A competition for primary schools:
11 December 2012 to 16 April 2013

Get your classroom buzzing about books by taking part in our Spring 2013 competition with Oxford University Press and safe social learning platform, Makewaves.

Your Monster Read challenges pupils to share their favourite read with their peers in an exciting and original way and is sure to engage even the most reluctant readers.

The competition will:

• help to raise the profile of reading in school
• get your pupils excited about sharing books
• be hosted in a safe online social learning environment
• be supported by free practical classroom tips and activities.

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How it works

The challenge is simple: To enter, pupils must share their favourite read with their peers in their own way – through a video, podcast, poster, blog or something else entirely – and upload it onto www.makewav.es/monsterread for all to see.

We want to be surprised, so the more imaginative the entry the better. It’s all about creating a buzz, thinking of original ways to share their “monster read” and being persuasive.

Pupils are encouraged to comment on and “like” other children’s entries, and winners will be chosen from two categories…

1. Judges’ Choice: The winning entry will be chosen by a judging panel that includes top children’s author Ali Sparkes and First News editor Nicky Cox
2. Your Choice: The winning will be chosen by the Your Monster Read community and will be the entry that has received the highest number of “likes”.

Teachers can enter too!

Don’t let your pupils have all the fun. Submit your own Your Monster Read entry and you could win our special “Terrific Teacher” category (also decided by the number of “likes” received). Show them how it’s done!

The prizes

There are some great prizes up for grabs for the winners.

The Judges’ Choice winner will receive:

• For themselves: An e-reader, a voucher for www.amazon.co.uk worth £50 and a set of books by Ali Sparkes, signed by the author and a preview of Ali’s brand new story, Out of This World, before anyone else!
• For their school: A 12 month PRO account with Makewaves (worth up to £1000), a choice of Oxford University Press resources work £500, and a special visit from Ali Sparkes.

The Your Choice winner will receive an e-reader, a voucher for www.amazon.co.uk worth £50 and a set of books by Ali Sparkes, signed by the author.

The Terrific Teacher category winner will receive a voucher for www.amazon.co.uk worth £50 and a 12 month PRO account with Makewaves.

Supporting resources

Every school that registers to take part in Your Monster Read will receive a free printed poster to help them promote the competition in school.

We’ve also put together lots of practical tips and ideas, both to help you integrate the competition task into your classroom, and to support you in developing a culture in which peer recommendation and talking about books is high on the agenda.

To provide further inspiration for your pupils and to help them get started, we've asked some authors to upload guest entries telling us about their own favourite children's books.

All this can be accessed on the Makewaves Your Monster Read platform www.makewav.es/monsterread. It's a BETT award-winning online social learning platform, is completely safe and free for schools taking part in the competition.

Visit the Your Monster Read platform to find out more