3 Secret Tips to Increase Your Scholastic Book Club Orders

A quick walk down Scholastic Book Club memory lane

I can still remember how the newspaper felt rough between my fingers and the smell of stale paper flyers filled my 1st-grade classroom. I loved it when my first grade teacher passed out our Scholastic Book Club order forms. It felt like the world was at my fingertips. I wanted all of the books…not much has changed in the last thirty years. I’m telling my age a little bit here, but we’re friends, right? So, no judgment, please.

The first order of business once that book flyer was in my hands was to circle in bright red crayon the prettiest book covers. You know a great book cover always means it is a great book. Then I’d intently read thru the book club flyer from cover to cover to discover many hidden treasures that didn’t initially jump out at me. Then the final stage was to fill out the back of the flyer with all of my wonderful book choices and take that bad boy home and begin the begging process with mom and dad. Usually, my wish list was about ten books deep before sitting down with mom later that night. By the time we went back thru the list I was lucky to have 1-2 books picked out with money in hand to return to my teacher the next day. Does this sound familiar to you?

Secret # 1 Create a Love for Books

So, now that I am a little girl living in an adult body I still have that overwhelming love of books that my teachers instilled in me way back then. You may be asking yourself “How can I do that with my current students?”

This may be a “duh” moment for most of you. YES, of course, creating a love of books is a priority in your classroom. So here is my real question. How do your students know that it is a priority? By using Scholastic book club flyers in your classroom!

Just the simple act of handing out those bright, colorful Scholastic book club flyers instilled a love of books for me. I’ll never forget how big I felt when I got to pick out my own book. Back in those days, my school didn’t have book fairs like we have today. So, this was truly the first time I had the power to look at an assortment of books and permission with a very tiny budget from mom. That small amount of decision-making power made me feel in control of my reading choices. That control was part of the reason I learned to love books so much. That is still a feeling I treasure today.

When you use Scholastic Book Clubs in your classroom you are showing them how much you value reading and books. It is a great way to give them the opportunity to decide what types of books they like, and the types of books they WANT to own for themselves.

Secret # 2 Create anticipation and Excitement in your classroom

The anticipation of the book box arrival was real too. We had to wait what seemed like months to get those precious books. In reality, it was probably like 2-3 weeks. The janitor would bring the box into our classroom and we would all squeal with delight. My teacher would tell us she would open the box while we were gone to specials and put our books on our desks. Oh, the excitement! I couldn’t wait to get back to my classroom to see my beautiful new books laying on top of my desk.

Teach Them to Window Shop

In my classroom, the anticipation starts to build when I first pass out the Scholastic book order flyers each month. I do this by simply giving students at least 5-10 minutes to preview the flyer and encourage them to circle books that look interesting to them. When a child seems uninterested I always give them a suggestion or two to get them hooked on the idea of window shopping the flyer. Window shopping the scholastic book club flyer gets the kids excited about the books, which in return increases the number of book orders you will have that month.

I usually give them at least a week to return orders. Giving students 5-7 days is the perfect amount of time to keep the anticipation going. I also ask every day if anyone has orders to turn in. This keeps it fresh on their minds. If you use Class Dojo or any other messaging system post it on the site also. I usually post to remind parents 2-3 times during the week. Using this tip alone usually scores me 1-2 additional orders each month.

Secret # 3 Have a Scholastic Book Club Celebration!

When the book box arrives I always do these 3 things. First of all if possible YOU should never be the person who delivers the box to the classroom. My reason for this is to create more excitement about the arrival of the box. Our janitor brings our Scholastic Book Club order down to my classroom during the day. while my students are in the classroom. I know this is a disruption to class but it is so exciting for the kids. I always have him put the box up on top of a table or bookshelf so it is in the kids’ sight during the day. Then I make them wait until the end of the day to actually open the box.

A Scholastic Book Club Unboxing is a Must!

This is the step that really gets kids pumped up. Gather the kids in the floor around you. Then you can have students either take pictures or video the unboxing. Trust me, they love this! Then I open the Scholastic Book Club box up and pull out the order sheet. I begin by pulling the first book out of the box and finding the student who bought that book. If the students get really excited about the book you can read the back cover to them. Then I hand the book to that student. We continue this pattern until I have given out all of the books my students have ordered. I try to save the books that order for the classroom last. I want students to see that even their teacher still orders from the Scholastic Book Order every month.

Extending Book Box Day All Month

To continue the joy that comes from opening our Scholastic Book Club order I will always order at least 2-3 books. Most of the time I get FREE books with my order. I always show those off during the unboxing and read the back cover blurb to them. This is usually when you will hear the kids asking if they can have that book right then. Now, I have them right where I want them.

I try to order at least two-three different genres each month. This is because my students all have the goal of completing the 40 Book Challenge. If you would like to learn more about student goal setting I have a post here all about it. Let’s get back on track with the books. They have to read a specific number of books in different genres. I give every student a ticket then line the books up in front of little buckets or cups and let the students drop their ticket into the book bucket of their choice. I then draw “The Privilege of Reading First” winners from each bucket. Students have two weeks to read the book and return it so we can draw the next winner. We continue this until the next Scholastic Book Club box arrives next month!

Now that you’ve FALLen into my 3 secret book club tips…here is an amazing post on FALLing into morning meetings!