READ+ACROSS+AMERICA+DAY

= = =INFORMATION ABOUT BIRCH MEADOW SCHOOL'S PARTICIPATION =

How do you get a child who knows how to read, want to read? When we speak of reading literacy, our concerns are usually focused on the child that is having difficulty in learning how to read. The child who has mastered the skill of reading, but has no interest in it, needs to be of equal concern. Alliteracy needs to be addressed, and focused on, as much as illiteracy. Students who do not develop an interest in reading, will most likely become adults who also do not enjoy reading.

Every year on Dr. Seuss's birthday, March 2nd, the National Education Association (NEA) sponsors a READ ACROSS AMERICA DAY. Started in 1998 as a way to draw attention to the enjoyment of reading, it has become the nation's largest one-day reading literacy event.

Each year the Birch Meadow School celebrates this day in a new and special way. The emphasis is always on books and reading with, of course, lots of fun built in. A theme-based, multiple-week reading challenge is introduced to the students at an assembly in January. If the students meet the challenge, the school celebrates the students' reading success on March 2nd with memorable surprises and events.

Last year we had a super event as our students proved that **//READERS HAVE SUPER POWERS//**. Two years ago we proclaimed //**OH, THE PLACES YOU'LL GO** **When You Choose Time to Read**//. In 2007 our entire school population got “down and dirty” and decided to //**GO HOG WILD**// with “Tip the Scales in Favor of Reading.” In 2006, our program was dragon-based with the title //**GET “FIRED UP” ABOUT YOUR READING**//. Our school quickly turned into a “Kingdom of Readers.” //**BOOKS GET OUR VOTE**// was the theme in 2005. The principal, dressed as Uncle Sam, said “I Want You” to read. That year the students “Elected to Read.”

This year we want our students to realize that "Readers Are Winners!" With our 2010 Olympic Reading Challenge entitled **//GO FOR THE GOLD! Be a Champion Reader//**, we hope all of our students will participate and earn at least one Olympic medal.

More information about the National Education Association's [|READ ACROSS AMERICA DAY] is found on its website.