Sunday, February 28, 2016

Last Minute Ideas and Freebies for Read Across America

Read Across America is here.  Does your school do anything special?  Ours does.  We love having a chance to "officially" celebrate the love of books and reading.  
We always have a spirit week during Read Across America.  Dress up days, guest readers, special snacks, door decorating, you know the drill.  It's a fun week for students and I love coming up with new Seuss inspired activities for my young learners
If you are still making plans, here are a few ideas to add to your Read Across America stash of resource goodies.

First up is our handprint Things...


My students really love making their Things.  They are super simple to put together and feature student handprints for the crazy Thing hair.  If you like, you can also use them to go along with a writing prompt of your choice.
You can click here for a free copy of the pattern.



Another activity we'll be using this week is my Seussical Scoot.
For this activity, I place word cards around the room; some on the walls, some on my shelves, and some on the desks.  Students read the words and determined if they have a long vowel sound or not.  Then they write the words on their recording sheets.
My kids love scoot and write the room activities.  They think they are playing a game.  It's a great way to get the wiggles out.


For a free copy of Seussical Scoot, click on the picture below.





Although Put Me in the Zoo is not a Dr. Seuss book, I still read to my class during Read Across America.  As a kid, this book was one of my favorites, so I love sharing it.
If you click on the picture below, you can have a free copy of the my craftivity and writing prompt that goes along with Put Me in the Zoo.





One morning of Read Across America week our cafeteria usually serves a "delicious" breakfast of green eggs and ham.   Of course on that day I incorporate some Green Eggs and Ham themed activities in class as well.
One green eggs math activity we will use is my Nom Nom Numbers math center.  For it, I put together four sets of green plastic eggs that have numbers inside.  Students work in small groups to write the next three numbers, either counting by ones or counting by tens.  As a bonus, they colored the eggs on their recording sheets green if the number inside is even.


You can absolutely use this activity in your class with eggs that are colors other than green or no eggs at all.  For a free copy of Nom Nom Numbers, click on the picture below.




Another craftivity I've used over the years is my Birthday Cat.  Students make these cats and write their favorite book on the cupcake.  I've used these cats to decorate our door during Read Across America and they look adorable.
You can click on the picture for a free copy of this pattern.





Besides all these craftivities and activities, I've also started a little Read Across America t-shirt collection.  I've found some adorable ones at Teacher T-Shirts.
The site has several cute shirt options.  They not only have RAA shirts, they also have grade level specific tees, 100th Day tees, St. Patrick's Day teacher tees, and more.


       

I guess that's it for now.
I hope next week is a great one for you and your students.
Thanks so much for stopping by