How to Create a Contest as a Super User in Book Taco

Step 1: Open Contests and Click Add

In the Super User sidebar, click Contests, then click Add new Contest. If you have run contests before, a Quick Start carousel appears at the top of the form with popular preset configurations. Click any preset card to pre-fill the form — you can still edit every field after selecting one.

Step 2: Set the Contest Goals

This step defines what students need to do and how much they need to do it.

Goal based on — choose the activity that earns credit:

• Book Quizzes — number of quizzes passed
• Activity Points — points earned from vocabulary, spelling, writing, and graphic organizer activities
• Final Review — number of Final Reviews completed
• Reading Log (in minutes) — total minutes logged during the contest period
• Page Count — total pages based on each book's page count, not reading log entries
• Word Count — total words based on book metadata, not reading log entries
• Nonfiction Books — number of nonfiction titles completed

Goal based on total effort of — choose how students compete:

• Individual Effort — each student competes on their own
• Classroom Effort — all students in a class combine their totals as a team

Goal — enter the target number students or classrooms must reach to win (for example, 10 quizzes, 500 minutes, or 5,000 words).

Contest Books (optional) — by default, any book counts toward the contest. To restrict the contest to specific titles, select Select Book Lists and choose one or more custom book lists.

Totals count only during the contest dates you set in the next step — activity completed before or after those dates does not count.

Click Next Step to continue.

Step 3: Fill in Contest Details

Complete the contest information:

• Name Your Contest — the title students will see.
• Contest starts at / ends at — set the start and end dates for the active window.
• Short description — a brief summary shown in contest listings.
• Contest Instructions — the full message displayed to students on the contest details page. Use this to explain the rules, what they need to do, and what they can win.
• Banner — click the banner area to pick from the available contest covers or upload your own image (1200 × 250 px, JPEG, PNG, or SVG).

Click Next Step to continue.

Step 4: Select Participating Classrooms

This step is unique to Super User contests. A list of all teachers linked to your account appears with a toggle switch for each one. By default, all teachers are selected. Uncheck any teacher whose class should not participate in this contest.

Use the Check / Uncheck All toggle at the top to quickly select or deselect the entire list at once.

Only teachers currently linked to your Super User account appear in this list. If a teacher is missing, make sure they are linked under Manage Teachers first.

Click Next Step to continue.

Step 5: Choose the Prize

Choose one of two prize types:

• Enter Your Prize (recommended) — type a custom prize description that students will see, such as a pizza party, homework pass, or treasure chest pick.
• Award Game Coins — use the slider to set between 1 and 20 bonus Game Coins awarded to winners automatically.

When you are ready, click Save. The contest is created and visible to students in the selected classrooms immediately, as long as the start date has been reached.

After the Contest Ends 

When the contest end date passes, it moves to a closed state and appears in your dashboard inbox as a reminder to pick winners. Go to Contests in the sidebar and open the contest monitor to review standings and select the winners. Closed contests that have not had winners selected will show a badge count on the Contests menu item.