One of the questions I get asked most is about book raffles, so I thought let's start the blog here!
Why I use book raffles
In my room, book raffles are a tool I use to get kids excited to read new books I am adding to our library! I am definitely not the first to use them, but here are answers to all of the questions I get about how they look in my room!
Where I get the books for book raffles
Our book raffle books usually come from Scholastic Book Club orders or the book fair when my school has it. If I only get a couple of orders from parents, I will order a few books and get as many books as I can for free using points. Then I will save the books until I get the next book club order so I have a lot of books to raffle. I try to stock up books until I have enough for every student to get a book. Early on I would do a book raffle even if I only had two books and it definitely works, I just like when I have enough books so EVERY student walks away excited to read something. Here is what it looks like when I stockpile books in my closet waiting to do a raffle, LOL! #teachertruth #notpretty
This is a photo I posted of all of the books I got during the September Scholastic Book Club order - ALWAYS check the flyer. I think I got something like 5,000 bonus points in September for having $200 in orders. When it comes to months like that when you can get 5,000 points, I just spend what we need to reach that $200 mark. Then, I sent this picture to all of my parents and thanked them for placing orders and helping us earn all of these books! I think that helped encourage them to order in the future. :)
What the kids do with the books they win
When students win a book in the book raffle, they get to be the first to read it! I try to keep up with what my kids read/series/genres they are into so that the books I order get them excited. This year I have some baseball boys so I always try to get a baseball book. With Wonder and A Wrinkle In Time being hit movies, I got the books because I have a lot of students who like to read the book before they watch the movie (heart singing!).
Using something like Create Teach Share's freebie "Status of the Class" makes it super easy to keep up with what my kids read/enjoy!
How students earn tickets for the book raffle
I give each student two tickets to start with, which are usually just cut up pieces of paper. However I made these book raffle tickets so click below to get them for free! After each student gets their two tickets, I then give 1 extra ticket for every 10 dojo points each student has. My students reset after 50 points (more about that in a future post), so sometimes they get 5 extra tickets before they reset and sometimes they don't get any extra tickets if they just reset. This works well for my class this year and they know sometimes you will get extra, sometimes you won't!
How I run the book raffle
Once all students have their tickets and put their names/numbers on them, it is time to pick! I hold up each book and share the title. If it is a book none of us have heard of, I sometimes give a brief description from the back if it isn't clear from the title. Then I call tables that are quiet and ready to come place their tickets in the cup for the book they want. I give each table 1 minute to make their choices. Finally, it is time to draw winners! We clap for the winner as they come get their book. After I draw from each cup, any student who won more than one book has to decide which to keep and bring the rest back. Any students who didn't win a book then get to come pick a book from what is left. If it is a raffle where I don't have enough books for every student, I dump all of the tickets that weren't chosen in the drawing into one cup. Then I draw tickets for students to come pick a book who don't already have one until all the books are gone.
What happens when they finish the book
After students finish reading the book they won, they return them to this bookshelf in our room so everyone knows these are the new books in our library. Many students want to read the same book, so this makes it easy for them to see when the book they are waiting for is ready.
Whew, I didn't expect my first blog post to be so long! Well, I hope I answered all of your questions. If not, please leave me a comment and I would be happy to answer! Thank you for stopping by happy reading!
Congrats on your new blog! Looking forward to following you on your teaching adventure.
ReplyDeleteThank you!! Hopefully I can keep up with blogging after spring break - fingers crossed!
DeleteLove the blog! Thank you for sharing this idea about a book raffle-I hadn't heard about that over here in England. Have a lovely day! Kelli
ReplyDeleteYay! I'm so happy to be able to share with you in England. The internet is a magical thing! Thank you for stopping by my blog! :)
DeleteI love the book raffle idea! I have trouble getting my students excited about reading books, I think the book raffle would be a great way to get students interested in reading. I also think my students would become competitive about reading new books, which may keep them engaged in a book. Thank you so much for sharing!
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