learn critical information literacy skills, and to borrow books.
My Project
There are three categories of books for the California Young Reader Medal that are read by K-5 students: "Primary", "Intermediate", and "Picture Books for Older Readers". I try to involve as many of our young readers as possible in the reading of the nominated books each year, evaluating the books, and then having students vote on their personal choices for the one they think deserves the medal in that category. For the "primary" and "picture books for older readers" nominees, we read the books together as a class. For the chapter books in the "intermediate" category, however, these books are too long to read together as a class. I invite 4th and 5th grade students who want the extra reading challenge to join me in a lunchtime book club to discuss these books and critically evaluate their strengths. This is an authentic opportunity to stretch critical thinking skills while enjoying quality literature.
In order for our 4th and 5th graders to read, evaluate, and discuss the merits of these "Intermediate" category books, we need to have several of them available in our school library.
By making them available to borrow, we can kick off an engaging lunchtime book club.
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