All Star Book Fair

It's book fair week at my school! Book fair week brings such excitement to the whole school. It's a fabulous literacy promotion, and I love to see our kids passionate about books!  My media center is on the main hall of the school, and the book fair often causes a pile up in the hall when kids stop the line to stare at the decor!

This fall's Scholastic Book Fair theme is "All Star Book Fair." To generate excitement, I asked our staff members to bring in a picture of themselves playing a sport when they were young. These are displayed outside the media center. The kids (and staff) love guessing which sport their favorite teachers played.

I set up the book fair with the help of many parent volunteers. We assembled two tailgating tents, and the coaches lent us a volleyball net to display posters. Another media specialist in my district created and lent us a trash can trophy, and we displayed that at the front of the media center.

 

After we set up, I held a teacher preview after school. During this event, teachers are invited to check out the books and create a wish list for families who would like to purchase books to add to classroom libraries. To encourage teacher attendance, I served ball park food: mini hot dogs, nachos, popcorn, pretzels, and canned soda. As the teachers arrived, I gave each an All Star Teacher gold medal (eight for $1 at Dollar Tree). To display their wish lists, I took the teachers' photos wearing their favorite team gear and Photoshopped the teachers into their team's stadium. The photos attract attention to the wish lists, and parents usually buy more books from the lists.

Today, students came in to preview the books at the book fair. We helped younger students make their wish lists. We also had a Grandparents Breakfast this morning, and many of the grandparents brought their grandchildren in afterwards. Book fair week is wonderfully rewarding, if incredibly exhausting!