Read Across America
Reading will take you through time and space!
Kansas NEA's Read Across America is sure to be a stellar event this year because not only are celebrating Dr. Suess' 99th birthday, we're celebrating the 100th anniversary of flight.
Kansas astronaut, Dr. Steve Hawley, the honorary chairman this year of this literacy event that encourages all adults to pick up a book and read with a child. Kansas will be celebrating March 2, Dr. Seuss' birthday, and March 3 in many ways.
"KNEA encourages principals, teachers and all adults to read with a child and to model a love of reading and a love of learning," said KNEA President Christy Levings. "Providing children motivation to read is an important factor in student achievement. Dr. Seuss epitomizes a love of learning and his books are effective in teaching young children basic reading skills. His wry sense of humor keeps even teenagers and adults actively involved in reading," she said.
"Reading is the ultimate virtual reality," Dr. Hawley said. "I've always found it tremendously exciting to learn about anything I wanted to by reading."
NEA and KNEA provide many user-friendly resources to plan Read Across America plus great resources from NASA and the Kansas Comsophere.
Here are resources and information about reading and flight! This page will be updated regularly between now and March 3.
Some History of KNEA's Read Across America
Who: Past Honorary Read Across America Chairpersons are Nobel Prize winner Jack Kilby, Olympic Gold medal winner Tara Nott, K-State Football Coach Bill Snyder, KU Basketball Coach Roy Williams, Kansas City Royals Baseball great George Brett and Kansas Governor Bill Graves.
What: NEA's Read Across America, the celebration that annually salutes reading and Dr. Seuss's birthday.
When: March 2 or 3 (the good doctor's birthday - March 2 -- falls on a Sunday this year, which means that the official celebration is on Monday, March 3.)
Where: All schools and towns across Kansas plus all 50 states plus countries overseas … to find out what's going on in locally, contact your KNEA local association leader or log on to www.nea.org/readacross/states.html.
Here's just a sampling of what's happened around Kansas:
- All KNEA members get an official Read Across America poster in the KNEA Issues.
- University students visited visited local elementary schools and reading to students and promoting literacy.
- School PTOs sponsored events such as a "Dr. Seuss Family Reading Night" featuring guest readers, games, story telling and crafts for all to enjoy.
- Many events involved singing "Happy Birthday" to Dr. Seuss and eating some concoction of Green Eggs and Ham - cookies, sandwiches etc.
- The whole community gets involved in the celebration and businesses donate prizes for drawings at the end of the evening.
- Several schools held a Read-a-Thon!
- One elementary school put a "foot punch-out" down on the floor for each book a student reads during the week.
- Students recited the Reader's Oath after the Pledge of Allegiance. In some communities, local and district judges held a "swearing in" of children who promised to be life-long learners.
- Many schools held a Dr. Seuss book scavenger hunt throughout a school or community.
- Local dignitaries and parents came to schools and read books to children in literally every school in Kansas.
- Schools held all-school assemblies and some featured a Surprise Someone wearing a "Cat in the Hat" hat read a famous Dr. Seuss story.
- Students did buddy-reading with different grade levels.
- Many schools organized Dr. Seuss "centers" that include trivia contests, making hats, bookmarks and much, much more.
- Some schools started in January reading books from the 50 states list.
- To show students how reading is important in all academic areas, a few K-6 school students wrote poems using the letters in Dr. Seuss's name.
- A physical education class performed Dr. Seuss rhymes while doing jump-rope tricks.
- A music teacher taught a Dr. Seuss song and the third graders completed a PowerPoint presentation based on a Dr. Seuss book.
- Different grades were involved in different ways: junior high students read to first and second graders. Upper level students made books for the first and second graders to take home.
- A Cat and the Hat "Wall of Fame" was created for students who read a Dr. Seuss book wearing the traditional red and white-stripped hat. "Wall of Fame" certificates were often presented at a Green Eggs and Ham breakfast.
The Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center: The Smithsonian in your Neighborhood
The Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center in Hutchinson brings space exploration to life for thousands of school children and educators every year. An affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution, the Cosmosphere is home to the internationally acclaimed Hall of Space Museum, Carey IMAX® Dome Theater, Justice Planetarium, Dr. Goddard's Lab live rocket science show and the Discovery Classroom, featuring specialized programs ranging from Living in Space to the hands-on Robotics Chalenge.
But the Cosmosphere isn't just a place to take students on one-of-a-kind field trips. It's a great resource for teacher education as well. The Cosmosphere is home to Kansas' NASA Educator Resource Center, which provides teachers with NASA-developed educational resources ranging from videotapes to lesson plans to classroom activities. And throughout the year the Cosmosphere's space science eductors offer Educator Workshops, including one which involves a behind-the-scenes tour of Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.
Visit the Cosmosphere's website at www.cosmo.org to learn about the Cosmosphere's many other educational programs, including the Future Astronaut Training Program and the new Overnight School Adventure, and to sign up to receive their educator newsletter electronically. See for yourself why the Cosmosphere was named just the fifth recipient of the U.S. Space Foundation's Education Achievement Award for outstanding Achievement in K-12 education. It's the Smithsonian in your neighborhood. Don't miss it!
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