Book Awards and Computer Programming

The month of January is very exciting to the Library world.  It's book award month!  This month we are concentrating on several picture books that are up for the oldest and most distinguished book award, the Caldecott Award.  This award is for the best illustrations in a picture book.  There are several factors that go into the nomination for this award.  Here are just a few:

• The illustrations should tell the story (with or without words present).
• The book has to appeal to children of all ages up through the age of 14.
• The book needs to be written and published in the United States the previous year.  So, for our awards this month, the book needs to be written and published in 2018.

The students and I love this month, and get really excited to explore these books.  We end the month with our own mock election to vote on our favorite book.  Last year there were 4 books that won the Caldecott Honor Award (basically 2nd place) and we picked the Caldecott Medal Award winning book..."Wolf In the Snow" by Matthew Cordell.  Very exciting!!  The Caldecott Award is announced on January 28th, 2019, and we can't wait to see if we vote for the winner!

In addition to book award month, all of our Hornung students are continuing to learn about computer programming.  Our JK-1st grade students are working with Code & Go Robot Mouse.  This game helps them understand programming sequences, and challenges them with different pathways to program.  Our 2nd-4th grade students are working with ScratchJr.  This application teaches them how to program their own interactive stories.  It's an exciting time in the Library STEAM Center!