40 Book Challenge FREEBIES Every Teacher Needs

book challenge freebies for classroom teachers



One of my favorite things to do is encourage my readers to read more than they've ever read before! So I incorporate a book challenge into our reader's workshop. This year we started the challenge on the first day of school and we talk about it every day. I keep track of the books I read on our classroom door. And my readers keep track of the books they complete in their Reading Workshop Binder and on our Book Challenge Bulletin Board. 


How cool is my door?? I love seeing the books I read increase throughout the year, and I love talking about these books with my own readers and other readers who notice a cover while in the hallway. I hate having to take them down at the end of the year, but I also can't wait to start again each year.

If you'd like to make a similar display on your door or a classroom bulletin board, click HERE for an editable FREE Book Challenge poster of your own.



While I keep track of my book challenge progress on our classroom door, I mentioned earlier that my readers keep track of the books they read in their reading binders.  I created these record keeping pages for my students to log their progress.  And because I'm so excited for YOU to incorporate a book challenge into your classroom, I'm giving away these record keeping sheets for FREE!

Click HERE for the FREE  book challenge record keeping pages.  I pulled these pages out of my Reading Workshop Binder which is full of EVERYTHING you need to keep your reading workshop running smoothly and organized.



The record keeping sheets help my students stay on track with their book challenge progress. I collect them at the end of each marking period to confer with each student about their progress.

If you want a quicker way to monitor each student's finished books, you can have them display their progress with this FREE Book Challenge Bulletin Board Set.

With this set, not only will you hear about your students' progress during status of the class updates, strategy groups and conferring, but you'll also SEE their progress at a glance.



This set helps my readers to show off how many books they read, along with me, and I can quickly see the progress of each student. We also keep a total running record of our books read and have a little friendly competition with some neighboring 5th grade classrooms.  Gotta love a good competition!

Similar to many of you,  I do not have a lot of wall space available in my classroom, so this set includes large and small Book Challenge letters.  I also created individual book squares students can fill out and post as they finish books, and 5 book recording book marks that students fill out and post as they complete 5 books (to save space).  I use the smaller set of heading letters and the 5 book tracking rectangles here!



I would love to hear about how you are incorporating a book challenge into your classroom! 

Happy reading!!!

13 comments

  1. Love the idea of recording your books on the door! What a great way to show your students how much you value reading!

    Tara
    The Math Maniac

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  2. Thanks Tara! I came across the idea on Twitter and through my literacy coach. I'm so glad I did and I can't wait to have a new door to photograph this coming year!

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  3. What a great post! I am moving to 4th grade this year and this is right up my alley. I can't wait to incorporate this. Thank you so much.

    faithfulinfirst.blogspot.com

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    1. Thanks Janine! Best of luck with 4th grade. You will love it!! Let me know if you have any questions about the 40 Book Challenge!

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  4. I love this idea. I immediately thought of Weight Watchers (haha) and how you get recognition for various weight loss milestones. Celebrating the smaller goals helps keep you motivated to reach the bigger goals. I definitely plan on creating some sort of reader recognition display for next year!

    For the books that you posted on the door, do you mean books such as read alouds and mentor texts? Or books you read for own enjoyment? Also, do books used in literature circles or guided reading count towards the 40?

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    1. HI Rachel, I count the chapter books I read aloud to my class as part of my 40 book challenge and I allow the students to count them as well towards their challenge :) I do not usually count the mentor texts and other picture books we look at, but my students are allowed to count a certain number of choice books - so they could use those towards their challenge if they wanted to. :)

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  5. I've been thinking about the 40 Book Challenge all summer, and was just getting ready to start working on some things! This just saved me a lot of time! Thank you!

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  6. Really love this idea!! I'm sure the kids really get into it too.

    I am moving from 2nd to 6th this year. What are some recommendations for books that boys will enjoy?

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    1. Try some of the 'Guys Read' compilations. They are filled with short stories, written specifically for boys, by amazing authors! Also, boys in my classroom love the Percy Jackson books, everything by Gary Paulson, they love minecraft books and most science fiction/fantasy books they can get their hands on. It's always good to have lots of nonfiction books on hand for boys too. We have a classroom subscription to Sports Illustrated for Kids, boys also love Ripley's and Guinness World Record books and pretty much anything about war and/ gross topics. LOL Hope this helps!!

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  7. I am planning to do the challenge this year. I am struggling on how to organize my classroom library. By genre? By level? or both?

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    1. HI Sheena, mine is organized by both. Books are in bins labeled by genre, series, or author. Inside each book cover I write the DRA level so that students can determine if the book is just right.

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  8. Love this! Thank you!! Question for you: what does the E, JR, and C stand for in the last column of the recording sheet? :) Thanks!!

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