How to Create a Contest

Why Use Contests? 

Contests are one of the most effective ways to boost reading engagement in the classroom. A well-timed contest can:

• Create motivation with a deadline — a visible end date and countdown timer on the student dashboard keeps the goal top of mind.
• Reward different types of effort — you choose whether students earn credit by passing quizzes, logging reading time, completing final reviews, accumulating activity points, reading pages, counting words, or reading nonfiction books.
• Encourage teamwork or healthy individual competition — run a class-wide challenge where everyone contributes (Goal-Based only), or let each student compete on their own.
• Flexible winner selection — automatic winners (Goal-Based) or manual selection (Leaderboard).
• Work for any classroom goal — a short sprint before a break or a month-long reading marathon both work equally well.

Step 1: Choose Format

Click Contests in the sidebar, then click Add new Contest.

The first step asks you to choose a contest format. You have two options:

• Goal-Based ? — Students work toward a fixed numeric target. Anyone who reaches the goal can win. You set the target, and the system automatically flags who qualified. You can also manually select winners on the Monitor page.
• Leaderboard ? — No fixed goal. Students compete for top positions by activity total on a single metric. You manually choose the winners at the end based on the final leaderboard.

Note: Once you create a contest with a format, you cannot change it later. Choose wisely, but you can still edit all other contest settings afterward.

If this is your first contest, you will also see Quick Start presets — popular contest templates you can click to pre-fill the form. You can still adjust any field after selecting a preset.

Step 2: Contest Setup

The second step configures what students need to accomplish.

Contest Activity — choose the metric students will be tracked on:

• Book Quizzes
• Activity Points
• Final Review (books finished)
• Reading Log (in minutes)
• Page Count
• Word Count
• Nonfiction Books

Page Count and Word Count are based on the book’s total pages and words — not on reading log minutes.

Who's Competing — (Goal-Based only) choose the contest type:

• Individual Effort — each student competes on their own.
• Classroom Effort — all student totals are combined into a single class score; the whole class wins together.

Leaderboard contests are always individual. This option is locked for leaderboard format — students always compete one-on-one, never as a team.

Contest Goal — (Goal-Based only) enter the target number students must reach to win (e.g., 10 quizzes, 500 reading minutes, or 5,000 words). Leaderboard contests have no goal — leave this blank.

Which books count? (optional if you have Book Taco Library access) — choose which book sources earn credit:

• Outside Titles — books from class/school/public libraries, home, Epic, Sora, etc.
• Book Taco Library — only digital e-books read inside Book Taco.
• Both — Book Taco Library + Outside Titles (all sources).

Contest Books (optional) — by default any book counts toward the contest. To restrict it, select Select Book Lists and choose one or more of your custom book lists. Only books from those lists will count toward this contest.

Student Groups (optional) — limit the contest to specific groups. Leave blank to include all students in your class.

Step 3: Add Contest Details

The third step sets the contest identity and timing.

• Name — the contest title students will see.
• Contest starts at / Contest ends at — only activity within these dates counts toward the goal or leaderboard ranking.
• Short description — a brief internal summary (not shown to students).
• Contest Instructions — the full message shown to students on the contest details page. Use this to explain the rules, eligibility, and encourage participation.
• Banner — click to choose a cover image from the library, or upload your own (1200×250 px, JPEG, PNG, or SVG).

Step 4: Choose a Prize

The fourth step sets what students win. Choose one of three prize types:

• Custom Prize (recommended) — write a custom reward that will be displayed to winning students. Classic options include a pizza party, homework pass, treasure chest pick, or a movie-and-popcorn day.
• Game Coins — give winning students extra game coins. Use the slider to set the amount (1–20 coins).
• Both — combine a custom prize AND game coins.

Need inspiration? Click Contest Prize Ideas! at the top of the page for a curated list of reward suggestions.

Step 5: Save and Launch

Click the Save button at the top or bottom of the form. The contest is immediately visible to students once it is saved and the start date is reached.

After saving: You can visit the Monitor page to watch live activity, see leaderboard positions, or select winners for leaderboard contests.

What Students See 

Active contests appear on the student dashboard with a live countdown showing days, hours, minutes, and seconds remaining. Students can click the contest to view the instructions, the activity metric, the prize, and any linked book lists. On the contest details page, students see:

• Goal-Based: their progress toward the goal, how many students have qualified, and the current status (active, closed, or finished).
• Leaderboard: the current leaderboard with rankings, their position, and their total activity.

When a contest ends, winners receive a congratulations message and the prize (if applicable).