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6 Read Across America Activities for Your Classroom
Christy Walters
February 2, 2025
At Newsela, we think Read Across America Day is one of the best days of the year! Why? Because it’s a day to celebrate how important and fun reading is. Plus, it’s a chance to explore all the different types of reading you can do, like diving into fictional worlds, exploring verse in poetry, or building background knowledge with nonfiction.
But the best part is, you can celebrate all year long, not just on March 2. We’ve collected great ELA resources that help you stress the value of reading, explore timeless stories, and practice important literacy skills in the classroom:
[1. Reflect on what it means to be a reader](id-reader)
National Read Across America Day—also known as Dr. Seuss Day because it falls on his birthday—celebrates the joys and benefits of reading. Help your students think about their experiences as a reader with resources that focus on topics like:
Why starting a reading habit can be beneficial to our lives.
How scientists can prove ways that make reading easier and more enjoyable.
Why reading without retaining information happens, and how we can fix it.
[2. Explore how ELA makes a difference in the real world](id-world)
Reading, writing, and literacy are all around us every day! Show your students how ELA affects the real world with lessons on topics like:
Explore how practicing reading in a low-stakes setting (with furry friends!) can be helpful for shy or reluctant readers.
See why slow reading, rather than speed reading, is good for your brain.
Find out how reading and writing can help people heal, cope, and express themselves.
[4. Teach specific texts and literacy skills on Read Across America Day](id-texts)
You don’t have to create brand new activities to celebrate Read Across America Day in your classroom. Incorporate the fun of reading into lessons you may already be teaching, like:
Emily Dickinson’s poetry
Poetry and stories in verse often use figurative language to express abstract thoughts and ideas. Use Emily Dickinson’s poem “There is no frigate like a book” to teach students about this type of language and help them identify it in context. See if they can spot examples of:
Smilies
Metaphors
Personification
Paired text analyses
Students may find it easier to connect with characters in fictional stories when they have shared backgrounds, beliefs, or physical characteristics. Use this paired text lesson to help students understand why diversity in books is so important:
Read “Stuart, the Lucky Library Cat” by Carole F. Stice about a cat who wants to read books about other cats that have ears like his.
Introduce the nonfiction selection about a teenage girl who worked on a project to expand diversity in children’s books.
Use the annotation feature in both selections to highlight areas of similarity between the fiction and nonfiction selections about diversity and representation in literature and why it matters.
[5. Explore life skills through literature](id-life)
Literature is full of many messages readers can learn from and apply to their lives. Help students dig deeper into the helpful themes and messages of fiction and poetry that focus on life skills like:
Treat yourself with a poem this Read Across America Day
The most important thing to remember—and share with your students—on Read Across America Day is that reading is fun. It can unlock interesting worlds, introduce new ideas, and even make you laugh. And speaking of laughs, take time to enjoy our poem “No Need To Read” in the style of “Green Eggs and Ham” by Dr. Seuss.
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