Reading allows students to improve their vocabulary, develop critical thinking skills, and learn how to empathize with others. While your school can promote the importance of reading year-round, March presents the perfect opportunity to acknowledge just how powerful a role reading plays in your community and beyond.
Read Across America is an annual celebration of reading that schools all across the country participate in. It’s a chance to inspire more students to become avid readers and host activities that bring your whole community closer together.
In this guide, we’ll cover the basics of the Read Across America program and explore several popular ideas to create engaging experiences your students will remember for years to come
Before we jump into all the ways your school can celebrate Read Across America, let’s walk through a few frequently asked questions you might have:
The National Education Association (NEA) created Read Across America to celebrate the birthday of Dr. Seuss, using it as a springboard to celebrate the joys of reading. Since the first Read Across America Day in 1998, the program has expanded to become a week-long event for many schools. The week of celebrations begins every March 2nd, providing students with various challenges and activities that encourage them to read.
Now, the entire month of March is known as National Reading Month, with ongoing campaigns that call for schools all over the U.S. to champion a love of reading for young learners.
With an estimated 45 million participants across the country, Read Across America brings a host of benefits for everyone involved by:
To harness all of these benefits, your school should prepare activities that appeal to all of your students, regardless of their relationship with reading.
Every school celebrates Read Across America in its own way. Some might designate a few minutes of class time for reading, while others plan an exciting week of class vs. class reading challenges, live book reading sessions, and school fundraising campaigns.
Of course, not every school has the resources to go all out during Read Across America. However, any institution—from small preschool programs to bustling middle schools—can level up its Read Across America plans with Read-A-Thon's simple, easy-to-use, and incredibly lucrative fundraising platform.
Many schools search for more productive ways to raise money, particularly during important times of the year such as Read Across America Week. Since the celebration already focuses on reading, this makes a Read-A-Thon the perfect fundraising idea to incorporate into your school’s activities. During the event, students will try to log as many minutes of reading as they can, while all their friends and family make donations to cheer them on.
Plus, Read-A-Thons cost nothing to start and require few to no volunteers, so you can focus on educating your students about the pleasures of reading. The Read-A-Thon platform comes with all the tools you need to track participation and spread the word about your fundraiser, including:
You can either create your own incentives for students or choose Read-A-Thon’s prize store model to make the process easier for your school fundraising team.
There’s a lot of planning your school needs to do to coordinate all sorts of engaging activities for your student readers. Fortunately, it only takes a few simple steps to get started with a Read-A-Thon:
Throughout your Read-A-Thon, share reading and fundraising updates to encourage your students. Whether you’re an elementary school or a PTO group, Read-A-Thons are designed to be as easy as possible to get up and running.
While Read-A-Thons are the leading choice for Read Across America fundraising, there are several other ways you can raise funds for your school during this time:
Regardless of which Read Across America fundraiser you choose, inspire families and community members to get involved by emphasizing your ultimate goal: to develop a lifelong love of reading and learning among your young students.
Read Across America is a time for thinking outside of the box to engage students in reading. To level up your school’s efforts, consider these ideas:
Get as creative as you can to keep students interested throughout the week. Make note of which ideas are especially popular to adjust the Read Across America activities you plan for the next year.
Read Across America is not just a time to embrace reading and storytelling, but a chance to invest in the success of your school’s students. By hosting a Read-A-Thon and other activities that bring your whole community together to celebrate the life-changing impact of reading, you can boost academic performance and raise funds for your school.
To learn about more fundraising ideas that capture the spirit of learning for your students, check out these additional resources: