Book Awards Elementary Library Lesson

This library lesson introduces the Youth Media Book Awards to elementary students! Includes five awards: Newbery, Caldecott, Coretta Scott King, Pura Belpré, and Sibert. Also includes fun facts, trivia, and more!

Updated to include the 2026 Award Winners! Next update coming in late January or February 2027.

This lesson has 100+ slides and pages, and it includes:

• 80-slide Lesson Presentation in Microsoft PowerPoint + Google Slides
  • All text is editable; you choose which slides you want to use.
  • 42 slides are whole class lesson slides
  • 37 slides are “scrolling presentation” slides that are great for extending lessons or scrolling in the library during checkout and downtimes.
  • Please note that this presentation is designed to complement a read-aloud. The actual read-aloud story comes from you! Due to copyright laws, read-aloud videos of the books are NOT included.
• Two (2) lists of award-winning recommended books to accompany this lesson (2 pages, PDF)
  • Includes the elementary book award titles mentioned in the presentation, plus a few other award winners.
  • You can edit the titles to suit your library’s collection.
  • The titles on the two pages are the same, but they are sorted differently on each page. One page sorts by fiction, nonfiction, and picture book. The other sorts by award.
• Two (2) editable, differentiated scavenger hunts (3 pages, Google Slides, PowerPoint, and PDF)
  • “Easier” scavenger hunt is for students who are not yet reading; students color the objects as they see them in Part 2 scrolling slides of the lesson presentation.
  • “Harder” scavenger hunt includes the same images as in the easier version, plus 9 questions to answer based on the text in the Part 2 scrolling slides. Students are looking for the answers to the questions and the images in the presentation.
  • Includes answer key for the “harder” scavenger hunt. The easy version does not need an answer key.
• Detailed, pre-filled Library Lesson Plan in editable Google Slides and PowerPoint formats (5 pages), aligned to:
  • AASL National School Library Standards for Learners,
  • National Common Core ELA Standards,
  • Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS), and 
  • 18 “I Can” statements to complement the lesson.
• Lesson tips and tricks (6 pages, PDF)
• Google Classroom Basics (4 pages, PDF)
• Instructions on how to set up PowerPoint slide timings for scrolling slides (2 pages, PDF)

43 Whole Class Lesson Slides

Part 1 is a guided whole-class discussion. The slides walk you through the entire class discussion, from start to finish.

• Storytime song: “The Shelf Marker Song”
• American sign language for “award” — includes video links and step-by-step directions for making the signs
• Introduction to five popular book awards: Caldecott, Newbery, Coretta Scott King, Pura Belpré, and Sibert.
• Shorter mention of Odyssey Award, Stonewall Award, and Asian Pacific American Book Award (including winning titles).
• Introduction to each book award,
• Winners vs. honors,
• Gold and silver medal seals,
• Brief information about who the elementary book awards are names for
• How winners and honors are selected, predicting winners, difficulty in choosing, and award criteria
• Examples of a few books that have won each award (includes winners and honors announced in January 2026)
• Slide for your read-aloud (paste the book cover on the slide).
• Checkout reminders slide — Add your own reminders!
• “What Should We Do Now?” slide — This is very clear instructions on what students should be doing after the lesson.

38 Scrolling Slides

Part 2 is the scrolling slides. Set them on a timer to scroll on a screen during library checkout. Students can use the scrolling slides to complete one of the two Scavenger Hunts.

• Vocabulary Words of the Week — “accolade” and “kudos”
• Includes fun facts that go with some of the past award winners. (For example, John Henry facts go with Kwame Mbalia’s Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky)
• Did you Know questions
• Would You Rather questions
• This or That questions
• True or False question
• What Am I? question
• Trivia questions
• This week’s birthdays

Standards Addressed:

AASL National School Library Standards – See the AASL Standards Framework for Learners to view full text. 

• Inquire –  C.1. – D.1.
• Include –  C. 2. – D.2.
• Collaborate – D.1.
• Explore – A.1. – C.1

Common Core English Language Arts Standards –
© Copyright 2010 National Governors Association Center for Best Practices and Council of Chief State School Officers. All rights reserved.

• CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.K.1 – CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.K.5. – CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.K.10.
• CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.K.6. – CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.K.10.
• CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.1.1 – CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.1.10. – CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.1.10.
• CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.2.1 – CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.2.10. – CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.2.10.
• CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.3.1 – CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.3.10. – CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.3.10.
• CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.4.1 – CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.4.10. – CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.4.10.
• CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.5.1 – CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.5.10. – CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.5.10.

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