Our 2019 Sibert Winners

Our fourth grade class read eleven outstanding nonfiction books published in 2018. Students paired up and studied the books' main text, backmatter, illustrations and text features. After reading and studying each book, each pair of students wrote persuasive essays about why the book they chose should win the Sibert. We'll be featuring three of our essays a day until they've all been published. Enjoy!

 1987 Trash Disaster
​ By S.L and H.Q

    Have you ever thrown away something that should have been recycled? Well, start recycling, because that's what caused the 1987 garbage barge disaster to happen in New York. All That Trash by Meghan McCarthy should win the Sibert Medal because it has amazing pictures, interesting back matter, and awesome main text that all support the main idea that recycling makes the world a better place.

    The first reason All That Trash should win the Sibert Medal is because the illustrations show how trash affects the earth. In the beginning of the book, Meghan McCarthy drew a pile of a bunch of trash. This shows that recycling makes the world a better place because there would be less trash and it wouldn’t cause problems if people recycled. Near the end of the book, Meghan McCarthy showed a huge banner hung on the barge that read, “Next time try recycling.” This supports the main idea that recycling is good for the earth because the barge was encouraging people to recycle. In the middle of All That Trash, she shows the nice, sandy beaches of the Bahamas next to all the nasty trash. This is important because it shows the nasty trash and that if you recycle there will be less trash. But if you don’t recycle, the nice, sandy places will be polluted. Meghan McCarthy’s illustrations show that recycling will be better for the earth.

     All That Trash should also win the Sibert Medal because it has awesome main text that supports the main idea that recycling makes the world a better place. In the beginning, Meghan McCarthy wrote, “Harrelson agreed to take 3,186 tons of trash.” This is important because the book tells the main idea of recycling is good for the earth because it shows how much trash was not recycled. At the end of the book, Meghan McCarthy wrote, ”Unfortunately, the Islip town supervisor who had offered to take the garbage changed his mind. Now he offered to take only half of the 3,186 tons. The town supervisor felt angry at the New York City mayor because he didn’t want the trash. ”Haul it to Gracie Mansion,” the New York City’s mayor’s home. Lastly, Harrelson’s plan was “to take 3,186 tons of trash from New York's almost full landfill in Islip. First he rented a barge to carry the garbage. Second he got a tugboat and crew to tow the barge. Third he found a place to dump it.” This supports the main idea because it tells what Harrelson’s plan was to take the trash to a different dump but there was so much trash that no one wanted it. All the main text show that recycling makes the world a better place.

     The last reason that All that Trash should win the Sibert Medal is because it has interesting back matter. My first example is that it has facts about the barge. This is important because the barge is what contained all the trash. My second example is that it tells you how to recycle in creative way like using plastic bottles as flower planters, decorating Christmas trees with found objects or using cardboard as your canvas. This is important because recycling is good for the earth and some people don't know how to recycle and it teaches them how to. My last example is that Harrelson's  plan was that he wasted a lot of money on the barge. This is important because that he wasted $6000 on renting the barge every day! He could have used that money on something else if people recycled. All this back matter supports the main idea of recycling is better for the earth.

    All That Trash by Meghan McCarthy should win the Sibert Medal because it has amazing pictures, interesting back matter, and awesome main text that all support the main idea that recycling makes the world a better place. Do you want to learn about the the 1987 garbage barge? Then read All That Trash it's a great book!

 Persevering through Life’s Challenges
 By: I.A. and A.M.

       Have you ever studied more than five-to-six hours per day? No? Well in Nothing Stopped Sophie, Sophie always studied more than five-to-six hours a day. Sophie persevered through all this studying because she wanted to teach herself how to be a mathematician. Nothing Stopped Sophie written by Cheryl Bardoe and illustrated by Barbara McClintock should win the Sibert Medal because the illustrations, main text, and back matter support the book’s main idea - perseverance.

     The first reason Nothing Stopped Sophie should win the Sibert medal is because the illustrations support the book’s main idea - perseverance. On the cover of the book Barbara McClintock drew numbers around Sophie. Barbara showed numbers around Sophie to reinforce the main idea of perseverance. The cover shows perseverance because the numbers show her teaching herself without going to school and keeping her hopes up of being a mathematician. Another reason Nothing Stopped Sophie should win the Sibert Medal is a picture that looks like it’s cut up. The page shows her studying to become a mathematician. The illustrator drew this picture to show Sophie persevering with all her studies to get into a good school. Toward the end of the book there is a page that shows her studying to figure out the calculations for “vibrating sands on plates.” Mrs.McClintock drew this picture to show Sophie’s hard work. Barbara’s illustrations highlight that it’s possible to do anything even if others don’t believe in you.

     The second reason Nothing Stopped Sophie should win the Sibert Medal is because the main text supports the book’s main idea-perseverance. When Sophie was little she had to persevere when teaching herself all the the things she needed to know. This sentence shows her perseverance. “One morning Sophie was found bundled in blankets, asleep at her  desk, next to a pot of ink that had frozen solid.” Mrs. Bardoe chose to write this sentence to show how Sophie persevered through teaching herself how to do everything she needed to know. In the middle of the book, Sophie had to persevere when saying she is a “mathematician’’ because she would put herself in the middle of gossip. This sentence show the main idea-perseverance. “With Sophie’s secret discovered news of the girl prodigy rippled through Paris. Gossips couldn’t imagine a girl so smart until they met her themselves and soon Sophie’s calendar swelled with dinner parties.” Toward the end of the book, the author points out how Sophie is one of the people that solves “impossible” problems. These sentences show her perseverance. “Academy scholars called the problem impossible. Their heads spun just thinking about the many ways vibration might move an object.” Sophie persevered, overcoming gender inequality.

       The third reason Nothing Stopped Sophie should the Sibert Medal is because the back matter supports the book’s main idea-perseverance. Sophie had to persevere when she faked her name to get into the academy that only allows boys into it. This sentence shows her perseverance of gender inequality. “Most girls in Sophie’s time did not go to school and they were lucky if they received an education at home.” Another reason is Sophie spent a lot of years studying, she had to persevere through this. A sentence that proves her perseverance with years of studying is, “Sophie spent two years trying numbers in different combinations to write her equations.” Finally, “After six years, she had shaken the academy enough to shatter its resistance.” She won a grand prize from The Royal Academy of Sciences. The author decided to include this information to show Sophie had to persevere with studying for six years to win the grand prize. Cheryl Bardoe pounds her main idea that perseverance pays off and overcomes all obstacles in her back matter.

      Nothing Stopped Sophie written by Cheryl Bardoe and illustrated by Barbara McClintock should win the Sibert medal because the illustrations, main text, and back matter support the book’s main idea-perseverance.Have you ever studied more than five-to-six hours a day? Nope! Well Sophie did, she persevered through all her work. You should read Nothing Stopped Sophie to find out how Sophie persevered through all the challenges she faced.  

 Landforms and Water Forms, Opposites!
 by: Z.B and A.B

     Do you know what the opposite of an archipelago is? You can find out by reading Water Land by Christy Hale. Water Land  by Christy Hale should win the Sibert Medal because the illustrations, the map, and the back matter support the main idea- landforms intertwine with bodies of water.
     The first reason Water Land should win the Sibert Medal is because the illustrations support the book’s main idea- landforms intertwine with bodies of water. The first and second spread show the lake/island cut-out. Christy Hale displayed the lake and island cut-out to show that a lake is an island in reverse. So if there is an island there is water surrounding it. On the third and fourth spread there is a cut-out of the bay/cape scene. These spreads show that a bay is the opposite of a cape. A bay is water connecting to the ocean that cuts into the land, and a cape is land that cuts into the ocean. On the seventh and eighth spread it shows the system of lakes/archipelagos. This shows that a system of lakes is the opposite of an archipelago. A system of lakes is land with little lakes. An archipelago is a group of islands in oceans or lakes. Mrs. Hale’s illustrations highlight landforms intertwining with bodies of water.
      The second reason Water Land  should win the Sibert Medal is because the map supports the main idea - landforms intertwine with bodies of water. At the end of the book, the map has beautiful yellow and blue colors. The colors show that the main idea of the book is - landforms intertwine with bodies of water because the blue water is surrounding the yellow land. In the back of the book where the map is there are labels. The system of lakes show that the main idea is - landforms intertwine with bodies of water because it shows that the system of lakes, the Great Lakes, is surrounded by North America.  Another interesting label is the archipelago. The archipelago shows the main idea that landforms intertwine with bodies of water because the archipelago, a group of islands, is surrounded by water. Water Land should win the Sibert Medal because the map displays the main idea. The information in the back talks about how landforms intertwine with bodies of water because it tells the difference between water forms and landforms.
    The third reason Water Land  should win the Sibert Medal is because the back matter supports the book’s main idea- landforms intertwine with bodies of water. In the back matter, it shows how a system of lakes is the opposite of an archipelago. This is true because a system of lakes is a group of lakes surrounded by land and an archipelago is a group of islands surrounded by water. In the back matter it tells you that a lake is the opposite of an island. This is true because a lake is a small body of water surrounded by land and an island is a chunk of land surrounded by water. The back matter also tells you about how a bay is the opposite of a cape.This is true because a bay is a body of water almost surrounded by land and a cape is a piece of land that extends into the water.
     Water Land  by Christy Hale should win the Sibert Medal because the illustrations, the map, and the back matter support the main idea- landforms intertwine with bodies of water. Now you know that the opposite of archipelago is a system of lakes.