Beginning the Year with a Mock Charlotte Huck Experience

Each year, we enjoy working with our 2nd graders and colleagues as we look at
books with a critical lens while participating in a Mock Caldecott. This award
takes place during the 2nd semester of the year, and we look forward to our
Caldecott work. Coincidentally, our class chose Dan Santat’s book, After the Fall
as our “Ross-Cruserecott”. It didn’t win the Caldecott, but it did win the 2018
Charlotte Huck award! This year, we are going to begin looking at criteria at the
beginning of the year with a new mock award. NCTE’s book award
announcements are in November, which will provide a jump start as we empower
our students to be the award experts. This year, we will begin the year diving into
reading books with the goal of choosing our class favorite to receive the Charlotte
Huck Award for fiction that has the potential to transform lives by inspiring
imagination, wonder, and compassion.

There is magic that happens when your class participates in mock book awards.
Classroom discussions are elevated as children are empowered with criteria.
They learn how to agree and disagree with specificity. They read, read, read
books that open their worlds to the experiences of others. These books help
them feel and help them learn about how to help themselves and others.
Teachers are facilitating conversations- not inserting their opinions, which positions
them as a learners alongside their students. Colleagues come together to discuss
books students are lifting up to the next level, and they are sharing books and
ideas with their teams and across grade levels. Books have the power to build
and strengthen communities.

For Students:

Shared Padlets: One for picture books and one for middle grade novels

Visible books stacks created by children

Posters advertising favorite books and hopeful award winners

For Teachers:

Goal for at least one teacher per grade level on campus to participate

Online collaboration: twitter, blogs, facebook

For Families

Much of our class life is captured by Seesaw, so parents will view pictures and
videos documenting our Charlotte Huck journey, which will give them insight and
encourage family conversations about books.

Nervous to start a mock project with your class?  Don’t be! NCTE has
created several resources to help teachers and students have a meaningful
mock award experience. Here is a link to help you get started:
http://www2.ncte.org/app/uploads/2018/06/Mock-Charlotte-Huck-
Award-Getting-Started-Guide-2018.pdf

NCTE has even created a kid friendly version of the Charlotte
Huck Award criteria:
Does the book make you feel what the characters are feeling?
Does the book help you imagine new things? Take you to new places?
Does the book make you think about your own life in new ways?
Does the book help you to see the world in new ways?
Does the book help you to think about how we treat others? 
How we relate to others?
Is the book well written? If so, in what ways?
How do the illustrations support your reading experiences? 
In what ways do they stand out?

Because we teach 2nd grade, we will spend most of our time with picture books. 

However, we know there will be some transitional books and novels released 

that will be inspiring to our students. We hope you will join us in the comments 

with ideas from your class. Here is a sneak peek of some of the titles we are 

excited to share with our class: 

Drawn Together by Minh Le and illustrated by Dan Santat is a beautiful book
about the power of art and how it can bridge generations and break down
barriers. The characters, a Vietnamese speaking grandpa and his English
speaking grandson navigating a visit. What will they do? What will they eat?
How will they communicate? The front matter reveals Vietnamese translations
featured in the dialogue between a Grandpa and grandchild.

For so many of our students, art is life. They adorn the backs of napkins or
use whatever they can find to create. For others, there is less flexibility
when it comes to creativity. What If… , written by Samantha Berger and
illustrated by Mike Curato reminds us that art is important and connects
us to our world.