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37 Read Across America Activities To Celebrate Literacy

National Read Across America Week starts on March 2, 2026. The week is a nationwide effort to celebrate reading and reinforce the importance of reading with a focus on young children. It’s within National Reading Month in March, so it’s a great time to reinforce reading across the school day. Check out these Read Across America activities and ideas to get your students excited about reading!

read across America Printable bundle examples — We Are Teachers

FREE PRINTABLE

Read Across America Activity Bundle

Grab our free Read Across America printable bundle with worksheets and activities, including a state-themed reading tracker, a book list, reading logs, bookmarks, challenges, and more!

Our Favorite Read Across America Activities

Girls reading in DIY reading chair — We Are Teachers

1. Read everywhere!

Make reading even more fun with themes and additions like stuffed animal reading buddies or special reading chairs. Transform your school cafeteria, gym, or library into a campground and ask families to bring sleeping bags.

Try it: DIY Reading Chairs and Camping-Themed Classroom Decor

an image of a reading scavenger hunt in a clipboard with three picture books around the clipboard — Adrienne Hathaway for We Are Teachers

2. Book scavenger hunt

As students are reading, have them search for the items on a list such as parts of speech, story elements, or different genres of books. Use the Reading Scavenger Hunt worksheet in our Read Across America printable bundle for ideas.

WeAreTeachers_Article_Reading Across America_Article Image 18 — We Are Teachers

an image of two reading tracker printables — Adrienne Hathaway for We Are Teachers

4. Track reading progress

Get kids amped up about reading with a little friendly competition. Have each class keep track of either how many minutes or how many pages they read each day. Set a goal for how many hours or books you read and, if you meet your goal, have a classroom celebration.

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Colorful wanted poster book report and book on blue background. — Donna Paul for We Are Teachers

5. Creative book reports

Read Across America Week is all about sharing books we love. Use a pizza box, a costume, or another format to have students write about what they’re reading.

Learn more: Creative Book Report Ideas

Book report template worksheets — We Are Teachers

three picture books that can be used for read aloud sessions all year long and during black history month — Adrienne Hathaway for We Are Teachers

6. Invite mystery readers

Everybody loves an engaging read-aloud, no matter their age. Set up a roster of guest readers (parents, grandparents, school staff, even local authors) to visit your classroom and read to your students. If you’re extra ambitious, why not set up a “Masked Reader” event (like the TV show “The Masked Singer”)? Your kids will be super-engaged as they try to identify who is sitting in the reader’s chair. Check out this list of read-alouds.

Teacher dressed in a Ms. Frizzle book character costume — Courtesy of Ms. Tranchilla, 2nd Grade Teacher

7. Dress up like book characters

Dress up like your favorite book character, such as Olivia the pig, Ms. Frizzle, or Camilla Cream from A Bad Case of Stripes. Encourage your students to do the same!

Try it: Book Character Costumes

8. Host an open mic event

Have students prepare and read a funny poem or a poem they’ve written in an open mic event. Older students can focus their readings on famous poems or poems by Shakespeare.

Try it: Funny Poems for Kids, Famous Poems, and Poems by Shakespeare

Collage of printable William Shakespeare poems — We Are Teachers

Books about friendship book list feature — We Are Teachers

9. Read across a theme

Choose a theme to read about each day, or dive into one theme during the week. Here are some great book lists to start looking for perfect theme-related reads:

A poster with details about hosting a book tasting — We Are Teachers

10. Host a book tasting

Another one of our favorite Read Across America activities: Expand your readers’ palettes with a book tasting. Much like a food tasting, students circulate around the room, spending a few minutes checking out the front and back covers, reading the inside flaps, and browsing the book for a first impression. Then they record their observations on a note catcher for future reference.

Try it: Expand Your Readers’ Palates With a Book Tasting

an image of the picture book, Rumpelstiltskin, with a printable genre exploration — Adrienne Hathaway for We Are Teachers

11. Discover new genres

Many times kids find a genre they love and stick with it to the exclusion of the many other wonderful genres available. Read Across America Week is a perfect opportunity to encourage them to branch out in their reading!

Try it: 50+ Literary Genres and Subgenres Every Student Should Know

a carnival game for kids: used-book swap — Adrienne Hathaway for We Are Teachers

12. Set up a classroom book swap

Help get books into your students’ hands by organizing classroom book swaps. These simple Read Across America activities encourage kids to bring a book or two from home that they feel ready to part with (with their parents’ permission, of course). Then, on the day of the swap, lay out the books and give the kids time to browse. Make sure every child gets one book before anyone gets more. Ask around the building to see if other teachers or the librarian have books they can contribute.

13. Literary March Madness

Take the idea of the March Madness brackets and compare books, like this teacher did.

Try it: Printable Picture Book Bracket (Read Across America Activity Bundle)

example of a march madness bracket for read across america week activity — We Are Teachers

Book Bracket (Free Printable)

Try this book bracket with your class. You’ll get this printable plus more activities and printables in our free Read Across America bundle.

an image of two books written by Kevin Henkes for students to conduct an author study — Adrienne Hathaway for We Are Teachers

a student checking out ebooks on a laptop computer — Adrienne Hathaway for We Are Teachers

15. Check out e-books

While physical books will always have a place in our hearts (and our classrooms!), you can’t beat e-books for their convenience and ability to serve kids with many types of learning differences. Encourage students to browse e-book collections to see if they can find titles that you don’t have in your library or that they are waiting on. E-book libraries are also a great way to assign students books you think they would like.

Try it: Ways Kids Can Read Free E-Books

Color as you go bookmarks — We Are Teachers

16. Hold a color-as-you-go reading challenge

Looking for a fun way to motivate your students to read? Try this free printable reading challenge where kids color in each completed reading task on a bookmark as they go.

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two printable poetry worksheets and a poetry displayed in a classroom — Adrienne Hathaway for We Are teachers

a student using a flashlight to read a book — Adrienne Hathaway for We Are Teachers

18. Flashlight reading

Bring in flashlights and blankets and dim the lights. Maybe even make it a PJ day! Students read by the beam of their flashlights. It’s a fun tradition to start during Read Across America Week.

an image of a reading bingo printable on top of a blue paper — Adrienne Hathaway for We Are Teatchers

19. Reading Bingo

Who doesn’t love a good old-fashioned game of bingo? Try this version with a twist. Have your learners mingle with their classmates to fill out a Reading Bingo card.

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an image of three conversation hearts based on book characters: Gerald, Piggie and Pete the Cat — Adrienne Hathaway for We Are Teachers

20. Reading buddies

Reading buddies are so much fun! Here are some ways to get students reading with a new friend:

Invite older students in to read with younger ones, or vice versa.
Contact a local animal organization to see if they have any therapy dogs that would be good for reading buddies (check to make sure students don’t have allergies first).
Put out a bin of stuffed animals for students to read with.
Create a class mascot that students can read with.

Spread of Dr. Seuss's birthday activity guide — We Are Teachers

21. Hats Off to Reading Dr. Seuss activity

If you’re in the younger grades, spending a day or lesson on Dr. Seuss can either kick off Read Across America Week or be a fun activity in the mix of it all.

Try it: Hats Off to Reading Printable Activities like creating Seuss-rific illustrations or designing a box of fun (think: Fox in a Box) for a Seuss-ical day.

message in a book an idea for read across america week — Courtesy of Brooke Blake

22. Put a message in a book

Make Read Across America Week personal for your students by putting a note to each of them in what they’re currently reading.

Try it: Put a Message in a Book

23. Campfire stories

Cuddle up around the “campfire” and read scary stories. If you want to make an event of it, have students bring sleeping bags or tents in to make the day a camp-reading day.

Scary Campfire Stories for Kids printables against an orange background — We Are Teachers

Book covers for Penguin Young Readers graphic novels — Amazon; We Are Teachers

an image of the picture book, The Couch Potato, and two completed printable story map worksheets — Adrienne Hathaway for We Are Teachers

25. Map a story

Help students understand what makes stories so engaging by mapping a few different stories. When students understand story structure, they get so much more from every narrative.

Printable story map template worksheet. — We Are Teachers

27. Host a read-a-thon

A read-a-thon is an event where students earn money for the school, donations, or prizes for reading. Set a class or school goal and track the number of hours or books read during Read Across America Week or the month of March. Choose a literacy nonprofit in your area to donate any proceeds to, and make it a field trip by visiting the nonprofit to learn about the work they do.

Try it: How To Hold a Read-a-thon

29. Host a virtual author visit

Many authors are doing virtual visits, which means you can bring a favorite author into your classroom from across the country. And there are lots of ways to bring an author in, from pre-recorded visits to virtual read-alouds to live visits.

Try it: The Big List of Virtual Author Activities

an image of a student browsing books at a school book fair — Adrienne Hathaway for We Are Teachers

30. Host a book fair

A book fair is a great way to generate excitement about books and bring parents onto campus. There are lots of options for partnering and hosting your fair.

Try it: Best Book Fair Companies for Schools

31. Create a classroom reading nook

Add a reading nook to your classroom. The corner can match your classroom theme, or incorporate student’s favorite books and ideas, like having stuffed animal reading buddies or a spot to leave book recommendations.

Learn more: Classroom Reading Nooks We Love

Blackout poetry with colored pens — Courtesy of Betsy Potash

33. Create blackout poetry

Blackout poetry, where students take a page from an old book or printout and black out words, leaving a poem behind, is a fun way to get students writing poetry.

Try it: Write Blackout Poetry

an image of a read across America map pintable with a book — Adrienne Hathaway for We Are Teachers

34. Read across the map

Read books or stories from each state or region. Then have students color in the map to show where you have “read” during Read Across America Week.

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Hand scratching off reading challenge sheet. — We Are Teachers

35. Hold a read-and-scratch challenge

Who doesn’t love scratching away those gold flakes? This free printable uses scratch-off stickers to engage and motivate kids with a fun reading challenge.

WeAreTeachers_Article_Reading Across America_Article Image 23 — We Are Teachers

36. Decorate your classroom with reading posters

This set of six free printable posters is great for decorating your bulletin boards, reading corner, or school library during Read Across America Week or anytime.

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Stack of printable reading bookmarks. — We Are Teachers

37. Pass out printable bookmarks

Celebrate the love of reading by giving out new bookmarks. Make it special by writing a personal note to each student on the back and signing your name.

WeAreTeachers_Article_Reading Across America_Article Image 25 — We Are Teachers

Get my free Read Across America printable bundle!

Read Across America Bundle — We Are Teachers

Our printable bundle features a Books Across America coloring sheet to track titles set in each state along with an accompanying book list. It also includes multiple daily reading logs, printable bookmarks, reading challenges, classroom posters, and more!