Contests in the Library
Check out a few ideas I put together for contests you can hold in the library.
Contest Number One: Bookmark Creation
Planning
·
Introduce the idea to students through their
library time, while asking teachers to remind students of the contest weekly.
· This can be used for any elementary age group
and can be separated by grade level if one so pleases. I like the idea of
having a few winners from each grade level to showcase the different levels of
understanding and artistic abilities.
· Alert students/teachers/parents that students
will read any book that they choose and create a bookmark highlighting their
favorite part of the book.
·
I also think this would be a great activity to
have during the first book fair that goes on during the school year. Students
will see other bookmarks and it will possibly interest them in purchasing a
book. While it does not have to be, it would be a great way to promote the
contest and the book fair at the same time.
Promotion
·
Alert teachers before library time occurs so
that they have a full understanding of the project. This also gives them time
to ask any questions or prepare materials of their own.
·
Alert students during library time with the help
of their teacher.
·
Send home an email or Smore page about the
contest to inform parents about the activity. Hopefully, this gets parents
engaged and reading with their child. I love how easy to use Smore is for both
the creator and the reader. You can add on to each Smore entry as you progress
through the year. Check out my Smore page that I made for a fake contest at a
real school (see side note at the bottom
of the page; the page was created and then turned into a PDF for ease of access).
Preparations &
Procedures
·
Help students choose a book that fits their
reading style, abilities, and interests. Once every child has found a book that
they will use, give them a librarian made bookmark for them to mark as they go
along. When they find their favorite part in the book, let them keep the
bookmark in that place for easy findings.
·
Gather all materials needed for the creation of
a book based bookmark. Have pre-printed bookmarks (four designs attached below,
or encourage students to create their own), markers, colored pencils, stickers,
and any other materials that students may find fun to use.
·
For extra fun, make sure the bookmark has a
small circle at the top to punch a hole in if you want to add some string or
extra pizzazz to their bookmark. Note: the student or parent, due to time
constraints of the mass production of the bookmarks, would do this individually.
·
Have one library day, a week or two in from the
initial day of checking out the book, where students bring their books out and
begin decorating their bookmarks in the library. Some students may finish, some
students may choose to not work on it at all and read instead, and others may
choose to work on it at home.
·
After about a month, have any student who wants
to submit their bookmark into the contest do so. Allow any bookmark to be
submitted with the following guidelines:
o
For everyone, the back must have their first and
last name, grade level, book name, and author’s name.
o
For the younger students (K-3rd),
have them write a few adjectives about their picture on the bookmark. Students
may need help with this, depending on age.
o
For the older students (4th and 5th),
have them write a two to three sentence summary of what the bookmark is
showing/representing from their book.
·
After all of the bookmarks have been turned in,
have students vote on the bookmarks. Each class can decorate a shoebox to put
the voting papers in, allowing everyone to be involved in the process.
·
Once the votes are in, choose the top “X” amount
of bookmark winners from each grade level. I would go with the top three, but
eliminate using the words first, second, and third place.
o
Find a fun way to announce the winners: if your
school has an intercom for announcements, a TV program, or a slideshow that
goes on different monitors around the school. The main goal is to show off
three different books from six different grades, to get kids to want to read
those books, sparking an interest they may have never known they had.
·
For the rest of the year, have copies of the
bookmarks readily available at the checkout counter for students to take as
they please.
Payoff
·
Students will be interested in reading any of
the winning bookmarks and will be introduced to new genres and reading levels. With
three book winners from six different grades (K-5), there is the ability to
showcase many different genres, levels, and authors.
·
The bookmarks can be laminated and kept for
years to come, whether they win or not. Students can choose to use the bookmark
they created or one of the winners, both of which are handmade and unique.
·
Limited materials are in use, as many students
will choose to do this at home where they have access to more materials that
may not be smart to have in a library (i.e. glue or glitter).
·
Classroom shoeboxes can be utilized in the
classroom after as décor or incorporated into another assignment.
·
This entire contest is student focused and
student led! The student is in charge of finding a book, reading it, and
creating a bookmark out of it. After that, the students create the voting
shoeboxes and vote on their favorite bookmarks.
Side note: I attended
CWE as an elementary student and chose to represent them for that very reason.
All of the information found on my Smore page came directly from Fort Bend
Independent School District’s webpages as well as CWE’s.
Bookmark Template:
Below is a template for the bookmarks that one could print
out. I also liked it because it had four different variations of shapes and
pre-made holes. This was easily added to the Smore site.
Flyer:
Below is a
flyer that I would hang around the school and send to the classrooms of
teachers. At many of the FBISD schools, they have TV screens around campus that
flash through important news and announcements going on. I would seek
permission from the principal/one in charge of the slides for the reminder to
be up for the duration of the contest.
Smore Page/Promotion:
https://www.smore.com/kzfy6 (Link provided, but only three Smore
pages can be made on the free version, so I made screenshots just in case it
got erased!)
Contest #2: Postcard
- · Can be used from elementary-high school, changing the rigor and criteria for the grade level.
- · Can have pre-made templates or allow students to use free will.
- · Should allow about a month to finish the book and create a postcard. Allow students to use books that have been previously read, but they may not use classroom read novels (helps prevent repetition).
PLANNING
·
Gather all materials, making copies of templates
for a chunk of the student population. There is no need to print one for every
student because not every student will choose to do one. Extra copies can
always be made, and you can put the template on your library homepage as well.
·
Send informational emails to teachers.
·
Set aside books of interest/ones that would go
well with the project.
·
Have an informational sheet/instructions ready
for students. Print out instructions (two sets to one paper) and hand it to
students with a template. Make sure the due date is on the instructions.
PROMOTION
·
The student’s postcard will be laminated and
hung up for others to see, possibly encouraging others to read the book.
·
Hang flyers in the halls and around the library
with information.
·
If you have a student broadcasted TV show or
morning announcements, have students talk about the postcard.
·
If book club is a thing at your school, have
members of the book club create one for an example to show to students who plan
on creating a postcard.
PREPARATIONS &
PROCEDURES
·
Pre-made/pre-printed postcard templates to hand
out. If students do not want to use your template, encourage them to create
their own using their own hand drawn skills or computer skills.
·
Postcards are not something that are used often
anymore, so you may have to explain to students what a postcard is. Be sure to
explain the difference between a postcard and a letter for students who tend to
go above and beyond on their writing; students need to be aware that this is a
“snippet” of information rather than a detailed paper.
o
Show examples of postcards-yours from the past,
create one yourself, or find some examples online.
·
The postcard is to have one full side of
illustrations and one full side of writing.
o
Writing: students may choose to either give
advice to the protagonist in regards to the conflict, information in regards to
the setting (time, place, main characters, etc.), the resolution of how the
book occurred and the student’s thought behind it, or come up with something
creative! I have learned that giving specific requirements is easier for students.
§
An address must be added, real or made up, but
needs to match the story to an extent.
§
Postage is required (fake or real) along with
some sort of “stamp” from the post office.
o
Illustration: much match what the student wrote
about. Exactly or somewhat out of the box thinking.
PAYOFF
·
Students learn how to summarize the key points,
rather than get into every single detail.
·
Instructional strategies used: adaptation to
learning styles (kinesthetic/ability to use digital technology over
hand-drawn), close read (analyzing the text), inferencing, direct instruction,
journaling (form of writing other than a paper that still shows comprehension),
reading & writing across the curriculum, formative assessment process,
hands on learning,
POSTCARD TEMPLATES
Other options for
templates:
Shutterfly: www.shutterfly.com
Word or Publisher documents
Examples of
postcards:
High school level: https://www.pinterest.com/yadvashem/postcard-design-project/
Middle school level: https://www.pinterest.com/dmccabe2/country-postcard-project/
Elementary school level: Show example clips from the popular
TV show “Blues Clues” on Youtube, https://www.pinterest.com/pin/287597126177683033/?lp=true
Other Resources:
(2) http://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/student-interactives/postcard-creator-30061.html
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