Read Across America is more than a celebration of books—it’s a nationwide effort to promote reading, build literacy-rich communities, and help students become lifelong readers. Since originating in 1998, it has evolved into a year-long celebration of reading and diversity.
We’ve put together a guide to give you research-based inspiration along with classroom-tested Read Across America activities from our own Teacher Advisors Group. Whether you’re planning a full Read Across America week or looking for a few low-prep ideas to incorporate into your instruction, we’ve got practical activities that support engagement, inclusivity, and foundational literacy skills.
What is Read Across America?
The National Education Association established Read Across America as an initiative to encourage children and teens to read. Historically, many celebrations incorporated Dr. Seuss and Read Across America in their themes, but educators and advocacy groups now encourage a more inclusive approach that reflects today’s classrooms. The NEA emphasizes that promoting reading should extend beyond a single day or week.
Why is Read Across America Important?
Many organizations highlight the importance of reading in positive long-term outcomes—both academic and outside the classroom. Read Across America focuses on the role of schools and communities in supporting early readers through literacy development and equitable access. By centering meaningful reading experiences, you can use Read Across America activities as a springboard for literacy growth that continues well past Read Across America week.
Dr. Seuss and Read Across America
As conversation around inclusion and diversity in the classroom has evolved, so has Read Across America. Educators and advocacy groups recommend a balanced approach that reflects the diversity of classrooms today:
- Include diverse authors alongside books by Dr. Seuss
- Highlight themes, such as creativity or imagination, rather than characters alone
- Use activities that build phonological awareness
5 Read Across America Activities & Strategies
Effective Read Across America activities go beyond a single week. While quick celebrations have their place, the heart of Read Across America is building reading routines students return to all year long.
The ideas below combine simple, classroom-ready activities with instructional strategies teachers can utilize well beyond Read Across America week.
- Read-Alouds With Purpose
Level up your daily reading with interactive read-alouds. Interactive read-alouds encourage students to engage with both the text and their peers in meaningful ways.
- Diverse Picture Books
Include picture books that highlight diverse cultures and perspectives to promote a sense of community in your classroom.
- Comprehensive Text Sets
Utilizing text sets can help your students develop their background knowledge and gain a deeper, more comprehensive understanding of topics. If you’re new to using text sets in the classroom, take a look at our guide, including easy resources and first steps.
- Collaborative Bulletin Boards
Classroom and hallway displays are an easy way to reinforce reading messages and emphasize ownership. Read Across America bulletin board ideas don’t need to be elaborate to make an impact—students love to see their work displayed so consider using collaborative bulletin boards.
Younger elementary students might want to create a simple book recommendation while older students can use our free printable social media template to create a post highlighting their favorite author or a memorable scene from a favorite book.
Students can write a short caption, add an illustration, and include a quote or brief explanation of why they chose it. Students can also illustrate a quote from one of their favorite read-alouds. Interactive boards encourage active engagement without adding daily prep to your lessons.
FREE Social Media Template Printable
This engaging activity invites students to create a social media post highlighting a favorite author or a memorable scene from a book they love.
- Read Across America Crafts
Crafts can reinforce literacy when they’re tied directly to students’ goals. Whether you have students create visual reading trackers, write their own mini books, or illustrate bookmarks with reading strategies, the key is keeping crafts simple and focusing on literacy.
For a list of easy-to-implement Read Across America crafts and hands-on projects you can use during the week (or revisit throughout the year), here are some fun options to explore:
- Cat in the Hat paper plate craft
- Lorax-inspired Truffula trees
- Handprint Lorax keepsake
- One Fish, Two Fish popsicle craft
- Oh, The Places You’ll Go ornament
The NEA and literacy organizations emphasize the importance of celebrating Read Across America throughout the year. Some simple ways to extend the impact are maintaining your daily reading routines, refreshing your classroom libraries regularly throughout the year, and providing students with multiple opportunities to revisit their reading goals.
Supporting English Learners
Literacy organizations consistently highlight the importance of accessibility for multilingual learners. Encourage English learners (ELs) to read and discuss books in their native language and provide scaffolding so that they can meaningfully participate.
Best practices in supporting ELs in developing literacy skills include:
- Pre-teaching academic vocabulary
Introduce key academic vocabulary before reading so students can focus on understanding the text, not decoding unfamiliar language.
- Activating background knowledge
Connect new texts to students’ experiences or prior knowledge to support comprehension.
- Providing sentence frames for discussion
Offer structured language support such as sentence frames to help students participate confidently in academic conversations.
- Using visuals and modeling
Pair spoken or written language with picture dictionaries, visuals, or examples to make meaning clear.
Teacher’s Corner
Reading celebrations look different in every classroom. Below, one of our Teacher Advisors Group members shares practical examples of how she celebrates Read Across America while keeping the focus on meaningful reading.
1. How do you celebrate Read Across America Week in your classroom or school?
We celebrate Read Across America Week by making reading feel fun and meaningful. In my classroom, I plan daily read-alouds, look at wordless picture books, and have my students create their own stories for the books. We then give opportunities to talk about what they wrote.
2. How do you approach Dr. Seuss in a way that feels inclusive and relevant today?
We focus on stories that highlight positive messages like kindness, perseverance and creativity. I try to balance his books with diverse texts so that students are exposed to many cultures and experiences.
3. What’s one low-prep approach you’d suggest for Read Across America Week?
One low-prep approach is setting aside extra time each day for reading. Whether it is independent reading, partner read or a special read aloud. It is so simple and it reinforces that reading is something not to be rushed but to be enjoyed.
Effective Read Across America activities focus on access, engagement, and authentic reading experiences. By drawing on guidance from both real-world classrooms and national organizations, you can create celebrations that are inclusive, effective, and connected to literacy learning.
Thank you to our blog contributor: Benita Afonso, ENL/Building Point Person for grades 1 and 2 in Sleepy Hollow, New York.