Summer Challenge LIVE! Classroom Guide

Live April 30, 2009, from Scholastic Headquarters in New York, NY

Hosted by Jon Scieszka

www.scholastic.com/summer

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We know that for students, summer can be a season full of learning opportunities...or learning losses. Research confirms that students who don't read "4 or more books" over the summer typically score lower or stagnate on reading comprehension tests when they return to school. In support of summer reading and to help get kids engaged in reading "4 or more books" this summer, Scholastic is launching the SUMMER CHALLENGE, an interactive, online campaign designed to make reading fun for kids. Scholastic is kicking off the Summer Challenge with a free, live game-show webcast all around books, hosted by Jon Scieszka, children's book author and National Ambassador for Young People's Literature. This interactive webcast (accessible at www.scholastic.com/summer) will be hosted live on April 30th at 1 p.m. (EST). The show will also be available to watch in video on demand following the live webcast.

An Informative and Engaging Event
The 40-minute Summer Challenge LIVE! webcast, hosted by Jon Scieszka, children's book author and National Ambassador for Young People's Literature, will be held at the Scholastic Headquarters in New York City where four teams of young contestants will answer quiz questions about authors, illustrators, and anything related to kids' books while classrooms around the world 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 30th live webcast will be awarded to the Web site color teams to kick off the Summer Challenge.

From the Web to Your Classroom
This event is a great opportunity to engage your class in conversations around books and authors. Here are some fun ways to further engage your class:

• As the format is a game show, have your class play around by splitting them into 4 teams and challenge them to answer the same questions and you too can keep score. See which kids in your class are the book trivia mavens.
• As you follow the webcast, have your class make a list of the 4 books that they want to read this summer and Challenge them to read them (and they can even score points for reading them if they join the online Summer Challenge at scholastic.com/summer).
• Encourage your class to create their own game show around books, and to come up with their own questions and you can play another game at a later date.

Join us on Thursday, April 30th at 1 p.m. (EST)
Visit www.scholastic.com/summer on Thursday, April 30th to watch the live event with your students. We look forward to seeing you there!

Happy Summer Reading!

Reproducibles:

• Summer Challenge LIVE! Classroom Guide (PDF)

Save the Children: Supporter, Scholastic Summer Challenge
Save the Children is an organization creating lasting change in the lives of children in need in the United States and around the world. Learn about their programs and how Scholastic is partnering with them on the 2009 Summer Challenge.

National Center for Summer Learning: Supporter, Scholastic Summer Challenge
One of Scholastic's supporters for Summer Challenge 2009 is the National Center for Summer Learning. The mission of the National Center for Summer Learning is for every young person to experience enriching, memorable summers and to ensure that children and youth in high-poverty communities have access to quality summer learning programs.

Summer Challenge Begins!
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.