#2097. Newberry Award Reading Project

Literature, level: Middle
Posted Sun Jan 7 07:54:57 PST 2001 by Shannon Saxton-Murphy (saxtons@hotmail.com).
St. Paul the Apostle, Grand Rapids

I have a very advanced group of fifth grade readers that are falling in love with great novels. This has been a wonderful way to monitor and have them reflect on what they are reading. I gave this project as an at home assignment and have had awesome parent feedback from teaching it.

During the month of January, you will read and present a project based on one of the Newberry Award winning novels. Your final project will be presented on January 29th or 30th. We will draw names on January 29th to see what order projects will be presented to the class. This project must be completed outside of school, however you may use SSR time to read your chosen book. The following is a list of important dates relating to this project.
January 3rd: Project assigned.
January 10th: Due: One paragraph (in correct paragraph form) including what book you have chosen, the author of the book, and how you are doing on the project.
January 17th: Due: One paragraph (in correct paragraph form) including what project you have chosen to complete, the characters of the story, and the setting of the story.
January 24th: Due: One paragraph (in correct paragraph form) discussing any problems you may be having with the project.
January 29th: Final Project Due

Step 1: Chose one of the following books from the Newberry Awards list. These books can be found both in our classroom library and the school library, you may also be able to find them in the community library.

Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis
Holes by Louis Sachar
Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse
The View from Saturday by E.L. Konigsburg
The Midwife's Apprentice by Karen Cushman
Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech
The Giver by Lois Lowry
Missing May by Cynthia Rylant
Shiloh by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli
Number the Stars by Lois Lowry
Joyful Noise: Poems for Two Voices by Paul Fleischman
Lincoln: A Photobiography by Russell Freedman
The Whipping Boy by Sid Fleischman
Sarah, Plain and Tall by Patricia MacLachlan
The Hero and the Crown by Robin McKinley
Dear Mr. Henshaw by Beverly Cleary
Dicey's Song by Cynthia Voigt
A Visit to William Blake's Inn: Poems for Innocent and Experienced Travelers by Nancy Willard
Jacob Have I Loved by Katherine Paterson
A Gathering of Days: A New England Girl's Journal, 1830-1832 by Joan W. Blos
The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin
Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor
The Grey King by Susan Cooper
M. C. Higgins, the Great by Virginia Hamilton
The Slave Dancer by Paula Fox
Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George
Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH by Robert C. O'Brien
Summer of the Swans by Betsy Byars
Sounder by William H. Armstrong
The High King by Lloyd Alexander
From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E. L. Konigsburg
Up a Road Slowly by Irene Hunt
I, Juan de Pareja by Elizabeth Borton de Trevino
Shadow of a Bull by Maia Wojciechowska
It's Like This, Cat by Emily Neville
A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle
The Bronze Bow by Elizabeth George Speare
Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell
Onion John by Joseph Krumgold
The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare
Rifles for Watie by Harold Keith
Miracles on Maple Hill by Virginia Sorenson
Carry On, Mr. Bowditch by Jean Lee Latham
The Wheel on the School by Meindert DeJong
...And Now Miguel by Joseph Krumgold
Secret of the Andes by Ann Nolan Clark
Ginger Pye by Eleanor Estes
Amos Fortune, Free Man by Elizabeth Yates
The Door in the Wall by Marguerite de Angeli
King of the Wind by Marguerite Henry
The Twenty-One Balloons by William Pène du Bois
Miss Hickory by Carolyn Sherwin Bailey
Strawberry Girl by Lois Lenski
Rabbit Hill by Robert Lawson
Johnny Tremain by Esther Forbes
Adam of the Road by Elizabeth Janet Gray
The Matchlock Gun by Walter Edmonds
Call It Courage by Armstrong Sperry
Daniel Boone by James Daugherty
Thimble Summer by Elizabeth Enright
The White Stag by Kate Seredy
Roller Skates by Ruth Sawyer
Caddie Woodlawn by Carol Ryrie Brink
Dobry by Monica Shannon
Invincible Louisa: The Story of the Author of Little Women by Cornelia Meigs
Young Fu of the Upper Yangtze by Elizabeth Lewis
Waterless Mountain by Laura Adams Armer
The Cat Who Went to Heaven by Elizabeth Coatsworth
Hitty, Her First Hundred Years by Rachel Field
The Trumpeter of Krakow by Eric P. Kelly
Gay Neck, the Story of a Pigeon by Dhan Gopal Mukerji
Smoky, the Cowhorse by Will James
Shen of the Sea by Arthur Bowie Chrisman
Tales from Silver Lands by Charles Finger
The Dark Frigate by Charles Hawes
The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle by Hugh Lofting
The Story of Mankind by Hendrik Willem van Loon
Step 2: Begin reading the book and decided on one of the following projects.

Project 1: Sculpture

Create a sculpture of a character in the story. Use any combination of soap, wood, clay, sticks, wire, stones, old toy pieces, or any other object you chose. An explanation of how this character fits into the book should accompany the sculpture.

This project will be graded as follows:
50pts- Sculpture of one of the characters in the story.
25pts- Explanation of how this character fits into the story in correct paragraph form.
25pts- Presentation must include the title of the story, the author, characters setting, and explanation of sculpture.

Project 2: Character Description

Write a description of three of the characters in the book. Each description should be three paragraphs long and contain information on both the physical appearances of the character and an emotional description. Draw a colored portrait of each character to accompany each description.

This project will be graded as follows:
50pts- Description of characters in three complete paragraphs each.
25pts- Colored portraits drew of each of the characters.
25pts- Presentation must include the title of the story, the author, the setting, and description of the three characters.

Project 3: Newspaper

Create a newspaper for your book. Summarize the plot in one article, cover the weather in another, do a featured story on one of the more important characters in another. Include an editorial, at least four ads that would be pertinent to the story, and one picture about the story.

This project will be graded as follows:
15pts- Write an article summarizing the plot of the story using correct paragraph form.
15pts- Write an article covering what the weather is like in the setting of the story using correct paragraph form.
15pts- Write a featured story on one of the important characters in correct paragraph form.
15pts- Write an editorial giving your opinion of the story in correct paragraph form.
15pts- Write 4 ads which would be pertinent to the story.
5pts- Drawing of one picture about the story.
20pts- Presentation must include the title of the story, the author, characters setting, and explanation of newspaper.

Project 4: Mobile

Create a mobile about the story. The mobile must include the title of the story, the name of the author, setting, and characters of the story. The mobile must have at least 5 moving parts and each part must have a paragraph explanation of each part in correct form.

This project will be graded as follows:
25pts- Mobile with at least 5 moving part.
25pts- Must include the author, title, setting, and characters of the story.
25pts- Explanation of each part in complete paragraph form.
25pts- Presentation must include the title of the story, the author, characters setting, and explanation of mobile.

Project 6: Song

Write and perform an original song that tells the story of this book. The song must include the title of the story, the name of the author, setting, and characters of the story.

This project will be graded as follows:
50pts- Writing of the song must include the title of the story, the author, the setting, and characters.
50pts- Performance of the song must include the title of the story, the author, the setting, and characters.

Step 3: Write and turn in to Mrs. Saxton- Murphy one paragraph (in correct paragraph form) including what book you have chosen, the author of the book, and how you are doing on the project. This paragraph is due January 10th and is worth 25pts for being in correct paragraph form and on time.

Step 4: Write and turn in to Mrs. Saxton- Murphy one paragraph (in correct paragraph form) including what project you have chosen to complete, the characters of the story, and the setting of the story. This paragraph is due January 17th and is worth 25pts for being in correct paragraph form and on time.

Step 5: Write and turn in to Mrs. Saxton- Murphy one paragraph (in correct paragraph form) discussing any problems you may be having with the project. This paragraph is due January 24th and is worth 25pts for being in correct paragraph form and on time.

Step 6: Present your final project on January 29th or 30th.