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Reading Rockets' children's literature expert, Maria Salvadore, brings you into her world as she explores the best ways to use kids' books both inside — and outside — of the classroom.
Madness in the air - books and basketball!
My son's frantic search for the reported scores so that he could fill in his brackets reminded me that it's March and there's basketball madness in the air.
I'm on spring break this week; good thing there was no class yesterday or today. With the gorgeous weather we've been having, there was bound to be major case of spring fever going around.
What do basketball and spring fever have in common? Maybe it's that they both come around at the same time of year.
And just in time for spring fever (and something to do on days that aren't as spring-like as we might want), teachers and parents may want to think about a Battle of the Books (BoB).
There's a national BoB sponsored by School Library Journal). In this battle, there's a face-off between two books — decided by children's book authors until only 2 of the original Sweet 16 remain. It's up to the National Ambassador for Young People's Literature, Katherine Paterson, to make the final decision.
There's another BoB going on at my sister's school in Southwest Florida. Her school has a diverse community with many children and families who are considered at risk. But the staff and certainly the children and their families value books and reading.
Their iteration of the BoB should be a fine fit.
The county's official site for the BoB defines elementary participants as grades 3 and up, but there's no reason that younger children — even as young as pre-kindergarten and kindergarten cannot be involved.
I've learned that young children can provide amazing insight into books when they are exposed to them regularly — and if adults listen to them. Children's observations about what they've read with teachers or parents are often discerning, Some have even made me look at books differently.
So, just as my son's b-ball brackets fill up, let's fill up the Battle of the Books brackets.
And welcome Spring!
I love connecting reading to life with subjects and threads that are meaningful to individual readers. Great idea to tie in the "March Madness"! Also, if your child is bonkers for basketball, look for sports related stories that go beyond the sports story like John H. Ritter's books on baseball and life.
Posted by: Cathy Puett Miller AKA The Literacy Ambassador | March 25, 2010 09:24 AMThe Florida Reading Council has a contest for younger students (k-2) every year with 8 books which are read to students and then they decide the winning book. Most interesting since they take their vote very seriously and do not always follow what their friend votes for. This is called the Children's Book Award vote.
Posted by: Judy Brown | March 27, 2010 10:55 PM
Comments
I love connecting reading to life with subjects and threads that are meaningful to individual readers. Great idea!
Posted by: Cathy Puett Miller AKA The Literacy Ambassador | March 25, 2010 09:23 AM