Read Across America Week was launched in 1998 by the National Education Association as a way to celebrate readers around the world. The purpose was the invite people young and old to foster their love of reading, whether it be comic books, newspapers, magazines, chapter books, or any other piece of literature. The program is year-round and invite children and teens to pick up their favorite type of reading!

There are tons of ways to celebrate the event and many classrooms do it through some super fun activities. I’ll share some of the ways you can motivate kids to read in this post! You’ll find a giant bundle, freebies, and some crafts. Keep reading to learn more.

Celebrate Reading Activities

You might be thinking, “What could I possibly plan for Read Across America Week”? I created a giant bundle of activities that will keep your kids engaged and foster their love for reading and learning.

You will LOVE this Celebrate Reading Activity pack that includes bookmarks, book reviews, book reports and book activities. These non-traditional and high interest activities will help your students reflect about their reading, encourage others to check out their favorite books, and share their love for reading with their friends and classmates!

There are 7 different activities included that can be used whole group, in reading intervention groups, as centers, during writing block, and more.

Book Worm Writing Craft

Read Across America Week is the perfect time to complete a writing craft! Grab this Book Worm Writing Craft from my site for FREE!

This fun writing craft is perfect to use for book reviews/reports, Read Across America, or anytime of year when you want to get your little readers thinking about reading! The writing component is open-ended, so you can determine the type of prompt your students will respond to. I also know how valuable your time is, so this craft is super simple and requires very little prep on your end.

Reading Tips for Parents and Caregivers

Sometimes adults don’t know where to start when it comes to reading with a purpose. There doesn’t always have to be a purpose, because reading should be fun, but when you do need a purpose. I have a few tips on my Reading Tips for Parents post that you can access for FREE!

Above any other purpose for reading a book together is reading for enjoyment. This alone will help you raise a child who LOVES to read. Take pleasure in spending time with one another, paging through favorite stories, using voices for the characters, admiring the illustrations, and bonding over a good book. Read everything and read often…even if that means reading a favorite story over and over and over again!

Comprehension Prompts

Being able to read a story is great, but being able to comprehend the text and apply it to the real world is another skill. It takes practice to be able to understand and comprehend text, so start students off with some simple questions.

Provide your students with these question stems for them to access while they’re reading individually or in a small group. I’ve made a set for you that you can grab and use with your own kiddos. Each on is Common Core aligned and lists the standard it correlates with right on the mini-poster. Ideally, you would display these in your classroom, but you could also add them to a ring and keep them for students to use at their seats or at a reading center.

Learn more by reading my Comprehension Question Stems post.

Free Book Activities

Want some more FREE activities you can implement during Read Across America Week and all year long? Check out my post about FREE Reading Activities for Picture Books. There are tons of great titles and printables right at your fingertips.

Books include The Very, Very, Very Long Dog, Huggue & Stick, and tons more.