Motivate Kids to Read with Engaging Activities

I remember vividly when my second son got into trouble with his 3rd grade teacher. “He’s always reading!” she’d say a bit frustrated, but with a huge smile on her face. He never stopped either. He’d lie awake all night with a flashlight reading books and then grouch his way through his school days. The problem? He was smart enough to pull it off!  Anyway, I’ve been a big believer in kids reading every day since I did it myself. Every night we read books together as a family. Some of our favorites? “Charlotte’s Web”, “Winnie the Pooh”, and all of the folk tales and fables that I had loved as a child.  It’s crazy to me that all of those beloved stories are being made into movies and TV shows now. I still love the classics best! It’s so important to establish routines and times for reading. Encourage and support kids in their efforts to make reading a habit.
I’m excited for next week as our school will be celebrating READ ACROSS AMERICA WEEK.
Here’s some of the activities we’ve put together:
Monday-Wear a moustache day
Tuesday- Wear a T-shirt with words day

Wednesday-Wacky Clothes Day
Thursday-Wear a hat day
Friday-Dress up as your favorite character day.

We also do a STOP-DROP-and READ day. It’s a contest we hold to see which class can have the most students sitting quietly reading a book when members of the student council come around and check on us. Someone will call over the intercom “Okay, it’s stop, drop and read” and then each class will have students check on them. The scores will be tallied and the winning class get’s a party.

I have several books picked out for that day as I’ll be reading to them instead of them bringing books to music class.
“Acoustic Rooster and His Barnyard Band” by Kwame Alexander, Illustrated by Tim Bowers.
I love this book because we’ll learn some COOL music terms and a bit about JAZZ. So I’ll be reading and teaching music at the same time!