Teaching Tips

Junior Judges’ Activities Ideas - an appetiser!

• Invite students to bring to class/library, what they regard as an outstanding information book/picture book/novel with their reasons for it being outstanding.
• Spend time sharing ideas of what makes a very good book and compile a list of the criteria agreed on by the class – in the sections of information books, early childhood, picture books, novels.
• Access the CBCA website and compare with the criteria that the judges use to choose the outstanding books.
• Discuss points of intersection and disagreement
• Select a panel to be the judges for each of the categories: information books, picture books, early childhood, younger readers and older readers and early childhood (if you think there is expertise).
• Each panel will agree to read all the books in their category and can use either the class–developed criteria, or the CBCA criteria to focus their judging discussion.
• Each panel will choose a winner and two honour books either devising their one method of voting or applying the CBCA's.
• Judging panels can then be ‘hot seated’ with class members being invited to ask them questions about the process of judging, why they chose the books they did, the books themselves, how they felt, what they learned etc. (You could add a level of theatricality here and make it that the judges appear on Rove Live, 7.30 Report, A Current Affair, Oprah etc. Principal to be Rove or Kerry O’Brien or Tracey Grimshaw or Oprah etc??)
• Class teacher/librarian can collect the statistics on how many pages/words/images etc have been read, for prominent display.
• A class/school ‘graffiti board’/or intranet site could be set up to allow the whole school to record their choices as the judging is proceeding – creating interest and momentum.