Dear Parents/Guardians of In-coming 4th Graders,
Each year 25 book titles are selected for the Massachusetts Children’s Book Awards (MCBA). The MCBA program is geared for Massachusetts students in grades 4-6. In the Reading Public Elementary schools, students in grades 4 and 5 are encouraged to read at least 5 books from the MCBA list. In March, if students have read 5 titles, they are eligible to vote for their favorite title and see how it compares with the state-wide winner (usually announced in April).
When school resumes in August/September, I would like to do a video project with the 4th and 5th grade students and make book trailers for an MCBA book of their choice. I am asking that each student read ONE book from the attached MCBA list over the summer so that we may begin our project when school begins (the entire project takes 4 to 5 class library periods). If a student has NOT read a book by the time school starts, I will give them two weeks to complete the reading.
ISome students set a personal goal to read all the books from the list. However, I wanted to mention that even though students may read any book from the list, several titles deal with difficult topics (Scar Island, House Arrest) and might best be suited for middle school. You know your child best and I would recommend reading a summary of the book your child is interested in and go from there. There is a great website which has all the book summaries: https://massachusettschildrensbookaward.blogspot.com/
Reading Public Library will have multiple copies of all the MCBA titles. I also noted on my spreadsheet what other formats the library has. Many come in an audio file, CD audiobook, or Playaway—great for long car rides on vacation!
Thank you in advance for your support with this project. As always, if you have any questions please don’t hesitate to email me.
Happy Reading!
Paula Falvey, Birch Meadow Librarian
