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Encourage students to “use
their head” for a best book
cover look-alike contest. Have
students pose with a book
where they become part of the
cover. Take their photo and
then have students vote on
their favorite.
REAL
WORLD
Stories & Ideas
CONTESTS
23
NEW!
Create an Estimation
Station with multiple games
for kids of different grades.
Invite students to guess how
many pieces of candy, petals
on the flowers, or pages in
the stack of books.
A Pajama Party for Reading
Slackwood Elementary School
Lawrenceville, NJ
The Slackwood Elementary School
principal hosted a Pajama Party and
Literature Night as the What Would
You Do for Reading? reward, complete
with milk, cookies, story time, and
everyone wearing pajamas! Parents
learned about the importance of
summer reading and each child
received a free book.
Books and Character Posters to
the Rescue
Coconut Palm Elementary School
Miramar, FL
At Coconut Palm Elementary’s spring
Book Fair, each class created a life
preserver poster featuring a character
from their favorite book. Everyone from
Fly Guy to Pete the Cat and Nugget
and Fang made an appearance in the
contest!
Students “Guess Who?” to
Discover Great Books
Saint Mary Magdalen School
Wilmington, DE
Teachers love a good book. At Saint
Mary Magdalen School, teachers
chose their favorite books and set up
a “Guess Who?” game. Students could
lift a copy of each book cover to see a
picture of the teacher who chose it.
Contests
EXCITEMENT
Kids love a good contest, and they love winning prizes even more!
Have multiple
contests throughout Book Fair week and have a prize pickup in your Fair so students are sure to visit the
main attraction multiple times.
Benefits
Adds an excitement-charged energy to your Fair each day • Attracts more kids to the Fair • Encourages
multiple visits
Ideas and Best Practices:
•
NEW!
Challenge classes to team up to create a 60’s
inspired poster with a Fair theme or reading message.
Award prizes to the class with the best poster.
•
Book Character Art Contest
– Invite students to
draw their favorite book character and use the art
as decorations at the Fair. Have students vote on
their favorite.