Promoting the Mark
Twain Award
Missouri Association of School
Librarians Spring Conference 2009
Promoting the Books at the
Beginning of the Year
• Using the Video
• Show the video in the spring to encourage
summer reading of the Mark Twain nominees
• Show the video again in the fall and encourage
students to think about the books that look the
best to them
• During the video give them a list or brochure of
the nominees to take notes on and star the ones
that look the most appealing to them
Mark Twain Scrapbook
• http://www.pbs.org/marktwain/index.html
• A scrapbook explaining Mark Twain’s life
and accomplishments.
• Use this to introduce Mark Twain and why
we have an award named after him.
• Also take this time to point out Mark Twain
is not the author, he is the person after
whom the award is named.
• Encourage students or classes to make a
scrapbook of the books they have read.
Placement of the Books in the
Library
• Make sure the Mark Twain nominees are
separate from your fiction section so that they are
easily accessible for students.
• As money allows, it is also important to have
several copies of the books that you think will be
the most popular so that kids don’t get frustrated
waiting on the book and just give up.
Keeping Kids Reading
Throughout the Year!
Mark Twain “Passport”
• The passport is a piece of paper with the Mark
Twain book titles, date, and place for the
teacher/media specialist to initial that the student
read the book.
• For each 4 books that the student reads they get a
“visa stamp” and the student gets a trip to the
treasure chest. (A tiny red cougar print is stamped
on the passport)
• If a student reads all the nominees they get a trip
to the treasure chest and their picture framed and
placed on top of the book shelf
*Idea courtesy of Spring Valley Elementary in Raytown, MO
Five Star Book Review Board
• Place a bulletin board in the library and let
students share a Mark Twain book that they
have read and how many stars they would
give it. -One star being the least and Five
stars being the best. Encourage them to
share only four or five star books.
*Idea adapted from Teresa Young, Study Middle School, Springfield, MO
Incentive Program
• 2 books = Mark Twain Pencil
• 4 books = Certificate and opportunity to vote in
the March election
• 6 books = 4 way pen
• 10 books = post-it notes
• 12 books = $15 Barnes & Noble gift card
All prizes are bought using book fair profits.
*Idea courtesy of Kay Kliethermes, Blackburn Elementary, Indepedence, MO
Get Teachers Involved
• The more teachers you get behind the
program, the more students will follow their
example.
• Suggest books for them to read aloud to
their class and give them the activity packet
page that goes along with that book.
Chat ‘n Chew
• Talk to your sponsors and ask if they need
any suggestions for books to put on their
list.
• Suggest Mark Twain nominees (future or
current)
Holding Students
Accountable for Their
Reading
Quizzes
• Quia
• $50.00 for a year subscription
• Post your own quizzes for each book
• Students must get four out of five questions right
• You can check the scores online
• Keep a chart of them in the library
• http://www.quia.com/profiles/lsell10
• There are usually quizzes for the books already
prepared and it sends reports to you when students
finish a quiz.
Blogs
• You can create your own school blog for
students to post on after reading a book or
• You can use the Mark Twain State Blog and
have them post or respond to posts
http://marktwainaward.wordpress.com/
Awards and
Celebrations
Pizza/Voting Parties
• Many schools offer a pizza/voting party to
those students who read four books by the
deadline.
• At the party students can eat pizza, talk
about the books, and vote.
• If you have extra funds, some schools
reward those students with a free paperback
book.
Candy Bar Party
• A more economical alternative to the pizza
party!
• Same idea just with candy bars instead of
pizza.
Mark Twain Day
• Students who complete the requirements,
get to participate in “Mark Twain Day”
• Students in English III (juniors study Mark
Twain) come to the school and host a
celebration for the 4th and 5th graders who
qualify by their reading.
• At the celebration there will be games, food,
skits, etc. (Prepared by high school juniors)
*Idea courtesy of Shellie Foltz, Westport Elementary, Springfield, MO
Field Trips
• Branson Belle (Riverboat)
• Children’s Literature Festival
• Mark Twain Museum (Hannibal, MO)
Any other ideas?
Awards Assemblies
• Give certificates to those students who read
four books at the end of the year award’s
assembly.
• Also give them a bookmark with next year’s
nominees on it.
Kids who read all 12 books
• A Barnes and Noble or Borders gift card.
• An autographed book (last year’s winner)
• Get them a book of their choice from a
bookstore.
• Hang their pictures in a special section in
the library (use an inexpensive frame)
Any other ideas you use
to promote the Mark
Twain Award?