Global Reading Challenge
Through an annual partnership with the Seattle Public Library (SPL), all 4th and 5th grade students are given the opportunity to read eight excellent chapter books and compete in a team trivia competition that includes all the other elementary schools in the city. The SPL Librarians select recently-released chapter books that feature global perspectives from cultures and communities around the world, usually written by authors with their own personal connections to what they write about.
2024 Global Reading Challenge book titles
Our 4th and 5th graders here at Thurgood Marshall started reading these novels in November, using both physical copies and online eBooks made available by SPL. Our school library provided study guides with practice questions to help teams prepare for the trivia competition. In early February we held our in-school competition, which resulted in a three-way tie! The tie-breaker round ended with “The Crescent Moons” team as our winners. They continued on to represent Thurgood Marshall Elementary at the semi-finals held on March 6, where they won! The Crescent Moons will now advance to the city-wide finals on the evening of March 26. Wish them luck!
Whether your 4th or 5th grader participated in the GRC or not this year, I recommend all eight titles for your 2024 reading list. I encourage families to read these books and discuss their themes and ideas together.
Washington Children’s Choice Picture Book Award (WCCPBA)
Our Kindergarten, 1st, and 2nd graders get to read and vote for a picture book to win the state award known as the WCCPBA. Each year a committee selects 20 picture books to nominate for this award. Our school library purchases every title (if we don’t already have it in our collection), and I try to read as many of the books as I can to K–2 classes when they visit the library. In May, when the voting window opens, students will have the chance to vote for their favorite picture book. The Washington Library Association tallies the votes and announces that year’s winner. All the books are fun to read together, but students often feel a powerful connection to the story they choose to win the award.
Washington Children’s Choice Picture Book Award nominees
If you are a family with a K–2 student, I recommend checking these books out from the library or searching YouTube for read-aloud videos of them. I encourage you to talk together about the characters’ journeys, notice ways the illustrations add to the meaning of the text, and think about possible lessons learned from the story.
Happy Reading!
From your school librarian, Mr. Zetterberg
