Registration for the Scholastic Summer Reading Challenge kicks off April 7.

Starting April 7, K-8 educators can register their students for the 2014 Scholastic Summer Reading Challenge at scholastic.com/summer. The Scholastic Summer Reading Challenge is a free online reading program where kids can read what they want, and log their reading minutes to earn rewards and help set a new world record for summer reading.Teachers can track their students’ progress through the educator dashboard, download free contenting including how-to guides, booklists and online resources and be entered to win prizes. (Teachers who register by June 30 will be entered for a chance to win a 50 book library, and the first 500 teachers that register win 250 Bonus Points for Scholastic Reading Clubs.) The school that logs the most reading minutes at the end of the summer wins a visit from bestselling authors: David Shannon (elementary school prize) and Gordon Korman (middle school prize). In supplement with the reading challenge, Scholastic is hosting a live Google+ Hangout moderated by Pam Allyn of LitWorld, on Wednesday, April 16 at 8 PM (ET) called “Summer Reading Roundtable: Stopping the Summer Slide” as a means to provide educators with successful summer reading strategies.