Ready, Set…Read Across America Activities!

Why limit yourself to a day, when you could have a whole week of Read Across America activities?!

We put together a template with suggestions for each day of the first week of March, but you could easily stretch this across the entire month and really celebrate National Reading Month!

Monday:

Kick things off with daily book talks, designed to whet your students’ appetites for books that might not be on their radar. You might also have students who would like to give book talks—give bonus points for coming in costume! The first day of Read Across America Week is the perfect day for inspiring stories. Since it’s also National Women’s History Month, how about stories of women trailblazers?

Nothing like empowering the next generation of go-getters!

Tuesday:

Have you heard about Novel Engineering? That’s where you read a book (or read aloud a book) and then have students solve a real-world engineering problem they identify in the book. They can use simple materials—cardboard, string, glue, tape, straws—to come up with a solution.

It’s STEM skills and literacy skills all in one!

Wednesday:

It’s Wacky Wednesday! Wear crazy hats or silly socks and read funny books. Learn from an author how exactly to structure a joke, and get students writing their own. Perhaps there’s a future comedian in the room?

(If so, you probably don’t want to know about it 🤣)

Thursday:

Here it is! The actual Read Across America Day! Go all out and dress up like a book character. Encourage your students to do the same (and make sure you communicate this home well in advance in your Weekly Update!) Work with your team to stage a building-wide festival, like:

🔥 A book campout in the gym or auditorium
👩🏽‍🏫 A room-to-room with guest readers (including a Mystery Masked Reader!)
👯‍♀️ Book buddies!

It’s sure to leave everyone feeling good 🥰

Friday:

You’ve done so much good reading, now it’s time to get your students writing. Surely, there’s a budding novelist, journalist, essayist, or (more likely) social media manager in your classroom! Don those berets, dip your quills in your inkpots, choose the perfect prompt, and write. End the day with a student author event, autographs too!

Cap the week off by sharing highlights with families in your weekly update – and include a reading resource for them, too! Every bit helps.