Book Chat with Mrs. Matzat

With the Presidential elections coming up this November, voting fever is in the air! Even though you are not old enough to vote for President, you are old enough to vote for books! Nominate your favorite book at VoteForBooks.com. You can submit your nominations until April 30. On May 1, the top 10 candidates for favorite book will be announced. The general election will run through summer and fall. Votes will be tallied on Election Day, and the winner will be announced on November 5. Submit your nomiation today!

I’m going to have a hard time with this one. I have too many favorite books! Which book is your favorite?

I just got back from the Missouri Readers Awards Banquet and I am so excited! I got to find out who won the Mark Twain Award and the Show-Me Award. The evening started with the presentation of awards to last year’s award winners, so I got to see Lola Schaefer accept her award. She said to tell all of you that she enjoyed her visit to our school very much. After they presented her award, we got to eat our dinner. We had chicken, mashed potatoes, green beans…. What? You don’t want to hear about what I had for dinner? Oh yeah! I bet you just want to know who won the awards. Ok, here’s what you’ve been waiting for (drum roll please…)!

Remember, when our Branson Elementary voters had their voting party in March, they selected Lightning Thief as their favorite book. Let’s see what the state thought:

2008 Mark Twain Award
3rd place – Cryptid Hunters (2829 votes)
2nd place – Double Identity (2849 votes)
1st place – Lightning Thief (5575 votes)

Way to go Branson voters! You helped pick the winning book!

Here are the Show-Me Award results:

2008 Show-Me Award
3rd place – The Great Fuzz Frenzy (14,806 votes)
2nd place – Police Cat (16,902 votes)
1st place - Magnus at the Fire (18,886 votes)

If you haven’t read these great stories yet, be sure to check them out!

So, what do you think of the results of the contest? Do you agree with the choices? Why or why not?

See you when I get back Wednesday!

Mrs. Matzat

It was very hard to select the winners of the Lunch with Lola Schaefer contest. There were so many good posts from which to choose! Thank you to all of the students who particpated. Here are the winners:

Bailey 506
Samantha 407
David 407
Windy 603
Rachel 601
Madelyn C. 402
Zach 406
Justus 302

Congratulations to our winners! You will join me and Mrs. Schaefer for lunch in the library on Thursday at 10:45.

As you know, Lola Schaefer, the author of the 2007 Show Me Award winner Arrowhawk, is coming to visit our school next week. Eight lucky kids have a chance to win lunch with Ms. Schaefer! To enter the contest, you need to write a good descriptive paragraph to me telling me why you think you deserve to have lunch with the author. Here’s what you need to do to enter the contest:

1. Write your persuasive paragraph. Make sure you include specific reasons why you should get to have lunch with her. Be convincing! Type your paragraph in Word and save it so you don’t lose your work.

2. Copy your paragraph and paste it into a comment on this blog post. Your teacher or I can help you do this if you do not know how. Remember to use our Internet safety rules and only post your first name and your room number.

3. Submit your paragraph before the end of the day on Friday.

4. Check the blog next week to see if you are one of the winnners.

Good luck and have fun!

Mrs. Matzat