Parents & Students
Program Overview
What is this program?
Students in grades 3-6 are challenged to read as many books as possible from a list of 15 books assigned to their grade level. There is one list for 3rd and 4th grades and one list for 5th and 6th grades.
After reading a book, students go to the Best Books leader to pass off their reading (schools choose the format) and to receive a lanyard and a button for the book. With each following book, they earn a corresponding a button for their lanyard.
Students who read and earn buttons for at least 5 books from their list receive an additional reward. There are also special buttons and rewards for those who read all of books on their list (Master) and for those who read all of the books on BOTH lists (Grand Master).
Students must read one book to participate in the Writing Competition (three contests, three deadlines).
They must read at least five books from their grade-level list by the end of January to participate in Battle of the Books. Team preparations happen through February, with school-level battles in March and the district battle in April.
What is the purpose/goal of this program?
PURPOSE: Best Books rewards readers and asks them to consider books from a variety of times, genres, authors, reading levels, and purposes. Books are selected carefully to represent high-quality writing and a wide-range of character identity and perspective. The shared experience of a group of people reading the same book at one time helps encourage discussion of literature, especially characters and themes.
GOALS:
Writer Andrea Davis Pinkney said "Kids read for the same reasons that adults read. They want to have fun, laugh, have adventures, escape, meet new characters, and learn more about the world . . . my focus is to inspire joy, power, and the love of reading." The focus in our program is to do the same.
Students will know their school library and librarian.
Students will make choices about their reading; even with a list to follow, there are many options (a great motivator for encouraging readers).
Students learn empathy and compassion by reading about people with different lives; they build understanding and confidence from reading about people who are like them.
Everyone stays more current with contemporary children's literature
Traditional, time-honored standards aren't lost on the shelves.
Students have a community of readers--a shared experience and direct interaction as they read together (another strong motivator for reading).
Which schools are participating?
The deadline for schools to sign up for the 2020-2021 Best Books Program is Tuesday, June 30, 2020.
A list of participating schools will develop as they sign up. Watch for a complete list of participating schools posted here after June 30. If you want to request that your school participate, please talk to the principal at your school before June 30.
There are valid reasons your school may not participate too: sometimes the librarian has tailored other specific reading incentives or has other traditions with his or her students, sometimes a school is limited by not having a person who can serve as the leader, some schools have previously participated and not found their students responsive to the program, etc.
Of course, anyone can read from the list with us, even if the school is not participating in the program!
What do parents need to do? (Permission Forms)
Your school will introduce this program in September. At that time, they will send home permission slips. If you do not receive one or lose your copy, here are PDF files you can print and return to the school
Parents are always welcome to read along with their students and to encourage them to participate in the writing contests and/or Battle of the Books. Remember, though, that this program is optional, not assigned, and that the main purpose of it is for students to read FOR FUN. Keep it fun! :)
If your student wants to enter one of the writing contests, he or she will need to fill out a form that requires a parent signature
WRITING CONTEST FORM (to print and turn in at school)
WRITING CONTEST FORM EN ESPAÑOL
WRITING CONTEST FORM (online)
If your student wants to participate in Battle of the Books, there will probably be no additional permission form required unless his or her team qualifies for the District Battle of the Books. In that case, the Best Books Leader at your school will send information to you.
Who runs this program?
The Granite School District Elementary Libraries are part of the Educational Technology department. If you have questions about this program, please call or email Marci Bishop. At the school level, a Best Books leader can help you. This is usually the librarian or a reading specialist, but teachers often get involved as well.
What are the books? When will next year's books be announced? Who decides?
Traditionally, the next year's list is announced at the District Battle of the Books and posted online in May.
A committee comprised of teachers, librarians, reading specialists, and the district Elementary Library Supervisor meets, reads, reviews, and creates the book lists.
Please note that for the 2020-2021 list, the COVID19 outbreak made this a bit different. The District Battle of the Books event was cancelled, and lacking quick collaboration ideas, the Elementary Library Supervisor composed the list.
The District Novels Committee is not directly involved in the program since their purpose is to evaluate novels and other fiction for classroom use. Because this program is optional and students have choices, inclusion on that list is not required. However, we do submit any fiction not already on their list for approval so a teacher can use the book for a whole class activity or study unit. Official approval for classroom use happens at different times through the year as the committee meets quarterly. You can see the status of our books on the novel committee's approved lists HERE
Where do students get the books?
Check out a copy of the book from their school library. Every participating library will have at least one copy of every book when the school year begins. Students can only check out one Best Books title at a time so more students can be reading.
Check out an eBook or audio book on Sora. Not every book has an ebook or audiobook available. If they do, we purchase 4-5 copies of each title for checkout through the Granite District's Sora Library. We encourage students to check out only one Best Book on Sora at a time to make more copies available to others. These books are available just after the new list is announced.
Check out a copy of the book from the public library. We collaborate with the Salt Lake County Library to ensure there are extra copies of each book on the list at the branches closest to participating schools. They also have their own Sora collection of eBooks and audio books.
Did you know . . . You can look at both Sora collections by signing in only once! The easiest way to do this is to sign into your school account, find the "Add a Library" option, then select your county library. You will need your county library card number to connect them.
You can also see what books are available to check out at your school (and add your name to a Holds lists) in the Destiny Catalog.
If you would like to purchase copies for your child to read, or would like to donate extra copies to be used in the classroom or library, the tables below show the list price for our most popular vendors.
Or show some love to our local independent bookstores if you can!
King's EnglishWeller Book WorksCentral Book Exchange (used)Frost's BooksUtah Book & Magazine (used)Benchmark BooksSimply BooksMarissa's Books & GiftsDolly's Bookstore (in Park City, but a fun field trip?)
2021 Price List (1).pdfTimeline
