Revising your Caldecott Essay

Even if you received a good grade on your essay, there is always room for improvement, so I ask that everyone find a way to revise your essay.

Here are the steps you need to take to revise your essay:

1. Unsubmit your essay.
2. Review your grading sheet and comments
3. Make appropriate revisions
4. Resubmit your essay.

Most of you lost points in the referencing the Caldecott criteria. Remember: it's not enough to have an opinion; you have to back it up with relevant evidence. Most of you turned in a nice piece of writing, but when it came to actually following the directions of the assignment, you missed out.

Here are a few sentence starters that you can use to reference the criteria in your paper:

• According to...
• As it states in...
• It is written in...
• The Caldecott criteria states...
• The Caldecott committee is looking for...

And finally, as a reminder, here are the criteria again. Remember that the main criteria you will be using to judge your picture book worthy of winning are letters a through e. 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The Randolph Caldecott Award seeks to find "The most distinguished American picture book for children."

But just what does distinguished mean?

Distinguished: (adjective) made noticeable by excellence; having an air of distinction or dignity

In making your decision you must keep this in mind: the Caldecott is awarded for illustration, not for text. You may only consider text only if it detracts from the illustration.


Here is the Caldecott critera from the ALSC website (I re-worded some of this to help you better understand the criteria):

1. In identifying a “distinguished American picture book for children,” defined as illustration, committee members need to consider :
   1. Excellence of execution in the artistic technique used
   2. Excellence of interpretation of story, theme, or concept through pictures
   3. Appropriateness of style of illustration to the story, theme or concept;
   4. Understanding of plot, theme, characters, setting, mood or information through the pictures;
   5. Excellence of presentation in recognition of a child audience.
2. The only limitation to graphic form is that the form must be one which may be used in a picture book. The book cannot be dependent on other media (i.e., sound, film or computer program) for its enjoyment.
3. Each book is to be considered as a picture book. The committee is to make its decision primarily on the illustration, but other components of a book are to be considered especially when they make a book less effective as a children’s picture book. Such other components might include the written text, the overall design of the book, etc.

This is Not My Hat and the Caldecott criteria

In class today we studied the Caldecott criteria and applied it to the book This is Not My Hat by Jon Klassen, which won the 2013 Caldecott award.

Choose three of the criteria for #1 (a-e) and explain (on loose leaf) why and how This is Not My Hat meets these criteria.

The Randolph Caldecott Award seeks to find "The most distinguished American picture book for children."

But just what does distinguished mean?

Distinguished: (adjective) made noticeable by excellence; having an air of distinction or dignity
In making your decision you must keep this in mind: the Caldecott is awarded for illustration, not for text. You may only consider text only if it detracts from the illustration.

Here is the Caldecott critera from the ALSC website (I re-worded some of this to help you better understand the criteria):

1. In identifying a “distinguished American picture book for children,” defined as illustration, committee members need to consider :
   1. Excellence of execution in the artistic technique used
   2. Excellence of interpretation of story, theme, or concept through pictures
   3. Appropriateness of style of illustration to the story, theme or concept;
   4. Understanding of plot, theme, characters, setting, mood or information through the pictures;
   5. Excellence of presentation in recognition of a child audience.
2. The only limitation to graphic form is that the form must be one which may be used in a picture book. The book cannot be dependent on other media (i.e., sound, film or computer program) for its enjoyment.
3. Each book is to be considered as a picture book. The committee is to make its decision primarily on the illustration, but other components of a book are to be considered especially when they make a book less effective as a children’s picture book. Such other components might include the written text, the overall design of the book, etc.

Just what the heck really happened at the end of Sam and Dave Dig a Hole?

My friend Travis Jonker wrote about 6 Theories on the Ending of Sam and Dave Dig a Hole.

What is your theory about what happened at the end of Sam and Dave Dig a Hole?

Answer this question in Google classroom for a chance to get some extra credit!

Look at all the award-winning books we have read and talked about!

I feel so lucky that I was able to attend the ALA Youth Media Award ceremony in Chicago on Monday.  If you want to watch it (at home), here is the recording on YouTube:


Or you can read the press release. 

One thing struck me after the ALA Youth Media Award ceremony was over was how many of the award-winners we have read, talked about, or have in our classroom. Check it out:


YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults (finalist):

The Port Chicago 50: Disaster, Mutiny, and the Fight for Civil Rights by Steve Sheinkin


Odyssey Honor (audiobook award):

A Snicker of Magic by Natalie Lloyd


Coretta Scott King Awards:

When I Was the Greatest by Jason Reynolds
Firebird by Misty Copeland, illustrated by Christopher Myers
How It Went Down by Kekla Magoon


Caldecott 

Honors:

Nana in the City by Lauren Castillo
Viva Frida by Yuyi Morales


The Noisy Paint Box by Barb Rosenstock, illustrated by Mary GrandPre
Sam and Dave Dig a Hole by Mac Barnett, illustrated by Jon Klassen
The Right Word: Roget and His Thesaurus by Jen Bryant, illustrated by Melissa Sweet


Caldecott Winner:
 
The Adventures of Beekle by Dan Santat


And finally, the Newbery...

Honors:

El Deafo by Cece Bell
Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson

Winner:
 
The Crossover by Kwame Alexander

Choose your favorite for the 2015 Caldecott Award

The Randolph Caldecott Award seeks to find "The most distinguished American picture book for children."

But just what does distinguished mean?

Distinguished: (adjective) made noticeable by excellence; having an air of distinction or dignity

In making your decision you must keep this in mind: the Caldecott is awarded for illustration, not for text. You may only consider text only if it detracts from the illustration.


Here is the Caldecott critera from the ALSC website (I re-worded some of this to help you better understand the criteria):

1. In identifying a “distinguished American picture book for children,” defined as illustration, committee members need to consider :
   1. Excellence of execution in the artistic technique used
   2. Excellence of interpretation of story, theme, or concept through pictures
   3. Appropriateness of style of illustration to the story, theme or concept;
   4. Understanding of plot, theme, characters, setting, mood or information through the pictures;
   5. Excellence of presentation in recognition of a child audience.
2. The only limitation to graphic form is that the form must be one which may be used in a picture book. The book cannot be dependent on other media (i.e., sound, film or computer program) for its enjoyment.
3. Each book is to be considered as a picture book. The committee is to make its decision primarily on the illustration, but other components of a book are to be considered especially when they make a book less effective as a children’s picture book. Such other components might include the written text, the overall design of the book, etc.

PROCEDURE FOR CHOOSING/WRITING ABOUT YOUR CALDECOTT PICK:
A.  Read through the picture books provided to you in class, keeping notes about your favorites in your writer's notebook -- but ONLY considering illustration, not text.

Example of my notes. (These selections are from last year so as not to have my opinion influence yours)

B.  When you have made your choice, begin crafting an essay about the book you have selected, including the following:

1. Mention the title, author, and illustrator of the book at the beginning of the essay
2. A short summary of the story
3. A description of the artwork (think about art terminology you have learned with Mrs. Ackley: use of color, lines, brush strokes, etc.)
4. Reference the Caldecott criteria by explaining why you consider your selection to be "the most distinguished," how the illustrations help interpret the plot, why the artistic techniques used are superior to the other books, etc.

Here is an example of the writing I did for my favorite 2014 Caldecott pick, Journey by Aaron Becker:

Mrs. Shaum's pick for the 2014 Caldecott: Journey by Aaron Becker
(Note: This is my selection for last year's Caldecott so as not to have my opinion influence yours)

When a young girl is desperate for some attention from her family but they appear to be too wrapped up in their own lives to notice her, she draws herself into an imaginary land and can get herself out of any predicament with just a few lines drawn from a magical red crayon, invoking a nod to the classic children's book, Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson

Journey is an absolutely stunning, heart-skipping wordless picture book. It will make you gasp at its beauty and feats of imagination. What is so captivating about this picture book is the variety of influences you see in Becker's art, namely the Eastern influences, especially on the first full page spread where our protagonist enters the land of her imagination and you see paper lanterns strewn about the forest. That spread will make the reader's eyes bulge in wonder and heart skip a beat at the awe-inspiring transition from a colorless, depressing world to an adventurous, fantastical one. In going from one world to the next, the reader experiences a delightful, soul-stirring surprise. 

To examine Becker's art further and noting why it should be considered distinguished, one merely has to look at the level of detail in his pen and ink/watercolor illustrations. In poring over the architectural marvels Becker created in this book, one would almost assume he had a background in architecture, and yet, his illustrations are so fantastical that his artistic abilities are likely too whimsical and outlandish to be of any practical use in the field of architecture.

In considering Becker's level of detail in the setting, one also has to consider another curiosity in his artwork and that is the lack of detail in the faces of the people he draws, namely the little girl who goes on this journey. This could be cause for criticism, however, I see it more as the artist's way of not imposing this journey on any one person -- it is, in essence, all of our journeys. 

As a wordless picture book, Journey has all the things the Caldecott committee is looking for: excellence of artistic techniques, the use of illustrations to tell a story, timelessness, and appeal to a child audience.

Improving our summarization skills

I've noticed we need to work on writing better summaries. First we must know what a summary is. Here are the ideas we came up with in class today:

A summary:

• Sums up your reading
• A shorter version of what you read in your own words
• Gives the most important facts and ideas from the text
• Usually AT LEAST a paragraph in length

So now it's your turn to write a summary.

1) Read this blog post by Kelly Barnhill
2) In your writers' notebook, make a list of the important points and facts about the story
3) On a sheet of loose leaf, write a summary of the story that is AT LEAST one paragraph.

The Beauty of Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" Speech

After you watch the speech, you will read the full text and do the following:


1) Write down three words in your writer's notebook you would like to look up later - Copy the sentence in your writer's notebook so you can use it as a vocab word.

2) On a sheet of loose leaf, copy 3 passages from the speech and give a short explanation for each as to what makes this a beautiful and powerful use of language.

Here is an example (therefore, you may not use this passage as one of your 3):

"This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity." 

This passage is full of precise, rhythmical language such as "great beacon light of hope,"  "seared in the flames of withering injustice," and "joyous daybreak." King clearly knows how to put words together to "nudge the world a little" as Tom Stoppard would say. Not only are his words powerful, but they are visual (you can picture them in your mind), and musical. 




EXTRA CREDIT
Write a short report (in your own words) explaining the differences between the Civil Rights leaders Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X. 

Be sure to list your sources. 

Due Monday January 26th.