Read Across America Week

 

Looking for some fun ways to celebrate Read Across America Week? I am the librarian/tech or STEM teacher (I actually call it STREAM– Science, Technology, Reading, Engineering, Art, Math) in a K-8 school. It can be tricky to find something that appeals to all students K-8, but everyone participated in these fun activities this year!

Bookmark Contest

We had a school-wide bookmark contest! The winning bookmarks are above. Students had to design a bookmark that had something to do with reading. I hung up all the bookmarks in the following categories: K-1, 2-3, 4-5, 6-8. We also have a homeschool program, so I had a category for homeschool as well. I used masking tape to hang the bookmarks and numbered each bookmark on the masking tape starting with #1 in each category. I made a google form and added the number for each bookmark as a multiple choice option. I sent the google form to students on google classroom and gave them a week to vote for their favorites in each category. A google form automatically gives you the percentage for all the votes, so it's easy to find the winner! 

Rewards: Our school has a dress code (solid color polos and solid color pants or skirts), so as reward, I gave every student who entered a dress down pass (they can wear whatever they want for one day). The winners in each category got a dress down pass, a full size candy bar, and we made copies of their bookmark for everyone in their category. For example, all kindergarten and first grade students got a copy of the winning bookmark for K-1. We announced the winners at a school assembly and passed the bookmarks out for students to use during Read Across America Week. 

Spirit Week + 'Silly' Ways to Read

Of course a Read Across America Week wouldn't be complete without some spirit days! We added a little novelty and fun to those spirit days by having 'silly' ways to read all week. Classrooms made reading goals for the week, and if the class met that goal, they got to 'silly' string the principal on Friday! (PLEASE NOTE: Our school voted to celebrate Read Across America one week later than usual because it was the week before spring break. That is why the dates on the flier above don't match the actual dates of Read Across America). 

• Monday: Fox in Socks – Wear crazy socks, and take your shoes off to read with your feet on your desk!
• Tuesday: Thing 1 and Thing 2– Twin day! Dress like someone else, your 'twin' for the day (or dress like several others--it could even be as a whole class that dresses alike!) and buddy read that day!
• Wednesday: Hop on Pop– Wear athletic gear, i.e. sweats, gymnastics or work out clothes and read on top of your desk!
• Thursday: Cat in the Hat–Hat Day! Wear your favorite hat and read outside (weather permitting)!
• Friday: Sleep Book– PJ Day! Wear your PJs and build a reading fort with blankets and desks and read with a flashlight!

Teachers made reading goals for their classes that were age appropriate such as: a certain number of minutes read each day, a certain number of books read or read alouds in class, a certain number of reading assignments completed. The teachers picked a goal with their class and hung their goal sheet on their door so we could all see their class's progress throughout the week. Having silly ways to read in order to reach their goal helped keep things novel and fun (especially the week before Spring Break!).  How did you celebrate Read Across America Week?