Read Across America Week is the perfect time to celebrate the joy of reading in your classroom! Whether you’re teaching kindergarten or second grade, this special week gives you a great chance to introduce exciting new books, foster a love for stories, and make reading a truly enjoyable experience for everyone. Best of all— you can keep things super simple with these FREE lesson plans full of engaging, hands-on activities for Read Across America that your kids will love!
The National Education Association (NEA) launched Read Across America Week in 1998 as a yearly celebration of reading. It was originally centered around Dr. Seuss’ birthday in March, but it has grown into a year-round movement to motivate kids to engage with books from all types of backgrounds, genres, and perspectives.
The 3 main goals of Read Across America:
Now, most schools celebrate Read Across America during the first week of March.
The key to success with Read Across America is building an excitement for reading. The more enthusiasm YOU bring, the more your students will see reading as something to look forward to all year long (and for the rest of their lives too!)
Using the right lesson plans will help you unlock this success, so let’s dive right in:
First, download the FREE Read Across America Lesson Plans.
Next, choose ANY of your favorite books for the week (or choose from the book suggestions included in the FREE lesson plans to keep things super easy for yourself!).
Finally, print out the Reading Response Sheets to use along with the lesson plans. These 60+ high-quality, K-2 Science of Reading aligned journal pages to help your students connect with ANY fiction or non-fiction book.
These journal pages:
Because the sheets are aligned with K-2 reading standards for literature and informational reading, it is so easy for you to assess students and share evidence of their progress with parents and administrators!
Use the easy-to-follow lesson plans to help get your students excited about reading while still ensuring you’re meeting essential literacy standards. Each day has a unique theme and flexible activities designed to fit any fiction or non-fiction book you choose to best fit the needs of your classroom and students!
***As an added bonus, FUN and easy extension activities are included for each day!
Kick off the week by sharing favorite books. This day’s lesson works for fiction and non-fiction books!
Assemble a journal for each student in advance. Read 2-3 books to your class, then let students respond about their favorite book through writing or drawing.
If you’ve chosen a fiction book, students will focus on retelling parts of a story. Read a book aloud and model pausing to help students keep track of the story’s events. They will complete the retelling journal page at the end.
For non-fiction books, students will think about story details. Use the same pausing strategy as you read to help students keep track of the main idea and details to make completing their journal page easier when you’re finished reading aloud.
On Wednesday, readers will think about new words. Introduce the new words to your class before reading the book. After reading, students complete the response page. Wrap up your lesson with a hands-on balloon vocabulary game!
This plan works for any type of book!
Put on your thinking caps, because Thursday is all about making predictions and connections. Engage your students with a Surprise Bag game to activate those critical thinking skills.
For fiction books, readers check their predictions. Begin reading your selected fiction book, then pause for students to write or draw their predictions.
After the book is finished, students will check their predictions and complete the resources on their response page.
For non-fiction books, readers will make connections. Choose a book that will get your students thinking and talking. Pause and model thinking aloud as you read to your students.
“This reminds me of…”
“Is this similar to anything else I know?”
Students will complete the response page after you’ve finished reading aloud to the
Finally, on Friday, make your final book selection of Read Across America Week!
For fiction books, your students will find lessons from authors. Choose a book with a clear message, and discuss what the author is trying to teach readers. Then, students will complete the response page in their journals.
For non-fiction books, they will recognize and use text features. Choose a book that has text features clearly defined. Draw attention to these as you read aloud. Students will complete their response page about these features.
Take it one step further, and encourage students to share their findings with a partner or small group.
These pages aren’t just powerful tools for Read Across America Week— you can confidently use these Reading Response Sheets anytime during the school year!
They work perfectly with:
Because of the great flexibility of the response sheets, you can also use the matching digital pages with Google as virtual assignments to go along with any online book or video!
With these dynamic activities for Read Across America, you can inspire your students to fall in love with reading while highlighting essential literacy skills. Grab your free lesson plans and get excited about planning an unforgettable Read Across America Week for your favorite learners!
I’m a teacher who believes in creating a classroom kids love and activities that keep them engaged all day!
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