Summer Reading

Greetings!

Have you thought about summer reading? If you are interested in promoting a summer reading project for your students, I would recommend the Scholastic Read for the World Record challenge. We are going to try this program this summer at our school. Teachers need to register for a free account and then sign up their students.

Here’s what to do:

Log onto http://www.scholastic.com/summer/

Step one: Click red button that says “Register your students now”

Step two: a Scholastic.com sign in will pop up. It is bordered in red. You need to sign up for an account if you don’t have one. Click Sign Up Today.

Step three: Click Register Now for Teachers and Educators

Step four: Complete the registration and set up a password that you will remember. Select our school from the list and complete your profile.

Step five: You may have to exit the registration bordered in red at this time and click the red button again that says Register your students now. You should arrive at a blue page that says “Reading Under the Stars.” Teacher registration is now open. Since you are now a registered user, click “View My Dashboard”.

Step six: Now you can add a class. Choose a grade, name your class, and give the number of students. Then click the blue pencil under the column “Manage”. A list of name spaces and generated usernames and passwords will come up. Put the student’s first name in each space and print out your list so you will remember who has which username and password. (Don’t worry if you don’t print the list. You can always come back to this page and find the information here for you.) Don’t forget to save the information.

Set a goal for your school. I counted up the days between May 5 and September 5 and figured out how many minutes it would be if every student read 15 minutes a day. Then I set it a little higher to 500,000 minutes. What kind of goal will work for your school? Only you will know.

Have students begin reading on May 5 and have them keep a record of their reading every day. I recommend that you have students log on to the website and begin to record their minutes at school if possible so they get in the habit of doing this. The minutes the student reads will count toward the world challenge, but in order to count toward your school’s individual goal, parents must give permission so be prepared when students are asked for their parents’ email address or have them register at home with a parent to help. If you have students who don’t have access to the internet there are other options. There is an app for a smart phone with a reading timer and place to log their minutes. Students can also keep track of their reading on paper forms and all the minutes can be entered in at one time in September before the end of the challenge on September 5.

If you have any questions, contact Scholastic. They have been wonderful help to me.

Have a great week.

Audrey