Scholastic Book Clubs in Middle School

How to Build Your Classroom Library and Engage Your Students

I have been using Scholastic Book Clubs for the last 3 school years, and have dramatically increased the volume of books in my classroom library in that short amount of time. I made it a personal and professional goal of mine over the past year to find more books that are relevant and engaging for my students to read and enjoy, rather than read for the sake of reading.

The library I inherited from the previous 7th and 8th grade ELA teacher had a few gems in one tall, blue bookcase. I now have over 650 books, spanning five bookcases. Here is the original bookcase, after I painted it with black chalkboard paint and added some contact paper to the sides and backs of the shelves.

My first bookshelf after a little coat of paint pick-me-up.

I would sometimes see a Scholastic “book box” in the main office by the mailboxes, usually addressed to a teacher in our primary wing (as I work in a PreK-8th grade elementary school), and would often wonder how I could go about ordering books. My co-worker said she would sometimes order books and if I used her code to sign up, we’d both get 250 bonus points with which to buy books for our classroom libraries.

I signed up right away and ordered the flyers from the TAG (middle grades) and YA (young adult) genres. I teach both seventh and eighth grade, so I have students with a variety of different reading levels and interests in my classes. Last year, I passed out the flyers and gave students time to look through them. This is an important part of the process, because if the students are not exposed to the flyers and what Scholastic has to offer, they won’t be sharing with their parents or ordering anything.

I purchased a resource from Miss West Best on Teachers Pay Teachers called Book Order Wishlists, that I have linked here. It was a $2.00 purchase that helped me organize and plan out my students’ orders and interests. I gave each class time to look through the flyers and write down a list of books they were interested in. Some students brought them home to their parents and ordered books online! Others handed in their wish lists, and I was able to order books I knew my students would be interested in because they had indicated it on their list.

I also went through ALL of our books, both new and old, and organized them by genre. I also took out some books that were below grade and maturity level for my students and donated them to another class in my school. In order to keep my books organized, I used a color-coded system for the different genres of books. The students can easily find the style and content of book they would like to read. The color coded genre list can be seen in the bottom left corner of the bulletin board in the photo below.

My classroom library at the beginning of the 2018-19 school year

This school year, I decided to add something new. I follow Aly, from Just a Primary Girl, on Instagram, who teaches first grade. I love her ideas and sometimes get inspiration for my middle school classroom from her stories. This time, she was sharing how she facilitates book clubs in her classroom. She also has a resource via her Teachers Pay Teachers store that I purchased for $7.00, called Scholastic Book Club, that I have linked here. I was able to model my book clubs after hers and modify them for the middle school classroom. (This also includes a wishlist, so if you decide to purchase this product, you would not need to purchase both items that I mentioned.)

I created four different clubs that my students could join: green, blue, yellow, and red. Each color represents a different amount of money and gives students and parents an opportunity to order books each month. The green club is the monthly $1 book from the TAG flyer. The blue club is to order $30 worth of books throughout the year. The yellow club is to order $50 of books throughout the year, which would be one $5 book per month, and the red club is to order $100 of books throughout the school year.

When introducing these to students, I passed them out to everyone the first day of school, to go home with all of the other important “first week” paperwork. I shared how student orders benefit our classroom library, because we receive bonus points for every book purchased. I also made sure to talk about the book clubs at Back to School Night, which is when I had my first parent sign up.

My first #BookBoxDay in October 2017

Last year, I had three students participate in Book Clubs. It might not seem like a lot, as I teach around 60 students, but their three checks for the year brought my status up to “green apple,” and we are well on our way to “red apple.” These statuses from Scholastic allow you to receive more bonus points, free standard shipping with a paid item, and other fun incentives. This year, I had four students join the "Green" club, so $400 in checks was sent in to Scholastic. This added 10,000 bonus points to my account!

Each year, with the checks sent in by the parents, I purchase coupons for each student in the amount that their club was worth. The coupons cost $50 for 30 $5 coupons, which is another deal for our classroom library. The students get their monthly $10 for books, and we get an extra coupon for a $5 book. Each month, I share the new flyers with my “Clubs Kids,” and they pick out a $5 or $10 book. I use their coupon for their book, essentially making them free! If a student has selected a book that is more than $5, I will use my bonus points to purchase it for them. I wish Scholastic would let you combine coupons, so that you could use two $5 coupons toward a $10 book, but as of right now, that is not an option.

My classroom library as of Feb. 2019

I usually also place an order for $25 or more each month, because I am then earning more bonus points per dollar spent, and more incentives from Scholastic. Typically when you make a $25 purchase, you receive the opportunity to spend $10 for free. There are always books in the flyers that I personally want to read, since I teach middle school and like to read some of what goes into my classroom library!

I also bought two sets of Birthday Coupons for my students this year. Each set costs $50 for thirty $5 book coupons! I thought this was a GREAT deal, and I have some left over that I can use for friends, family members, and our classroom library. This also helps me know what my students are interested in, as I have them make wish lists for their birthday book and “surprise” them with it on their birthday!

If you would like to sign up for Scholastic, use this link: https://talkable-clubs.scholastic.com/x/Phaeks. This will earn you 250 bonus points for signing up when you place your first order of $25 or more. We both earn 250 bonus points towards our next orders! If you are in need of other resources, go to http://www.scholastic.com/newtoclubs to download a FREE Classroom Library Starter Kit and make your own account. You will be given a “classroom code” that will allow for parents to make online orders that will go toward your classroom.

Classroom library as of September 2021, over 1000 novels in the library.

I hope this blog post was helpful to you as you start your Scholastic account and Book Clubs in the middle school classroom. If you have any questions, feel free to message me on Instagram! My username is msgliddengetsyougoing 🙂