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The National Education Association's Read Across America Day is the nation's largest reading event, occurring each year on or near Dr. Seuss's birthday (March 2nd). Reading Rockets is pleased to be a national partner of NEA's Read Across America project. To help mark the event at your school, we've created some resources you can use to celebrate reading on Read Across America Day and every day!
Click below for:
Send an e-card
Send an e-card, featuring an illustration from the 2008 NEA Read Across America calendar, to your favorite readers and get them excited about this special day of reading!
Bookmarks in English and Spanish
These bookmarks look especially great on colored or glossy paper. The English version says, "Reading is a blast on Read Across America Day… and every day!" The Spanish version says, "Today we're going to Read Across America!"
Download English bookmark (400K PDF)*
Download Spanish bookmark (400K PDF)*
Inspired by Dr. Seuss
Poet Jack Prelutsky and illustrator Lane Smith collaborated on Hooray for Diffendoofer Day! — a story that Dr. Seuss had begun but never finished. Prelutsky wove Seuss' verses with his own. He says the book is a wonderful homage to teachers: "It's all about teachers — teachers teaching us how to think." Lane Smith created a new set of "hybrid" drawings — his unique style but with Seussian flourishes. "That was a real rare, fantastic experience. I think Seuss was probably a big influence on myself and Jon Scieszka. You can talk about Green Eggs and Ham or The Cat in the Hat. I mean it all goes back to that. That guy was the most subversive of all," says Smith.
Seuss in the classroom
These classroom strategies incorporate Dr. Seuss books into the literacy-building activities:
- Elkonin Boxes (Hop on Pop)
Elkonin boxes help students build phonological awareness by segmenting words into sounds or syllables. - List-Group-Label (On Beyond Zebra)
List-group-label is a form of semantic mapping. The strategy encourages students to improve their vocabulary and categorization skills and organize concepts. - Onset/Rime Games (Fox in Socks)
Onset/rime games help children learn about word families, which can lay the foundation for future spelling strategies. See this related article: How Now Brown Cow: Phoneme Awareness Activities (There's a Wocket in My Pocket) - Tape Assisted Reading (Green Eggs & Ham)
Tape assisted reading helps to build fluency skills, including proper phrasing and expression, and improve sight word recognition. - Word Hunts (Cat in the Hat)
Word hunts are one way to focus spelling study on patterns within words. Typically used within word study, word hunt activities engage students with texts they have previously read.
Articles from Reading Rockets:
- Pre-writing with Dr. Seuss
Seuss silliness is contagious! Spread it to your classroom writing centers. - Extra, Extra: Books on the Menu for March 2nd
Combine two great American treasures — Dr. Seuss and your local newspaper — for some reading and writing fun in your classroom or at home.
Seuss at home
Kids love hearing Dr. Seuss books over and over again — they're fun! The rhyming helps young children develop an ear for language and encourages word play. And Seuss's themes often tap into feelings that every child has.
Resources
- Read Across America resource kit request
- Reader's Oath (NEA)
- Certificate of Achievement (NEA) (972K PDF)*
- Seussville (Random House)
- Dr. Seuss: An American Icon (NPR)
- Dr. Seuss Collection (UCSD)
- The Seuss, the Whole Seuss and Nothing But the Seuss (Amazon)
- The Boy on Fairfield Street: How Ted Geisel Grew Up to Become Dr. Seuss (Amazon)
- Dr.Seuss Collection (University of California, San Diego Library)
* To view this file, you'll need a copy of Acrobat Reader. Most computers already have it installed, or you can download it now.
