The Surrey Schools’ Narrative Non-Fiction Book of the Year

Program Information

Program Aim:

The Surrey School District’s Narrative Non-Fiction Book Award program is designed for elementary school students. The program aims to expose students to non-fiction literature by presenting samples of “Narrative Non-Fiction” for students to read, to listen to, and to vote on.

Program Goals:

The central goal of the program is to promote a love of reading for enjoyment and for information, by exposing students with a broad range of interests and reading levels to the Narrative Non-Fiction genre.

Selection Criteria:

Ten narrative non-fiction books, published within the previous 3 years, are selected each year. To be nominated for the Surrey Schools’ Narrative Non-fiction Book Award, a book must meet the following criteria:

• must be in a “Narrative Non-Fiction” format

• should present a strong theme which generates discussion and extension activities

• appeals to a wide range of learners

• thoughtful and engaging language

• thoughtful and engaging visual presentation

• excludes folk tales and other traditional literature

• clear, accurate and stimulating presentation of facts, concepts and ideas

Selection Committee:

Committee members, including the Chair, are practicing Surrey Teacher-Librarians, who indicate interest in working on the program. The committee also includes the District Helping Teacher for Teacher-Librarians. Voting for the Chair will occur in February of the outgoing program year.

Program Delivery:

Teacher-librarians may choose to share all of the books with classes in the library, encouraging students to evaluate the narrative and illustrations, and to identify their preferred title. To be eligible to vote, a student must read or listen to a minimum of 5 of the 10 nominated books. Voting will take place once the books have been read, or in late April, and tallies will be submitted to the designated teacher-librarian. The book which receives the most student votes will be officially recognized as the “Surrey Schools’ Narrative Non-fiction Book of the Year”.

Alternatively, the collection may be circulated to teachers who wish to conduct the program as part of Language Arts activities, or to individual students who wish to read the books independently. A tally of votes from students participating at each school will be requested in late April.

The winning title will be announced in late May or early June of the outgoing program year.

Materials to Support the Program

A website will be maintained to support the program and will include a variety of teaching activities created by the committee members which may be used in conjunction with the nominated titles.

Teacher-librarians will receive a poster to promote the books and award stickers for the winning title.

Communication

Teacher-librarians will receive information about the program from the Helping Teacher or committee members through the district email. Information will also be posted on the website, with a link being posted on the Surrey Teacher-Librarian Group page on the Hub.

Surrey Schools' Award Program Links

Surrey Schools' Book of the Year http://thessboy.weebly.com/

Surrey Schools' Picture Book of the year https://sites.google.com/view/surreyreads

Surrey Schools' Narrative Nonfiction Book of the Year https://sites.google.com/view/surreyreadsnonfiction/teachers

Surrey Teens Read http://surreyteensread.weebly.com/