Kids took part in the Summer Challenge Live! game show at the Scholastic Auditorium. The event kicked off the Scholastic Summer Challenge. (Photo: Miles White)
Summer Challenge Begins!
A live game show kicks off the effort to get more kids reading over the summer
More than 200 fifth-graders from four New York City-area schools filled the Scholastic Auditorium on Thursday. They screamed and cheered for their classmates, who were on stage competing in the first-ever Scholastic Summer Challenge Live! game show.
Eight kids—two from each school—were placed into four teams: Green, Purple, Blue, and Yellow. Jon Scieszka, the National Ambassador of Reading for Children's Literature, asked them questions about some favorite books and authors. Whenever a team buzzed in and answered a question correctly, it won points. And after three rounds, whichever team had the most points won the game show! The winners received a trophy, a $100 gift card to the Scholastic Store, and books for their own classroom library!
Summer Challenge Live! was broadcast online as the kickoff for the Scholastic Summer Challenge. Scholastic is challenging kids to read at least four books over the summer to help them become better students. Studies have shown that if kids don't read over the summer, they can fall behind in their reading skills.
"If you take off a couple of months [of] reading, it's kind of like you slide backward," said Scieszka. He added that a fifth-grader reading at a fifth-grade level at the beginning of the summer could end up reading at a fourth-grade level in September if she or he doesn't read over the summer.
The Summer Challenge is meant to help kids like us stay good readers. And there's more to it than just reading!
Here's how it works: You begin by going to the Summer Challenge Web site at http://www.scholastic.com/summer. You take a quiz when you log in for the first time, and based on your answers, you're put on a reading team: Green, Purple, Blue, or Yellow. Sound familiar?
Once you're on a team, you will be able to compete against other teams. You can earn points by playing games and logging how much time you've spent reading! Readers can also talk to their friends online about what books they're reading.
"Kids like competing [with] other kids, and that is exactly what the summer reading challenge allows," said Francie Alexander, Chief Academic Officer at Scholastic.
The points you earn will unlock special parts of the Web site and allow you to enter contests. At the end of the summer, Scholastic will make a donation on behalf of all the readers to a charity for kids called Save the Children. And the kids on the team with the most points will vote on which of Save the Children's programs will get an extra donation! Everyone's a winner!
The winning started on Thursday with the Summer Challenge Live! game show.
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| Danisabel DelaCruz and Delroy Brockett won the first ever Summer Challenge Live! game show. (Photo: Miles White) |
Each of the four teams played a strong game. No one in the auditorium could guess which one would come out on top. But in the end, it was the Yellow Team that won, with a total of 400 points.
"When I was up there, I thought we were going to lose, but they kept cheering, and when we got an answer right, I just wanted to go down there and hug my mom!" said Yellow Team member Danisabel DelaCruz.
Her partner, Delroy Brockett, was also excited. Whenever his team answered a question correctly, he would do a little dance and flash a wide smile. He's also excited by reading, and says he does a lot of it in the summer because it's important.
"If kids read over the summer, then when they go back to school, their minds will be fresh and [they'll be] ready to learn!" said Delroy.
The Summer Challenge Live! game show was a lot of fun and a good start to the Scholastic Summer Challenge. Try it out and read over the summer. Log on, help your team earn points, read, play games, have fun and win!
For more information on how kids, teachers, and parents can all participate in the Scholastic Summer Challenge, visit http://www.scholastic.com/summer.
Scholastic Kid Reporters are taking part in the Summer Challenge and reviewing what they read online. Check out their book reviews at the Reviews by You blog!
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 | Do you like to read over the summer? Why or why not? What are some of your favorite books? Tell us what you think on the Scholastic News Online Blog! | |
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