I’m not a huge fan of winter, but I really do like January. It’s a great time for a fresh start and a mental refresh, as well as a logical time to press start on new goals. It’s also when the American Library Association announces it’s annual awards, including the most pretigious honor of them all, the Newbery Award.

As a middle school teacher I loved teaching my students about this classic children’s award - using the buzz of the event to introduce them to a barage of high quality reading selections. Sounds great, right? Luckily for you, I’ve gathered up all of my resources for you to make teaching this unit not only easy (for you) but engaging (for your students).

First up, a way to spark your students’ interest and see how much they already know with a trivia quiz game!

You can find printable answer sheets for the quiz game here.

Next, a Newbery Award Power Point.

This power point is an easy way to introduce students to the history and vocabulary surrounding this prestigious literary award. The presentation begins with definitions for 10 related vocabulary words followed by an overview of the award. The last portion of the show highlights the award winning titles from 1961-2020 including book covers, blurbs and (for some more recent titles) even book trailer videos. You can use this powerpoint to not only introduce your students to Newbery Award history and requirements, but also over 60 award wining titles so they can select one to read for themselves.

To make the most of this powerpoint, grab this note taking sheet!

Ask students to complete the accompanying note taking sheet which repeats the text from the powerpoint, but leaves occasional blanks for students to add in key information for an interactice note taking experience. A word bank and answer key are included. By working with targeted vocabulary words and engaging multiple senses (reading/seeing the powerpoint, hearing the teacher read it aloud, and writing the words) students will improve their memory of the concepts as well as note taking skills.

As your students work through this unit and learn about/read several Newbery books, they can keep track of their interest level and book completion with this great book tracking chart.

There are lots of Newbery Award winning books to choose from, but it can be hard to decide which one to read next! Students can use this chart to record their level of interest as you book talk selections (or as you go through in the Newbery Award Power Point). Then, when you go to the library, the will have a few books preselected, plus the titles and authors they need to find the books on the shelves! Happy reading! You could also use this chart all year long to keep track of books your students have read or create group challenges within your classroom (which group can read the most Newbery Books?!?).

Finally, take it to the next level with the Newbery Medal Activity Pack!

Use this set of activities to engage in critical thinking as students evaluate a book they have read, create their own award requirements and design for a new medal, and answer their choice of thought provoking journal write. Finally, end the unit with one of two quizzes on the content presented.

Each of the above activities costs just a few dollars, but can bring so much energy and excitement about reading in your classroom. And, if you purchase the bundle, you can have all of this award winning word nerd goodness for just $7.00. Seriously, for less than the cost of two lattes, you can have your next two weeks worth of ELA lessons PLANNED! DONE! Which would leave you some time to actually read a Newbery book (or any book… or take a bath… or a walk… or anything you want!).

And finally, here is a video in which I share my ultimate list of Newbery favorites!

P.S. I’m always looking for what teachers need. What resources and materials can I create for you? Email me and I’ll get right on it! All my best to you, my teacher friends, and happy New Year!

This post was made beautiful by Canva.

If you liked what you read on my blog today (or are in search of weekly word nerd goodness) and would like to have it delivered to your inbox click the audience that best describes you: Writer. Teacher. Reader. As always, feel free to share this post with others you think might be interested via email, Facebook or Pinterest.

Finally, affiliate marketing is promoting a product or service in return for a commission. When you purchase a product or service through one of my links, I earn a small part of the sale. There is NEVER any extra cost to you. If you looked up the same product on the same site through another source besides my website, the price will still be exactly the same. 100% of the time.

I also NEVER link to products or services that I don't 100% believe in. I will never tout a company or their goods if they are disreputable or if I don't believe them to be worthy of your hard-earned money. In no way are my affiliate links a scam. (Language borrowed with permission from Kristen Kieffer on Well-Storied.com)