100 Book Challenge® for Elementary School

Ensure That Every Child Can Demonstrate Grade Level Proficiency in Reading

The 100 Book Challenge partners with you to identify each student’s level using national standards. Ongoing assessment continually matches the right instruction and the right books to every child. With a system of instructional feedback loops, embedded professional development for teachers, and a parent support framework, each student makes adequate or accelerated yearly progress.

See the Suggested Spectrum of Baskets for examples of classroom libraries by grade.

Common Core State Standards

Learn about American Reading Company’s standards-based Leveling System.

Learn more »

100 Book Challenge®
for Grades PreK–9

Frequently Asked Questions

Have questions about 100 Book Challenge? Read our FAQ.

Benchmark Smart Start Classroom Module

For up to 30 students

Teacher Resource Kit
Reading Skills Cards (250–340)
Incentive Reading Folders (165)
Up to 400 Steps
Milestone Awards (30)
30 each of 100–400 Steps
Take-Home Book Bags (30)
Incentive Kit
Prizes for first 200 Steps
SchoolPace™
Student achievement dashboard
Start-Up Workshop
1 full day of professional development training included for 5–20 purchased modules
Elementary Classroom Library
10 Baskets/250–300 Titles
$3,800.00
for 30 students

Spanish: $4,000.00

Teacher Resource Kit

Teacher Resource Kit

The Teacher Resource Kit provides teachers with the tools they will need to get started with 100 Book Challenge®.

Includes

  • Teacher Handbook
  • Conference Notebook
  • IRLA
  • Set of Laminated Skills Cards on a Ring
  • On-Target Badge
  • Leveling Poster
  • Classroom Poster
Teacher Resource Kit
Teacher Handbook

Teacher Handbook

The Teacher Handbook is a vital and comprehensive resource for any teacher using 100 Book Challenge. The handbook provides blackline masters, instructions for implementation of every aspect of the program, tips for addressing common concerns, detailed descriptions of the book leveling system, and materials to encourage parent participation. Spanish translations of many of the materials for students and parents are also included.

Teacher Handbook
Conference Notebook

Conference Notebook

The Conference Notebook is the heart of the 100 Book Challenge standards-based formative assessment system. The teacher maintains a standards-based assessment/coaching guide appropriate to that student’s current level of reading proficiency. Teachers learn to assess, diagnose, and instruct each student using a standards-based formative assessment framework while the student reads books he or she has chosen and wants to read.

Student progress is monitored, coached, and documented as they increase their mastery of the reading standards required by state testing. All instruction is differentiated to match individual student needs and interests. Teachers learn to be diagnosticians, expert coaches, and reading friends to their students. The Conference Notebook supports both student and teacher learning through daily classroom practice.

Conference Notebook
IRLA: Independent Reading Level Assessment Framework

IRLA: Independent Reading Level Assessment Framework

Formative Assessment Built on the Common Core State Standards for Reading

A unified standard-based framework for student assessment, text leveling, curriculum, and instruction. The IRLA includes every Common Core State Standard for Reading, both in literature and informational text, as well as those Language standards which are key to reading success.

The IRLA allows educators to determine a student’s current level of reading proficiency, diagnose areas of strength and weakness, formulate an Action Plan for next steps, and track progress on a daily basis using books the student has chosen to read because he or she wants to read them.

IRLA: Independent Reading Level Assessment Framework
Skills Cards on a Ring

Skills Cards on a Ring

Have the entire range of 100 Book Challenge Skill Cards at your fingertips! This set includes all 100 Book Challenge Skill Cards making it easy to locate the skills necessary at any reading level. The set is laminated and collated onto a ring for quick reference.

Skills Cards on a Ring
On-Target Badge

On-Target Badge

Each 15 minutes of reading practice counts as one Step. Students are expected to read for 11 Steps a week, for a minimum of 400 Steps (100 hours) per year. Teachers, administrators, and office staff, wear the weekly target number of Reading Steps around their necks. This simple gesture makes it clear that every student in the school is expected to do enough reading practice every day to get good at it. It is soon very clear which students in the school are not getting enough reading practice in time to do something about it.

On-Target Badge
Leveling Poster

Leveling Poster

ARC’s standards-based color leveling system organizes all of your leveling tools into one simple standards-based gradient that students, teachers, and parents can understand and use. The leveling poster is a handy reference defining the text characteristics at every color level and providing the correlation to other popular leveling programs.

Leveling Poster
Classroom Poster

Classroom Poster

Teachers can keep track of students’ reading milestones. This 39" × 27" colorful glossy poster has spaces for the teacher to write in the students’ names and the dates on which they reached reading milestones—from 100–600 Steps.

Classroom Poster
Reading Skills Cards

Reading Skills Cards

Identify what a student needs to know and be able to do at each reading level.

Written in student and parent friendly language, the Reading Skills Cards travel between school and home daily providing guidelines for teachers, parents and students as to the skills and strategies (standards) that must be mastered at each level. Comprehension questions are keyed to the higher order thinking skills required by high stakes tests.

100 Book Challenge Smart Start modules include 250–340 cards reflecting the reading levels of your students.

Reading Skills Cards
Skills Cards (2R)
Skills Cards (2R)
Skills Cards (Or)
Skills Cards (Or)
Develop and Support and Interpretation Rubric
Develop and Support and Interpretation Rubric
Incentive Reading Folders

Incentive Reading Folders

100 Book Challenge Reading Folders keep your students organized for Independent Reading. Everything they need for reading practice travels with them throughout the day and goes home each night. Students start with the basic Blue folder. As each reader completes 100 Steps of reading, he or she is awarded a new 100-Step Red folder. Students who have not completed the requisite amount of reading practice continue with the aging Blue folders. Teachers and volunteers can see at a glance who needs extra reading practice time. The color folders provide a Karate Belt system for monitoring and rewarding student effort.

100 Book Challenge Smart Start modules include folders to take 30 students to 100, 200, 300, and 400 Steps. Additional incentive folders up to 1,000 Steps are available à la carte.

Incentive Reading Folders
Milestone Awards

Milestone Awards

Milestone Awards are presented to students by the school principal in recognition of effort-based achievements in reading. Each gold medal has the 100 Book Challenge logo on one side and the reading milestone on the other. Colorful ribbons represent which milestone the reader has reached.

Milestone Awards
Take-Home Book Bags

Take-Home Book Bags

Cool Bags for Smart Kids

Students in grades PreK–5 use these durable book bags to transport all their 100 Book Challenge materials to and from school. The elastic strap will allow the bags to hang over the backs of most classroom chairs. Teachers can easily check to be sure every child goes home with this reading practice kit every night. Parents and younger siblings look forward to the unpacking of this special bag every afternoon, full of new books to read.

Take-Home Book Bags
Incentive Kits

Incentive Kits

Rewards for Readers Who Achieve

Research shows that extrinsic rewards help students sustain behavior that is initially challenging but with experience becomes intrinsically rewarding. Your avid readers don’t need the prizes, but students not used to reading at home every night on their own do. The Smart Start Module includes a package of small incentives to get all of your readers started on lots of reading every day.

Incentive Kits
SchoolPace

SchoolPace

SchoolPace is a web-based student achievement dashboard that allows educators to monitor growth and performance in real-time. With SchoolPace, you’ll have out-of-the-box access to reports including:

  • District Dashboards
  • School Dashboards
  • Classroom Dashboards
  • Growth Reports
  • Performance Reports Based on Custom District, School, and Grade-Level Targets

Learn more about SchoolPace.

SchoolPace
Professional Development

Professional Development

FREE Professional Development with the purchase of five or more classroom modules (or webinar with 4 modules or fewer.)

Professional Development
Benchmark Classroom Libraries

Benchmark Classroom Libraries

Master educators hand-select only the best trade and reading company multicultural titles to include in the Benchmark libraries. Collections are balanced to include fiction (including best selling series) and nonfiction across multiple genres and come leveled, organized, and ready to read. Each classroom receives ten baskets (30 books each), totaling 300 unique titles, and each classroom’s set is different. The baskets circulate among participating classrooms creating a continuous stream of up to 15,000 titles moving through participating classrooms.

Benchmark Classroom Libraries