1. Scholastic Summer Challenge™ on THE
STACKS
What is the Summer Challenge Live! Webcast?
On April 30th, the Summer Challenge kicks off on THE STACKS with a Summer
Challenge Live! Webcast at 1:00 p.m. ET / 10:00 a.m. PT. The four teams Summer
Challenge teams (Green, Yellow, Blue, and Purple) will compete in a live game show
which will be broadcast online. Each team will be represented by two (real! live!)
contestants. The contestants will play three game show rounds, earning points for their
online team by answering trivia questions about books and authors (pretty broad topic,
but they were given a quot;Suggested Reading Listquot; before hand and it's multiple choice, so
they should be racking up points for your team, no sweat).
But the Summer Challenge Live! Webcast isn't just for watching! Each round will have
an online question that YOU can answer to help the contestants earn bonus points.
Watch live at www.scholastic.com/summer on April 30th. If April 30th already
happened, click on over to see the archived video.
How do I compete in the Summer Challenge on THE
STACKS?
All you have to do to participate is sign into your account on THE STACKS and go to
www.scholastic.com/summer. If you do not have an account on THE STACKS, you can
sign up for one here!
When you go to the Summer Challenge website, you'll take a quick quiz and will be
assigned to a team: Green, Purple, Blue, or Yellow. (At the start of the Challenge in May,
you'll get to vote on your mascot, motto, and fight song too!)
Teams will earn points based on the number of minutes they read and their participation
on the site. You'll also be reading for charity! Every month, your team captain will
remind you which cause you're reading for. And at the end of the summer, the team with
the highest score will get to choose where Scholastic will donate books!
How do I earn points for my team?
2. Every day, visit the challenge, click on the quot;Enter Your Minutesquot; tab, and enter the
number of minutes you have read into the slider. Every minute logged during the contest
is worth one point for your team.
After you have logged your minutes, click on the “Boost Your Points” button under your
stats on the right side of the page —
3. — to make your minutes worth more. Each week, there will be a trivia quiz about the
Featured Book-of-the-Week. Getting a perfect score on the quiz will double the point
value of your minutes!
Passing the quiz will also unlock the Game of the Month. Beating the Game of the Month
will make your minutes worth 3x as much! (Don't worry, you can keep playing even after
you've beat the game.)
And if you thought that was it, well, you'd be wrong! Every week, there will be a new
poll question. The team who has the most people answer the poll will earn bonus points
for that week. Remember to come back each week to take a new poll!
What do my points earn me?
Read for a Cause
We know how much helping others matters so we've teamed up with the Save the
Children organization! Each month, your team will compete to win the Team Award for a
cause:
May - your reading supports Early Childhood Literacy.
June - your reading supports Physical Activity and Nutrition.
July - your reading supports Literacy.
August - your reading supports Emergency Relief.
Check out the links to learn more about the issues you're helping to solve. At the end of
the summer, Scholastic will make a $25,000 donation to Save the Children to support the
causes you were learning about! The team with the most points at the end of the summer
will choose one of these four causes to support with an extra book donation from
Scholastic!
Awards and Prizes
There are tons of different awards and prizes in the Challenge! (And who doesn't love
prizes? No one, that's who!) First, there are the team awards and prizes:
• Participation Awards will be given each week to the team with the most
members answering the poll question.
• Monthly Team Awards for a Cause will be given each month to the team with
the most points earned during that month.
• Grand Prize will go to the team with the most points at the end of the contest.
The winning team gets to vote on which Save the Children program will receive a
special book donation from Scholastic.
4. The awards for your team will be displayed in three places:
1. The quot;See Your Statsquot; tab on the main Challenge page
2. Your STACKS profile after you have downloaded the Summer Challenge widget
3. On a printable certificate which will be available at the end of the summer.
Then, there are the personal (that's right, they're all yours!) SmartyCard rewards you earn
for logging minutes. The first 20 minutes you read earns you one SmartyCard reward.
After that, you get a reward at 60 minutes (1 hour), 240 minutes (4 hours), and 500
minutes (just over 8 hours). SmartyCard rewards can be redeemed for prizes such as
games and DVDs at www.smartycard.com.
Read for the World Record Challenge
This summer, Scholastic Book Fairs is bringing you the World Record Challenge. If you
choose to participate, you can count the minutes that you read this summer toward both
the Summer Challenge on THE STACKS and the World Record Challenge. The World
Record Challenge tracks minutes by your school, so be sure to check out
www.scholastic.com/bookfairs/record to see how your school is doing.
If you want your minutes to count towards the World Record Challenge, you can do it at
the same time that you enter minutes for the Summer Challenge on THE STACKS. When
you're on your Home Base and logging minutes on the quot;Enter Your Minutesquot; tab, just
check the box where it says, quot;World Record Challengequot; and then select your school from
the list.
How do I enter my minutes?
Click on the quot;Enter Your Minutesquot; tab and enter the number of minutes you have read
into the slider.
5. Remember to log your minutes daily. Every minute logged during the contest is worth
one point for your team.
You can enter minutes into any day that has a zero, but once you enter your minutes, you
can't make a change - so be careful when you type!
If you're joining the Challenge partway through the summer, you can still get credit for
the reading you did before logging on. Just pick the week from the drop down menu that
you want to enter minutes for.
And if you want your minutes to count for the World Record too, just check the World
Record Challenge box when you're entering your minutes.
6. You'll get an extra screen where you'll select your state, city, and school for the World
Record Challenge.
How do I track my personal points and my team score?
Personal Stats
Your score will be in the score box :
When you enter minutes, it will automatically update, so it will always have your latest
minutes read and points earned. Your SmartyCard progress will also be tracked there.
Team Stats
The quot;See Your Statsquot; tab is where you can see how your team is doing.
7. Profile Widget - Coming Soon!
Soon, there will be a Summer Challenge widget for your STACKS profile. So if you're in
a hurry, you'll be able to keep track of your stats and your team's progress straight from
your profile. When it's available, you'll be able to add the widget to your STACKS profile
from your Home Base page.
Top Team Readers
Want proof you're the best? The readers on each team with the most minutes read will be
featured in the quot;Top Team Readersquot; area every week right under the team captain.
Besides earning points for my team, what else can I do
on the Summer Challenge?
8. Even if you’re not logging any minutes today, there’s still plenty to do! Every week,
we’ll feature a different Book-of-the-Week. After you take the trivia quiz to double your
minutes, be sure to explore all the beyond-the-book goodies we’ve rounded up for you —
from book-based games to author videos to behind-the-scenes tidbits about the creation
of the story. And you can post your personal review or chat with other kids about the
book on our message boards.
Exclusive Celebrity Messages
Throughout the summer, you'll also hear from favorite authors and celebs through special
Summer Challenge videos. Keep an eye out for Jake T. Austin from Wizards of Waverly
Place, Keke Palmer from True Jackson, VP, recording artist Lil' Mama, and author Meg
Cabot, among many others! Check back every week for a brand spanking new video
addition.
9. Sweepstakes - Coming Soon!
Every week, we'll be giving away 20 autographed copies of our Books-of-the-Week* and
20 SmartyCards with a value of $10 each. AND every other week, five lucky kids will
win KidZui memberships. So when you're Boosting Your Minutes each week, be sure to
enter our sweeps for a chance to win.
*Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J. K. Rowling will not be signed.
Reading Roster
For a sneak peek at all the Books-of-the-Week, head over to the Reading Roster. For each
featured title, you'll find everything from games to book excerpts, and from author Q&As
to exclusive slideshows. And, from the Reading Roster, you can jump right to the
message board conversation about the Books-of-the-Week. Plus, we've got a printable
Reading Roster to take with you - on vacation, to the local library, to the bookstore,
wherever!
Captain Calendar
Get to know the team captains - all kids like you! Check out their favorite books, their
hobbies, their STACKS profiles, and their favorite assignments as members of
Scholastic's Kids Press Corps.
Message Boards
Everyone's buzzing about the Summer Challenge, so we're turning the STACKS Reading
Buzz Board into the spot for Summer Challenge chatting. Hang out on the Book-of-the-
Week dedicated threads or join the general community discussion about favorite books,
authors, series, and more.
If you're already spending time on a different board for your favorite book or series (like
Harry Potter, Allie Finkle's Rules for Girls, or The 39 Clues), don't worry. We would
never ask you to abandon those boards. They'll be going strong all summer long too!
What are the Summer Challenge Sweepstakes? How
can I enter?
Starting May 4th, there are three sweepstakes and lots of awesome prizes. You can easily
access them when you're boosting your minutes. Or, you can get to them from
www.scholastic.com/summer.
Weekly Book Giveaway
10. Every week, we'll be giving away 20 autographed copies of the Book-of-the-Week.* You
can only enter once each week, but you can enter as many weeks as you want. So keep
coming back for your chance to win!
*Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J. K. Rowling will not be signed.
SmartyCard Sweepstakes
Every week, 20 lucky kids will each win a SmartyCard with a $10 value. The
SmartyCards can be redeemed for prizes such as games, DVDs, toys, and online
subscriptions at www.smartycard.com. You're only allowed to enter once each week, but
you can enter every week for a new chance to win.
KidZui Sweepstakes
Every other week, five winners will get a KidZui membership each. With KidZui, there
are more than a million places to explore. Plus, you can create KidZui avatars and share
and tag content with friends. Check back every two weeks to enter the sweeps again.