Read Your World

Celebrating Diverse Readers on National Read Across America Day

March 2, 2022, is National Read Across America Day a day to encourage children to read. This celebration is an initiative from the National Education Association and the American Teachers Association. In 1998 Read Across America Day was launched to promote and celebrate a nation of diverse readers. Today the association has more than 3 million people and has a year-round program, but March 2^nd has been designated as National Read Across America. A reading program to get kids excited and motivated about reading. Although this is a celebration that started with teachers and librarians, many across the country including celebrities celebrate this day.

I remember when my son was in elementary school, Read Across America was celebrated throughout the whole week. Every day they had a different theme but his greatest memory was the character parade throughout the school. Kids would dress up as their favorite book characters and parade throughout the school. Another day was “bring your lovey to school day” (stuffed animals, blanket, etc.) and they’d have storytime. All of the kids in the school participated in a reading fair project. They’d use the trifold project boards and after presenting their book in class these were displayed in the hallways for all to see. And of course, the book fair was lots of fun!

Here’s a picture of the reading fair projects my son has done throughout the years.

To celebrate this day you can also start a book club. Here are some great ideas: Book Club Basics. If you’re feeling crafty you can also have your kids design their own book jackets. If you homeschool or belong to a homeschool coop you can do these classroom and school ideas too.

At the end of the day, it is about getting kids hyped up and excited about reading! Here are some fun and diverse winter books that would be ideal for a reading fair project.

From Multicultural Kid Blogs take a look at these diverse winter books.