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About Take-Home Books & Bags
Custom Lists
Dollar Allocation
Ideas for Take-Home Reading
About Take-Home Books & Bags
Mackin provides high-quality and affordable books, with optional backpacks or bags, for at-home or in-school use. Our database contains leveling information for the following reading programs:
- Fountas & Pinnell Guided Reading
- Lexile
- Accelerated Reading
- Reading Counts
We offer free labels for each of these reading programs. See our Reading Bag Order Form for more details.
Mackin offers the largest K-12 age-appropriate database in the world, featuring more than 2 million titles from 18,000 publishers on our website. We currently have the largest selection of leveled books for school-age children. You can be assured that we will work with you to find the best titles to meet your needs.
Custom Lists
Our development specialists and in-house professionals would be happy to prepare a custom title list for you at no cost. We can post our recommendations on your Mackin.com account so that you can make changes online. If you choose, we can mail or fax a list that includes review sources, reading or interest levels, and annotations. To browse our extensive database, simply register and log on to Mackin.com. Search for specific titles you have in mind, or explore our suggested lists for award, state, or theme book lists. Get started right away by filling out a Resources Development Form.
If you need further direction, our Reading Services Project Coordinators will be happy to discuss any questions or ideas you have. Email classroomservices@mackin.com or call 800.245.9540 whenever you have time – our phones are answered 24/7 by live operators that will make sure your information is relayed to our Project Coordinators at the beginning of the next business day.
Dollar Allocation
The beauty of working with Mackin is in our customizable features. Your price per bag will vary, depending on your book selections, book quantities, and bag type goals. Mackin recommends allocating 3-7 paperback books in each bag. We offer two types of bags: a nylon drawstring backpack and a plastic drawstring bag; you will find more details about these bags in the Mackin Reading Bag Order Form.
Generally, you can figure your reading bag budget something like this: (Price of the books within one bag + Price of selected bag) x Number of Students = Grand Total.
Ideas for Take-Home Books & Bags
Get creative! Your students will be motivated by taking home their own books in stylish bags. Use this excitement to enhance your reading programs! Some ideas:
Battle of the Books
Which book is the most popular with your students? Select book nominees from your state’s book award list, or create your own book award. Send each student home with a backpack full of the book nominees, and ask them to vote for their favorite at the end of the summer.
Summer Book Club
Create a discussion and encourage critical thinking by developing a summer book club. Send each participant home with a bag of this year’s hottest titles, and plan periodic book club meetings to reflect and discuss.
Reading Minutes Challenge
Motivate students to practice their reading over summer vacation. Choose high-interest titles to send home with students. Add a reading log to each bag, asking students to track their reading in minutes or total books. Reward their efforts with points or prizes appropriate to their accomplishments.