Why the Summer Challenge? Summer is a critical time for parents and educators to be sure that kids maintain and even advance their reading skills by: 1) providing access to books for all children (especially low-income children); 2) encouraging all kids to read four or more books; and 3) making sure that kids can choose the books THEY want to read for fun. [As Malcolm Gladwell states in his new book Outliers, “America doesn’t have a school problem, it has a summer problem.”]
As a leader in children’s reading and learning, Scholastic is best positioned to lead the way with a robust, global literacy campaign -- the “Scholastic Summer Challenge.”
What is the Scholastic Summer Challenge? The Scholastic Summer Challenge is a four-month global literacy campaign designed to motivate all children (with a particular focus on kids ages 8 and up) to read four or more books so they will maintain and improve their academic skills. The web-based campaign, at www.scholastic/summer, helps kids find great books to read and champions the important role parents, educators and librarians play in stemming the summer slide.
What’s new with Scholastic’s 2009 summer reading campaign? In previous years, Scholastic’s summer reading campaign online (aka Summer Reading Buzz) featured its own micro-site for kids, with supporting pages for all ages and all key audiences. This year, summer reading content will be integrated throughout Scholastic.com, so each audience will encounter appropriate summer reading activities and resources where they already visit us online. A colorful landing page – www.scholastic.com/summer – will direct kids (ages 8 and up) to “The Stacks;” parents and younger kids to “The Family Playground;” and Teachers and Librarians to their respective areas on Scholastic.com.
When does the Scholastic Summer Challenge launch? The online Summer Challenge and complete campaign goes live on April 30 th , 2009. To support early promotion of the campaign (including materials for schools and libraries), there will be a “coming soon” landing page at www.scholastic.com/summer that will launch on March 2 nd . There will be more info about Summer Challenge Live! webcast on that landing page.
How will Scholastic Kick-off the Campaign? The 2009 Scholastic Summer Challenge kicks off with a “Summer Challenge Live!” This LIVE WEBCAST for schools nationwide will be held on April 30 from 1-2pm ET at www.scholastic.com/summer. Four teams of young contestants will answer quiz questions about authors, illustrators and anything related to kids’ books while classrooms around the country will help contestants earn additional points by responding to live web polls, online questions, and more. “Summer Challenge Live!” will incorporate real-time web results and surprise video questions from favorite authors. Participating classrooms will be able to vote online to determine the final quiz question. Points earned during the April 30 th live webcast will be awarded to the website color teams to kick off the Summer Challenge.
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What are the different audience components?
We challenge KIDS on The Stacks Kids ages 8 and up can join the virtual reading camp and take the Scholastic Summer Challenge to compete against readers from across the country. Kids are placed into one of four color teams and the goal is to win as many points for the team as possible by logging the number of minutes they read every day (1 minute = 1 point). Kids log on to www.scholastic.com/summer and join the Scholastic Summer Challenge for free where they can record their minutes spent reading, earn points for their team, play games, and read for a cause, with a donation going to support Save the Children, in support of: Literacy, Early Steps for School Success, Emergency Relief and Nutrition/Physical Fitness. At the end of the summer, the winning team will get to vote on where they want an additional donation to be made. Together kids around the world are reading to make a difference in their own lives and the lives of other children in need. In addition, kids can share and chat about books on the Summer Challenge message boards.
We challenge PARENTS (and younger children) on The Family Playground The Family Playground on scholastic.com is the summer reading home for parents and young children. Parents can explore new multi-media content about kids and reading; get advice from education experts; and find book lists and articles in English and Spanish. Kids ages 6 and younger have their own fun challenge. For every book they read and log online, kids earn seeds for their virtual garden. As their garden grows throughout the summer, so will their reading skills. Participation in this reading game will also support the overall donation to Save the Children.
We challenge TEACHERS and LIBRARIANS to keep kids reading Educators and librarians can access age-appropriate book lists, downloadable in-school and public library reading programs, fun activities, book marks, bookplates and summer reading certificates, as well as expert advice about literacy and motivation. Through a partnership with The National Center for Summer Learning at Johns Hopkins University, we are able to provide further research and resources to further reach educators and librarians.