Scholastic Announces Major Redesign of Iconic School Book Club Flyers - Now with Grade-Specific Catalogs to Help Teachers and Families Encourage More Independent Reading and Increase Reading Proficiency

NEW YORK, Aug. 5, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Scholastic (NASDAQ: SCHL) today announced that the iconic school book club flyers beloved by schoolchildren, parents and teachers since 1948 will arrive in virtually every pre-K to 8 classroom this school year with a whole new look and with grade-specific monthly book selections to help all students reach higher levels of reading proficiency through increased independent reading.

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20130805/NY58505 )

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20100907/SCHOLASTICLOGO )

Traditionally, each Scholastic Book Clubs flyer served multiple grades, but based on extensive research, editors redesigned the catalogs and the Club website to make it easier for teachers and parents to find "just right" books for children in each specific grade.  New Common Core State Standards are based on specific skills at each grade level.  Now, Club flyers are labeled for "1^st Graders," "2^nd Graders," etc., and schools receive individual monthly catalogs for grades pre-K through grade 5 and a catalog for middle school, each of which offers books that align to the new Common Core State Standards. With grade-appropriate books at a range of reading levels typically found in each grade, students who excel at reading as well as those who struggle will find appropriate books.  Along with the new grade-specific redesign, grade-and Common Core-focused book curation, and easier book-finding experience for families and teachers, Scholastic Book Clubs has been rebranded as the Scholastic Reading Club.

"We've heard the growing concerns of teachers and parents about the higher standards that kids need to meet with the Common Core State Standards and, with input from our teacher advisors, we've created a practical solution.  The grade-leveled flyers allow families to choose appropriate books that will encourage daily independent reading practice which is critical for children to build fluency and confidence and ultimately to improve reading proficiency," said Judy Newman,  EVP, Scholastic and President, Scholastic Reading Club. "Equally important is the excitement of ordering from the Scholastic book flyer where kids get to choose and own the books they want to read and the thrill when the book box arrives in the classroom."

Other new features that make the new Scholastic Reading Club flyers even better for teachers, parents and children include: 

• Leveling for Books [K – Middle School flyers] Teachers and parents can now find leveling guides on books in the Scholastic Reading Club flyers. Books are labeled by Lexile Framework® for Reading, Guided Reading Level (GRA), Developmental Reading Assessement (DRA), and Accelerated Reader® Level(AR). In addition, detailed book information and samples pages are available on the Scholastic Reading Clubs new website.
• The SpotLit™ Collection [Pre-K - Middle School flyers] - Created by a committee of 24 top children's literature experts from across the country, this collection includes classic and timeless favorite children's books that every child should read. The books in the collection were chosen for their excellence and suitability to the needs of today's young people. Each month, the Scholastic Reading Club flyers will feature a selection of these books by grade. All 50 books for each grade are available online at www.scholastic.com/top50.
• 20/20 Daily Reading Routine [1^st - 3^rd Grade flyers] – To reinforce the importance of daily reading practice, Scholastic Reading Club recommends a 20/20 daily reading routine – 20 minutes of reading alone and 20 minutes of reading aloud. Read-alouds help children build vocabulary and improve reading comprehension, while reading alone provides practice decoding increasingly complex texts. Each month, teachers and parents can find "20 MINUTE" book recommendations for reading aloud and for reading alone by grade.
  • To help empower kids to keep track of their reading, parents can buy a Digital Timer Bookmark ($3.00 through Scholastic Reading Club), or they can access the free Scholastic Reading Timer app on iPhone and Android mobile devices and iPads.
• Storia® eBooks (Pre-K - Young Adult titles online) – The Scholastic teacher-recommended and award-winning ereading app for kids has a great selection of ebooks for all ages, with advanced digital features including read-aloud and highlighting functionality as well as vocabulary and comprehension activities. With the new dashboard, teachers and parents can organize and keep track of children's reading progress. New teachers who download the free Storia app through Scholastic Reading Club by September 30, 2013, receive three free grade-specific ebooks. To learn how to earn the free ebooks, visit www.scholastic.com/storia-clubs.

Teachers can still expect the same invaluable benefits they have always enjoyed with Scholastic Book Clubs.  The catalogs still offer the very best new and classic at the best values--including books for as little as $1.00 and both parents and teachers can shop directly online making ordering easy and convenient. Teachers continue to earn Bonus Points with every order, which they can redeem for free books and classroom supplies.   New this year, teachers will receive a free copy of the preselected Class Book of the Month when 5 or more students order that particular title and, because many teachers love to give each students a book on his or her birthday, Scholastic Reading Club is offering the chance to get 24 Birthday Book Coupons (good for any book up to $5) for just $25! 

Teachers and parents looking to find out about new books and authors, access author videos, read expert articles and more, can find the Scholastic Reading Club on Facebook, and @Scholastic on Twitter, share photos of favorite books via Instagram and read the Scholastic Reading Club blog, Book Box Daily. Celebrate and share your love for reading using #readingclub.

For more information about Scholastic Reading Club and for a downloadable image of the new grade-specific flyers, visit www.scholastic.com/readingclub. 

To learn more about Scholastic, the global children's publishing, education and media company, visit the media room at  http://mediaroom.scholastic.com.

SOURCE Scholastic