Before Summer Book Exchange

Would you like to motivate students to read over the summer?

Do you hope to share a love of books?

How do you help students beat the summer slide?

Try a book exchange!

A few weeks before summer begins I send a letter home asking students and families to donate lightly used, age appropriate, books and magazines to our class book exchange.

I raid our classroom library for well loved books, or extra copies that we no longer need to add to the pile of donations.  I use bonus points to purchase new Scholastic Reading Club dollar deals.

Once we have collected enough books, I spread them out on all the desks and tables around the classroom.

I purchase summer beach bags from the Dollar Tree for each student to use.  As they selected "new" books students stored them in their bags.

I have students line up and move around the desks and tables clockwise and in order.  In the beginning, students select one book per rotation.  This prevents any pushing or shoving and helps make sure that everyone gets an equal chance to select the books they like.

By the end or our book exchange student bags are overflowing with great summer reads.

This is the second year that I have held a book exchange and students loved it!

How do you encourage students to read over the summer?