Connect Kids With Books They Want to
Read – Schedule a Book Fair Today!
Read – Schedule a Book Fair Today!
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Congratulations to the Winners of the Fall 2011 National Middle School Student Crew Contest!
Our first-place winner and recipient of a visit from author Gordon Korman plus 2,000 Scholastic Dollars is:
Disputanta, VA
Student Crew Count: 48
Book Fair Theme: Adventures in Reading – “Book” Your Trip!
At Moore Middle School, reading is the ultimate adventure! To promote the fall Book Fair, the Student Crew hung reading road signs in classrooms and hallways, and placed luggage with Book Fair signs in key locations. The students made commercials for the morning announcements, visited classrooms to talk up the Fair, and handed out bookmarks during reading time. The Crew also wrote a letter to parents and created a travel itinerary listing Book Fair events.
To promote reading, the principal challenged students to read 6,000 books by the end of the Fair. Parent volunteers and Crew members became a construction crew, “building” a road on the wall outside of the library. For every book a student read, a team road sign with his/her name was posted above the road. In the end, students read 6,493 books and received a day of play. The top teams also got a pizza party.
In addition to the reading challenge, the Student Crew held several trip-themed contests and activities to generate even more excitement about the Fair. They held a guessing game contest featuring different road trip snacks, a dress for vacation day, and a vanity plate contest where students designed license plates to promote reading. The vanity plate contest winners received a prize and had their designs turned into bookmarks. English teachers helped with two contests: sending postcards from book characters and creating travel narratives. The favorite contest of the week was Mr. Elliott’s Wacky Adventure, where the school principal “travelled” to different locations around the world (using green screen technology) – from running with the bulls to attending William and Kate’s wedding. Pictures of Mr. Elliott in those places were posted and students had to guess his location.
As a way to increase Fair traffic from the entire school community, Crew members were tour guides for three Family Events: Dad’s Pit Stop (checkered flags and car-related door prizes), Mom’s Getaway (with a tropical vacation theme), and a Grand Day.
The adventure in reading made this Moore’s most successful fall Fair ever!
Second-place winners of 1,000 Scholastic Dollars are:
North Clackamas Christian SchoolOregon City, OR
Student Crew Count: 27
Book Fair Theme: To the Book Fair and Beyond! Reading Is Out of This World!
For the first time, North Clackamas used a Student Crew to help plan, promote, and run their Book Fair. All of their efforts made it an out-of-this-world event! The school set a goal for students to read 23,885 minutes to reach the moon (one minute = 10 miles). They also challenged students to purchase 1,000 books at the Fair, and when the goal was reached, the principal dressed as an alien and kissed a goat. To encourage involvement from the whole school community, North Clackamas invited people from a local retirement homes to their parent and grandparent event that was filled with door prizes, treats, and great books. Space-themed bandit signs, bulletin boards, signs, and more also advertised the Fair in a big way! To get students excited, the Crew helped to host a Book Fair rally, where the Fair’s theme and activities were introduced. The whole student body had fun with the Cowboys vs. Aliens Dress-Up Day, and to go with the theme, a Cowboys vs. Aliens One for Books competition was held. Students voted with loose change and the alien jar ended up winning. At this Fair, reading was a blast!
Sammy McClure Middle School
Dallas, GA
Student Crew Count: 52
Book Fair Theme: Reading Takes You Places
The Student Crew transported visitors around the world during their fall Fair, which was filled with inflatable globes, two Eiffel towers, suitcases, a Mount Rushmore decoration, and more! To kick off the Fair, Crew members passed out flags and pencils encouraging students to visit the Fair. They used student-created commercials, booktalks, announcement slides, the school website, and more to generic Fair traffic. Some travel-themed activities to generate excitement included homerooms selecting countries to decorate their door, five dress-up days, a Global Gala Teacher Preview (where teachers sampled food from around the world), and a sumo wrestling match between the school’s assistant principal and teachers once the sales goal was met. Another activity used to increase student excitement was when students spent $25 at the Fair, they were able to go to the International Snack Shack where they sampled food such as Korean seaweed and German chocolate. In addition to those activities, the Fair raised $500 in One for Books donations. These are just some of the fun activities the Crew planned to create this Fair filled with excitement, adventure, and great books!
East Valley Middle School
East Helena, MT
Student Crew Count: 25
Book Fair Theme: Pirates That Care to be Readin’
Ropes, pirates, treasure maps, portholes, seagulls, fish, a ship, and more filled the library for East Valley’s pirate-themed fall Book Fair. To promote the Fair, Student Crew members made daily announcements using pirate slang and developed websites. The principal also promoted the Book Fair to parents in his weekly email. To increase teacher participation, the Crew hosted a teacher preview luncheon, where they were introduced to the Fair’s contests, website, and Online Fair. During a Family Night, the Crew offered childcare to families. The Crew entertained kids with movies, treats, coloring, and reading pirate books. Shortly after the Crew started planning the Fair, a beloved teacher was killed in an accident. They collect pet toys and treats and donate part of their Book Fair profits to a humane society in her honor. All of the Crew’s efforts paid off. They reached their Book Fair goal and as a reward, five staff members “walked the plank.” The homerooms that spent the most money at the Fair also got to throw pies at the principal and vice principal. This was a Fair not to be missed!
Graves County Middle School
Mayfield, KY
Student Crew Count: 30
Book Fair Theme: A Reading State of Mind
For Graves County’s fall Book Fair, the Student Crew brought New York City to their school! A giant I Heart Books banner greeted guests as they entered the Fair, which was filled with New York City skyline backdrops, yellow taxis, and a Statue of Liberty. Guests even made their purchases at a New York City hot dog cart. To promote the Fair, the Crew created a commercial that was shown on the school news and created a Facebook event page for the Fair. The Crew also developed several contests to generate student excitement. For one, students were awarded tickets for purchasing a book. A drawing was then held and the winning students go to turn their principal into a human hot dog, complete with ketchup, mustard, chili, and relish. At the teacher preview, Crew members treated teachers with New York City hot dogs served from the hot dog cart and also helped teachers fill out their Classroom Wish List. At the Family Night, students earned one raffle ticket for bringing a parent and five for bringing a grandparent. The Student Crew at Graves County helped put the entire school community in a reading state of mind.
Click here to see who won the President’s Award for Exceptional Performance.
