Read Across America Day

Read Across America Day is March 2nd

Read Across America Day is an annual event sponsored by the National Education Association to motivate kids and young adults all over the country to read more. Libraries, schools, and other community centers sponsor events and competitions. The holiday is held on Dr. Seuss's birthday, March 2, 1904. Dr. Seuss, or Theodore Geisel, wrote many popular children’s books that have been read by millions of children.

Read Across America was founded by the National Education Association (NEA) in 1998. Read Across America Day is a reading motivation and awareness program that calls for all of the children/students in the community to celebrate reading, incorporating themes like celebrating a nation of diverse readers. However, NEA’s Read Across America also provides educators, parents, caregivers, and children the resources and activities they need to keep reading 365 days a year.

Ways to Celebrate

• Read books with students and use Read Across America’s resources to daily promote the message there is room in our community for ALL readers.
• Have a read-a-thon
• Read with your students or children
• Make door decor
• Read and cook from cook books
• Students use these sounds to write their own poems based on a book they have heard in this lesson plan
• Visit a museum or art gallery (either online or in person) with children and teens, helping them find inspiration for a story based on a piece of art that they particularly enjoy or relate to in this activity.
• Look at Reading Rockets and NEA’s tools to find other ideas about books and how to promote diverse readers.

Reading shouldn’t just be celebrated one day out of the year, but every day and with everyone.