I am fortunate to teach at a large suburban middle school where literacy is highly valued. Students have a 15 minute silent reading period every day and Humanities teachers encourage reading choice and offer thematic book clubs in classes.
How do you challenge students who already read a lot?
With a Mock Newbery Club! We offer a lot of after school activities around sports and technology, but none to address literature. This club would address this gap by offering a weekly club where avid readers can talk about new books and learn how Newbery winners are selected.
My Project
Mock Newbery Clubs are popular in many schools and public libraries and I have long wanted to run one.
The Club would bring together a group of readers who wonder how Newbery winners are selected.
The Newbery award committee is supposed to consider all books (fiction, nonfiction, poetry, graphic novels, etc) for children 0-14 years old. Although chapter books usually win, they are not the only books considered. The members of our Mock Newbery Club will learn about the Newbery criteria, read books, and discuss how well they fit the criteria. The club would culminate at the end of the first semester with a vote to determine our Newbery winner. The actual Newbery winner will be announced shortly afterwards, on February 12.
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