What is a Caldecott Award?

For this lesson, I pull about 25 Caldecott medal books for an entire class. Students spend 5-10 minutes and browse through a book looking at pictures and trying to figure out the story. If they finish early they can pick another book. Using the whiteboard we brainstorm physical characteristics of the books. First time I did this the students read the stories but I dropped it because it made the lesson too long and boring. Eventually the students notice the award on the cover. We go back to our list and see how it matches with the Caldecott criteria. Last I show students a Caldecott Medal. I bought them from the American Library Association and they look exactly like the ones on the book. The kids go crazy over them and it is a memorable moment. In one school I worked at we had a contest where the best picture book was judged and a "Caldecott Medal" (from the ALA store) was put on the winners book. There are gold and silver medals for purchase at $14.50 for a packet of 24. The lesson lasts 20 minutes.