2010 Caldecott

Here's the winner of this year's Caldecott Award - The Lion & The Mouse, a wordless picture book illustrated by Jerry Pinkney. DES students looked at the book this week in ICT classes. Through it, children saw that pictures really can tell a story!

If you're interested in reading the story, which is an Aesop's Fable, there are a few online versions here and here!

Answers From Experts

In ICT class last week, first graders had many questions about the Caldecott Medal. How big is it? How heavy? Is it made of paper like the ones pasted on the covers of the award-winning books in the DES Library? We decided to email Beth Krommes, illustrator of the 2009 Caldecott Award-winning book The House in the Night. She had a Caldecott Medal and she would know.

Ms. Krommes wrote back within the hour and included a picture of the Caldecott Medal so the children could see it. Here is a section of her response:

HELLO FRIENDS! I am working on some pictures in my office, and heard your e-mail arrive. Thank you for your kind words about "The House in the Night". I still can't believe I won the Caldecott award...the medal measures 2 1/4" across. I can fit it in my pocket. It is heavier than I thought it would be. I am sending a picture of me holding the medal in its special box. I keep it in the box on a table in my office. When I visit schools, I like to have the students pass it around so everyone can see it up close. Happy reading you all, and a very HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Your friend, Beth

I am continually amazed that experts in their fields are so willing to share with children when asked. Today's students are so fortunate to have readily available the tools they need to find timely answers to their questions.

Awards Month

January is a big month in the world of children's literature. Two of the most well-known book awards are given out this month - the Caldecott Award for the best picture book of the year and the Newbery Award for the best children's book. This year, the winners will be announced at 7:45 next Monday morning. I will try to order the winning books from Borders as soon as I know them - but I am reading that the winning books sell out of stores within minutes of the announcement!

In ICT class this week, some of us looked at a movie of a book that had won the Caldecott Award in years past. To see more, click right here!

A Gift for You!

Christmas week both second and third graders used TuxPaint, a free painting program, to draw a seasonal picture and make a label or a sentence about their work. You can have TuxPaint on your computer at home, too - download it here. Happy Holidays!!

Ladybug Award Winner

With 3467 votes statewide, Waking Beauty, written by Leah Wilcox, was the picture book chosen by the children of NH to win the 2009 Ladybug Award. Here at DES, Waking Beauty was an instant hit due to its unusual illustrations, its rhyming pattern, and its humor! Leah Wilcox also wrote another fractured fairy tale called Falling for Rapunzel. We'll try to get that book for the DES Library, too!

Slideshow!

Using photographs taken at Riverday, fourth graders each compiled and narrated a short movie using iMovie. Then they used the same pictures to make an online slide show on Animoto, a free slideshow program on the internet. They chose music from freeplaymusic.com to accompany their brief show. After they downloaded and saved a copy of their work to their digital portfolios here at school, they embedded the slide show into their blogs. Here's an example of one student's work:

Veterans' Day

Students at DES performed their traditional Veterans' Day assembly not only for the invited local veterans but also live for members of the armed forces stationed in Baghdad. Using Skype, free videochat software, students were able to sing, recite poetry, and read original work to audiences both here and on the other side of the world! We even had a chance to ask the servicemen and women some questions about their work in Iraq.