Scholastic Book Club- it's where I get a lot of my books

Every wonder how I manage to get enough books to give students and staff over 800 books each year?

Scholastic Book Club!

1) I asked teachers to volunteer to let me run their book club. Each year I have at least ten teachers willing to do this. Why? It's less work and time for them.
It allows me to provide books school wide. They don't have to do anything.


2) Next I created an account and listed all the different grades who I was serving.






3) When flyers come in I separate them into two piles: classrooms I am serving and teachers doing it on their own. I put the flyers for classrooms I am not serving directly in teacher boxes.

4) I have a library volunteer help me get the flyers ready. It's simple- you just pull them out and I staple a letter with my class code and ordering details to it. It's the perfect job to do while watching Monday night TV. Scholastic even creates the letter for you. I simply copy and paste and make 3-4 a page to save paper.



5) Put flyers in teachers boxes.


6) Wait for the orders to come in. Most parents order online. Some return checks to me and I enter the order myself.

7) Get the benefits! August and September are big months. You earn triple the bonus points, which means more free books. So, I really push the orders early on. I give books away as part of our character education awards, to teachers as an extension of class lessons, to classes as school wide incentives, to individual and small group members that achieve their goals, etc.

 

8) Deliver the books. When all the books arrive organize and deliver them. I've become known as the book lady. As I deliver books I do check in's with kids so it's a win win. Insider tip: when you submit an order print it out. When books arrive check them off. Books don't arrive all together, so you may get parts of orders. This helps you track what still needs to arrive.

9) Celebrate!!

10) Extra perks: send books recommendations to parents that partner with program topics. For example, in Sept. I recommended books about school and in Oct. books about kindness. You can also start a classroom wish list!

Bullying Prevention Month

OCTOBER IS BULLYING PREVENTION MONTH!

Newsletter sent to teachers

Here’s the school wide challenge I set up for my teachers:


K-1: Being kind is so sweet! Help students differentiate between a "sweet" friend and a "sour" friend with the activity from Counselor Chelsey. Next have students write one they can be be a sweet friend on a watermelon seed. Turn the seeds into your counselor for a “sweet” wall display and win a friendship book for your class library. Also, check out a book from the counselor on being a sweet friend to add to your lesson, morning meeting, or for students to read independently.


2nd-3rd: We stand up to bullies! Borrow any book on bullying to read to your class. After reading the book have students sign the anti- bully pledge (I got these from the Dollar Tree.) If you turn in your pledge cards to the counselor you will win a book for your class library.
 

4th-5th: Choose Kind: Become A Certified Kind Classroom.  Read Wonder or borrow the picture book We’re All Wonders to read as a class. Visit www.penguin.co.uk/choosekind to become a certified kind classroom. Share your success with the counselor and win a Wonder series book or related title for your class library.

Attendance Awareness Month

September is Attendance Awareness Month!

It's been a busy month, but here's how we celebrated:

1) School wide challenge:

Our PTA theme this year is "sweet." This made me think of pop rocks which lead me to our "attendance rocks challenge."

*Each class with get an attendance rocks sign and letters to spell out “rocks.” I used Savvy School Counselor's Attendance Rocks Packet to get us started. I used her cover to make signs for classrooms and then I gave them each cut out letters to spell "rocks." 

*If a class had perfect attendance that day they stuck a letter on your sign. When the class spells out the word “rocks” they let me know and they won a book for their classroom library or other prize. 

*If they got "rocks" they had a second challenge, focusing on tardies.

Just like before they added a letter each day they had zero tardies. When they spell out “rocks” they got a book prize.