FAQ About the 40 Book Challenge

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Completing the 40-Book Challenge is one of my favorite things to do each year. If you're just getting started with it though, it can be a little daunting. To help you out, I've gone through and answered some of the questions I'm asked most often. This will help make it easier for you to start the 40 book challenge with your students.

Do you do the 40 book challenge with your students?

The short answer is yes! As a teacher, I really try to practice what I preach. This means that I do end up reading 40 each school year. I try to use this as motivation for my students. It also allows me to be able to connect with them through books in a way that I might not have been able to before. 

To be fair, I do read fourth grade level books. This means that for me, reading 40 books doesn’t take as much time or energy as it would if I were reading young adult and adult novels.

What if not everyone completes the challenge?

That is okay! Each year, when I introduced the challenge, I do have students to ask the question “But Mrs. Sanchez, what if we don’t finish?” I assure them that everything will be okay. Because most of them, if they really truly have tried to do the challenge, will end up reading more books than they did the year before. Each new book that they read is a win. I don’t make a big deal out of it, but I definitely do celebrate the books that we do read.

How do your lower readers complete the challenge?

My lower readers have the same task as everyone else in the class. They need to read 40 books. In the individual conferences that I have with students, I will sit down and look at the books that they are reading. In those conferences, I do talk with my lower readers about books they can read. This might mean that some of my lower readers finish the challenge before the rest of the class because they are reading books on lower levels. To me, that is okay. I give them the charge to start the challenge over again. After all, just think of how much growth they would make if they read 80-120 books in a year!

Do you give them a reward for finishing?

I try not to turn this into a "simply read to get the reward" challenge. Because of this, my students don’t come away with any free pizza or ice cream. They don’t get extra recess time or anything like that. For my students to read all 40 books, I do like to give them something though for all of their hard work. What I do is I allow them to select one book from our classroom library that then becomes their own book. It can be any book that they want from our library. Now, you might be thinking  “Jamie, I don’t have all that money to spend on books for my students, to just give books away.“ If this is something that you really want to be able to do, there are different ways to make this work. Secondhand bookstores are always a fun way to find new books that can be added to your classroom library. I also love Scholastic. They will often have books that students are interested in reading for relatively decent prices. 

Another idea you could pursue is asking for donations. You can set up a Donors Choose project which allows other people to donate to your classroom. (New to Donors Choose? Click here to set up your own account with my referral code!) You can find books on Amazon that you want to add to your library and create a new project page. As you share your project with family and friends, you will be surprised just how many people are willing to contribute to help students learn and grow.

How do you keep track of what your students are reading?

To help my students keep track of what they have read, I created a reading tracker. This reading tracker has eight different sections that include a book counter, a list of the types of genres they will be reading this year, a list of books they want to read, a list of books they have read, book reviews, and more. I find that having this comprehensive book tracker has helped my students to be more successful at completing the 40 book challenge. I've got a blog post linked here that focuses just on this question, or you can click here to go straight to the tracker I use with my students.  

Do you count larger books as 2 books? 

When I introduced the 40 book challenge to my students for the first time, I told them that books are over 300 pages with counters to books. Guess what my students did? Yep. They went and found all the books that had 300 pages or more that they could count as two books. If they found one that had 299 pages, some of them would not read it. What I do now, is look at the books that they are reading in their book conferences that I have with them. If I notice that they are reading a book that is particularly long, or that might take them a long time, I will let them know privately that they can count that specific book as two books. This isn’t announced to the class, but I do recognize that some of my students are reading larger books like Harry Potter. These take longer to read, and I want to recognize the hard work my students are doing.

Do you limit the number of books a student can read from a series?

The only types of limits that I try to give to my students are the book genres themselves. If they decide that for all of their informational text, they want to read books from the "Who Was...?" series, I let them. If they decide about all of their realistic fiction books come from the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series, as long as they haven’t read them before that works for me. 

What are your normal genre requirements?

Each year I change things up a little bit. Here is this year’s genre reading requirement:

• Realistic Fiction: 6 books
• Historical Fiction: 4 books
• Fantasy: 4 books
• Science Fiction: 2 books
• Mystery: 2 books
• Action/Adventure: 3 books
• Informational: 7 books
• Biographies: 2 books
• Student's Choice: 10 books

During my student conferences, if I find a student is really struggling with one genre, I will recommend books for them. I have also tweaked the requirement a little bit depending on the student in the conferences. 

How do you help students who don't want to do the challenge?

The challenge can be, well, challenging for kids that might be struggling readers or just haven't discovered the love of reading. To help these children it is important to build a relationship with them. As you get to know them, you'll find their likes and interests. Use this to help them find books they might be interested in. Have a student that loves football? Find a biography about their favorite football player! It might require a little more investigative work on your end, but helping a child find a book they love is worth it!

How do you make sure your students actually read the books they say they are reading?

Imagine you just finished reading a book and someone came up to you and told you "now you need to write a report about the book you read." I would feel annoyed, to say the least. I want to have control over what I'm reading. With a challenge though, it is understandable that some students might try to fudge their reading record. Rather than making my students do 40 book reports throughout the year, I talk to them about their books in their conferences. I have had students that have told me they read a book, but when I start asking them questions about it, it quickly becomes obvious they didn't actually read it. Even if I haven't read the book, I can ask questions that give me a good idea about whether or not they've read it. Some questions I like to ask during conferences are:

• Who were the main characters in the book?
• What was one of the main problems?
• How did the characters solve the problem?
• What was your favorite part of the book and why?
• How would you have changed the ending?

Their reading conferences aren't meant to be an interrogation, but rather a conversation about what they are reading.

Have another question about the 40 book challenge that I didn't answer? Drop your question below and I'll add it to the list!

Want More Info on the Challenge?

This is Part 5 in a 5-part series about the 40 book challenge. Each week I'll post a new blog post that talks about one of the aspects of the challenge. Check out these blog posts to learn more!

Part 1: Why I Ditched Reading Logs and What I Do Instead

Part 2: How I Introduce the 40-Book Challenge to My Students

Part 3: How to Track the 40-Book Challenge

Part 4: Creating a Book Tasting Experience for the 40-Book Challenge

Create a Book Tasting Experience for the 40-Book Challenge

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One of my favorite things to do at the beginning of the school year is to create a book tasting experience for my students. You’ve probably heard about this, or seen examples on Pinterest, Instagram or Facebook. Today I’m going to answer some frequently asked questions about how I do this book tasting activity in my classroom.

How do you set up your classroom?

I want my students to really be hooked into this experience. To do that, I “transform” my room from a classroom to a quaint little café. I put the desks into groups to create tables, and then I will place a tablecloth over each table. (I got some really cute red and white checkered ones on Amazon-click here to see the ones I use!). I generally try to keep it to 4 desks at each table.

I also place a small vase with some fake flowers in the middle, along with a couple of fake tea lights to help create a fun ambiance. At each desk, I will place a paper plate with a book on it, and a pencil where the utensils would normally be placed. At the top of each plate, I place a little name card with each student’s name on it. I also make sure that my students’ reading trackers are at their place. (Want to see the reading trackers I use? Click here to check them out!) 

I will also dim my lights a little bit and open the windows, to create a softer light in our classroom. I like to play some simple piano music in the background. 

And of course, I need the books. Each table is assigned a different genre. I have a little sign posted that lists some of the characteristics of each genre in addition to giving some examples of books from that genre. I pull a stack of books from that genre and put it in the middle. 

(Note: My classroom library has over 600 books, so I don’t put all of my books on their desks. That would be overwhelming. I generally try to pull 15-20 books per genre that I think would be of interest to my students.)

I also like to have a recommendation list at each table. I got the cute (and cheap!) 4x6 picture frames from IKEA. I printed out some of the books that I recommend from each genre, and slid them in the frame. It stands up so nicely!

Finally, I display a sign on our whiteboard that says “Welcome to our Book Tasting Café.” These various elements really help to set the stage for this experience.

What genres do you introduce during your book tasting experience?

During this time, I want to introduce my students to the most common genres that we will be reading from during the school year. It also depends on how many students and tables I have. I want to make sure to have at least 5 genres for my students to explore.

The genres I usually stick with are:

• fantasy
• realistic fiction
• historical fiction
• non-fiction
• science fiction

If I have more students (and thereby more tables), I might also include 

• biography
• poetry
• fairytales & folklore.

Do you dress up at all to do this room transformation?

Absolutely! More invested I am in the experience, the more into this my students will be. This is a pretty simple costume. I dress up as a waitress. That means I am often in black slacks or a black skirt, a white shirt, and an apron. My hair will be up in a nice bun, and I will carry a pad of paper around with me. I create a name tag with a fake name on it, and introduce myself to my students as their waitress for this afternoon. Like any waitress, I am prepared with recommendations and ready to answer questions. And to really play this up, I will only respond to students when they call me by my fake name. (Who is this Mrs. Sanchez you keep asking for? I’m Jessica, the waitress!) 

When do you set this up and how long does it take?

I make sure to set this up while my students are not in the room. I plan to do this activity either first thing in the morning, after a specialty class (during my prep time), or after lunch/recess. I move the desks, set up the table cloths, and get everything that the students need in order to create this experience for them. If I’m doing this transformation by myself, it generally takes me about 45 minutes. If I have help, it goes by faster (I may or may not have recruited my assistant principal to help me a few years ago as she was walking by my room…). I do make sure to prep any materials I need beforehand. I’ll print off name cards and make sure I have their reading trackers before I set this up. This makes it easy for me to focus on the room transformation.

I love seeing my students when they walk into the room. They are often amazed at how quickly their classroom has been transformed and are eager to start the activity.

What does the experience look like?

When the students come in, they are instructed to find their name card, sit down, and wait for further instructions. Once everyone has found their place, I will announce to them that I am their waitress that will be serving them their books during this book tasting opportunity. I will have that one student that will inevitably put a book in his or her mouth, just to try and be smart, and I will inevitably have to explain that no, I don’t mean this literally. 

Once we’ve crossed that hurdle, I explain to them how to “taste“ a book. We look at the cover, and read the snippet on the back. If it is something that piques our interest, we can start reading the first chapter. After a few pages, we stop and ask ourselves “Is this something I would like to keep reading?” If the answer is “yes,” we write the title and author of the book in our reading tracker, and then place the book back in the center. We then grab a new book to “taste.”

When the activity starts, students are given 8-10 minutes at each genre. When they hear the signal, they clean up their table. They place books back and make sure there is a pencil next to each plate. Then they will get up and rotate to the next table, taking their reading tracker with them. 

Then, I set the timer and the book tasting begins again. During this time, I walk around and ask my students questions about what they have found, and ask if they have any questions. This continues until all of the students have had an opportunity to “taste“ each genre. Afterward, I like to give them a few minutes to chat with other people not in the groups about the books that they have “tasted.” 

To end the book tasting experience, I like to give them a small treat that they can actually eat. This is such a fun activity and it really gets students engaged and interested in reading. If you are doing the 40 book challenge, I highly suggest doing an activity like this so that your students know what type of books they can read from each genre. 

Want More Info on the Challenge?

This is Part 4 in a 6-part series about the 40 book challenge. Each week I'll post a new blog post that talks about one of the aspects of the challenge. Check out these blog posts to learn more!

Part 1: Why I Ditched Reading Logs and What I Do Instead

Part 2: How I Introduce the 40-Book Challenge to My Students

Part 3: How My Students Track the 40 Book Challenge

Part 5: FAQ about the 40-Book Challenge

How My Students Track What They Read for the 40 Book Challenge

Let's read about Amelia Earhart.

I’ll send you this free "Who was Amelia Earhart?" novel study that you can print off and use with your students today.
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Over the years, the way I’ve had students keep track of the 40 book challenge has evolved. During the first year of implementing the challenge, we started off with a composition book. The students opened to the first pages and wrote 1-40 down the left side. As they finished a book, they would write the title and genre, and that was about it. 

This worked okay. I didn’t have a place for them to write down what they wanted to read, or to really facilitate book conversations with me. It felt kind of clunky. This began the evolution of my 40 book challenge reading tracker.

The next year I did the same thing, however at the beginning of the year I handed my students a paper of books they wanted to read. They could use it to keep track of books they wanted to read while we did our Book Tasting activity (link). But then it was just a paper that was inevitably sacrificed to the desk monster at some point during the school year.

Each year I learned a little more, and did a little more, until I finally decided I needed to create a notebook specifically for the 40-book challenge, complete with everything I wanted my students to have. I sat down one summer and mapped out everything that I wanted in a reading tracker. Then I went to work creating it.

Sections in the 40 Book Challenge Tracker

1. Book Chart

At the beginning of their notebook I have a chart with 40 books on it. Each time my students finish a book, they pull out their tracker and color in one of the books. This makes it super easy to see how much progress they’ve made toward their goal.

2. Types of Book Genres

I have found that my students sometimes need a reminder about the different types of genres. This is a great section that my students love to reference throughout the year. Each genre includes a definition and 2-3 examples of books that could fit into that genre.

3. Yearly Goal

This section is important because it allows students to remember how many books they need to read from each genre.

4. List of Books I Want to Read

If you’re on Goodreads, you probably have a huge list of books you want to read. It’s important for students to have a list like this too. This helps them become more independent readers, as it takes away the excuse of “I don’t know what to read.”

5. List of Books I Have Read

After students finish a book, they will come to this section and write down the title, author, and genre of book they have read.

6. Monthly Reading Goals

Help your student complete the 40 book challenge by setting monthly goals with them. On this page, they can determine about how many books they want to read each month, and which genres they would like to explore. There is also a place for them to reflect at the end of the month on how they did in completing their goals. Breaking the challenge down into smaller chunks makes it easier for students to complete.

7. Monthly Book Letters

I love to have conversations about books with my students. To give my students the chance to practice their writing, I like to have them write me a letter each month about what they are reading. This is a great opportunity to teach students how to write a friendly letter. I encourage my students to ask me questions about what I’m reading too. I make sure to respond to each student’s letter. I want them to know that this is conversation! It is so fun to hear about what my students have been reading, and to “talk” about books with them.

8. Book Ratings

One of my favorite parts about Goodreads is the opportunity to rate and review the books I’ve finished reading. I love giving my students the same opportunity. This final section of the reading tracker allows students to give books up to 5 stars, and write a small book review. Having students share out reviews is a fun way to get kids involved in each other’s reading too.

Using a reading tracker will help your students be more successful when it comes to completing the 40 book challenge. Don’t want to spend your precious time creating a reading tracker for your students? I’ve got you covered! I’ve created one for you with all of these important elements included. 

It includes a printable and a digital version to best support all of your needs!

Want More Info on the Challenge?

This is Part 3 in a 5-part series about the 40 book challenge. Each week I'll post a new blog post that talks about one of the aspects of the challenge. Check out these blog posts to learn more!

Part 1: Why I Ditched Reading Logs and What I Do Instead

Part 2: How I Introduce the 40-Book Challenge to My Students

Part 4: Creating a Book Tasting Experience for the 40-Book Challenge

Part 5: FAQ about the 40-Book Challenge