Genre Scavenger Hunt: Get FREE Books for your Classroom Library

Whether you’re looking for a way to increase Scholastic book orders or expose your students to varying book genres, a Genre Scavenger Hunt is a fun way to do both! Plus, when your students order books from Scholastic, it can help you with building a classroom library. You can grow your classroom library for cheap (or even FREE!) with Scholastic. Let’s dive into what a Scholastic Genre Scavenger Hunt looks like in the classroom and how it can benefit teachers and students

Note: This post is not affiliated with the Scholastic Corporation in any way. 

Benefits of Scholastic Book Flyers

There are several benefits to using Scholastic book flyers in the classroom. 

My favorite is watching as students browse through the titles and show interest in different types of books. Scholastic book orders encourage students to pursue a passion for reading by exposing them to books with topics they’re interested in. Once students select their books, excitement builds as they eagerly wait for them to arrive.

After students have placed their orders, teachers earn points off of those purchases. Teachers are then able to cash points in to receive free books for their own classroom library! This is how I built my classroom library for cheap over the years.

As you add the new books to your classroom library, students have more access to various genres and topics. Students’ excitement becomes contagious as they spread their joy with others, building a community of readers within your classroom.

Parents also love ordering from Scholastic! The books are affordable and easy to order, which makes the whole process even better!

Scholastic Book Hunt

While students already love browsing the Scholastic book flyer, I like to take it a step further and use it for a Scholastic Genre Book Hunt! This is a fun twist on a traditional book tasting.

How a Genre Book Hunt Works

Genre book hunts (or genre tastings) are a great way to expose your students to different book genres that they may usually shy away from. Ready to start a genre book hunt in your own classroom? Read below to learn how it works.

You’ll begin by creating a booklet for each of your students. The booklet consists of Genre Hunting graphic organizers labeled with each book genre. Students are also given a direction slip to help them log onto the Scholastic website. Once they’re logged on, students will search for books using criteria like grade, collection, or flyer. Students will read the book summaries and decide on each book’s genre. They will then record their finding on their Genre Hunting graphic organizer. 

Ways to Use the Genre Book Hunt

These activities can be completed independently, with a partner, or in groups and easily implemented as:

Part of a Genre Study Unit – Students will work with a partner (or small group) to browse Scholastic magazines or the website to learn more about different genres of books. With fourteen genres to explore, there are several different types of texts for students to learn more about. 

An Early Finisher Activity – This Genre Scavenger Hunt is a fun activity for early finishers to complete as a review of genres. It also gives students additional time to browse through books and determine which they want to read and/or purchase. 

A Scholastic Wishlist – As students explore the books that Scholastic sells, remind them to fill in a wishlist tracker log with general information such as the name of the book, author, genre, and price. This helps students keep track of the books they found interesting and helps their parents know which books to purchase. It will also help you decide which free books to get with your Scholastic bonus points. 

A Matching Genre Literacy Center – This activity allows students to search popular book titles on each task card using the Scholastic search engine. Once students read the summary and determine the genre of each book, they take the task card with the book’s title and sort it underneath the correct genre header. Students enjoy this hands-on activity as it gives them additional practice in understanding genres.

A Way to Increase Scholastic Book Orders – Consequently, the more that students explore the Scholastic books, the more likely they’ll be to make a purchase. I like to send a reminder note and some extra flyers home the night before orders are due to help encourage this. The Scholastic Book Hunt Activity pack also includes the slips below and parent letters.

I hope a Scholastic genre hunt sparks a love for books and reading in your classroom!  

Looking for other hands-on activities? Check out these fun activities to teach text features.

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