Celebrate Literacy
Celebrate Literacy
TO: Interested Teachers
CHAIRS: Stacey Hoxworth by email-- hoxworths@k12tn.net
RE: Elizabeth Brashears Celebrate Literacy Awards 2008-2009
It is time to begin work on books for the Celebrate Literacy Award Program sponsored by the Tennessee Reading Association and the Smoky Mountain Reading Council. Please follow the guidelines below when preparing and selecting books to be submitted for judging.
- Deadline to Smoky Mountain Reading Council is Thursday, January 29, 2009. Schools may send their entries to Stacey Hoxworth at Farragut Primary. Books can also be brought to the January General Meeting.
- An entry must be accompanied by a Tennessee Reading Association Entry Blank. Click here for an entry form. Please download and copy as needed. Each book must have an official TRA entry blank, properly signed, to be eligible for state awards. All entries must be judged at the local council level.
Schools may enter three books plus one from special education. Schools with a population of over 300 students may enter one additional book for each 100 students above the initial 300. For example, a school with 625 students may enter a total of seven books, six from regular education and one from special education. Each school must submit one School Entry Form with all entries listed.
The books are to be durably, securely, and neatly bound. Book covers/bindings will be evaluated on overall attractiveness, quality, neatness, and use of binding materials.
Acceptable genres include original tales, personal narratives, fables, allegories, parables, legends, biographical sketches, and tall tales. Poetry is not included, but narrative verse may rhyme. Entries may not include the use of story starters.
All work must be done by the authors. Written pieces and illustrations must be entirely original, designed, and written by the author. Authors are encouraged to use ink or colored pencils rather than lead pencils. Stories may be typed or hand written. Multimedia book presentations may be submitted. Artwork is optional. Illustrations, photographs, and/or computer generated or imported visuals may be included. The using of technology must be executed by the author. In the case of very young or severely challenged children, if underwriting is necessary for the reader's comprehension, it should be done on a separate paper that corresponds to the book submitted. Children using a Braille typewriter may have an adult write the Braille translation and include this with the Braille entry. ADULTS MUST NOT TYPE, WORD PROCESS OR COMPUTER GENERATE FOR THE AUTHORS.
Adults may not type, revise, edit, design, or tamper with the author's book design, writing or illustrations in any way. To do so constitutes fraud. Adults maintain the role of consultant to the author through strategies as conferences or Author's Chair. Adults may ask questions and elicit information from the author concerning the writing in progress or any part of the creation of the book. However, the author makes the final decision regarding the manuscript, from the selection of the topic to the final draft.
Invented spellings are acceptable. Use common sense in helping the author use conventional spelling. If the invented spelling is one commonly used at the author's age, then it is acceptable in the final manuscript.
Tennessee Reading Association awards will be given in three categories: gold, silver, and bronze. Honorable mention will be awarded to participants whose entries do not qualify due to not following state rules for the awards. In the case of multiple authorship, one award will be given to each book.
Holistic evaluation will be utilized by the judges to determine awards. Books will be judged on total impressions including content, organization, sensory detail, word choice, grammar, mechanics, attractiveness, universal language usage, sense of story, originality and format. The judges' decision is final in determining the winners. Click here for the rubric that is used in evaluating the entries.
The Smoky Mountain Reading Council will submit a maximum of 14 books to the Tennessee Reading Association (TRA) for judging at the state level. Those 14 books will receive a gold, silver, or bronze medal. Entries that are not sent to the state will receive a certificate from the local council.