As a teacher, I know the importance of having my students fall in love with reading. That is why I have decided to take literacy into my own hands and start Literacy Week every January in my classroom! With literacy week, I want to make sure that my students find a genre they enjoy and can continue to find joy in throughout their lives. This literacy week also gives me the opportunity to share some of my favorite literacy week ideas with them. These literacy week ideas can help introduce new types of literature and authors, expanding my students’ knowledge even further. Taking literacy seriously is key for their development and literacy week will be nothing short of impactful!
Last literacy week, my students and I had a blast exploring all the literacy activities that were available. We read books in the library, created fun poetry projects, and even had guest authors come for a special literacy day at our school. This year, I’m looking for other literacy week ideas to make it an even more memorable event for us. I want to focus on making literacy fun and engaging for my students as we celebrate and explore reading and writing over the course of the week. One idea I am considering is having literacy competitions such as scavenger hunts and spelling bees. If anyone has any fresh literacy week ideas that they have seen work well with their students, please let me know!
Top 15 Literacy Week Ideas
- Have a Mad Hatter’s Tea Party so the students have a feast to enjoy different books. (of course, this is my favorite!)
- Book parade! Have students dress up as their favorite book character.
- Vocabulary parade- Check out the book Miss Alaineus – it’s great to encourage students to open their mind for vocab words and learn vocabulary words
- Invite a local author or Skype with them!
- Compare alphabets from other languages. I love doing this one because the students are always shocked by how different other languages are!
- Where has your reading taken you? I love putting stars on a map to identify where our books have taken us.
- A buddy system! Join up with other classes (preferably a different grade) and spend time reading to the grades. Normally – I partner 5th grade with 2nd, 4th with 1st, and 3rd with Kindergarten.
- Bring in a book from your
parents heritage. For example, if a parent is from a different country- have them send in a book from their heritage. - Invite parents to come and read a book that they read as a child to the class.
- Let the kids act out their book. Choose their favorite book and then act it out.
- Dress up
as a newspaper. Have the students wear only black and white. I normally get newspapers donated to the class so they can see what it looks like. - Have students create a book. It could be a comic book, student treasures, or anything they love!
- Host a book exchange.
- Create a book nook. Students will go to one section of the room where they can sit and read.
- Finally, my favorite literacy week idea. Drop Everything And Read. DEAR Time. Get down with the kids and just read with them. Enjoy time to just read and understand what the kids are reading and enjoying.
I have some more ideas and I want to add them here for you!
- Have a class discussion about why literacy is important. This is a great opportunity to talk about how reading and writing help us communicate our thoughts and feelings, understand the world around us, and connect with others. Encourage your students to share their favorite books, authors, and genres. You might even want to have a few students do a short presentation on their favorite book or author.
- Hold a “literacy fair.” This is a chance for students to get creative and show off their literacy skills. Students can create posters, bookmarks, or other visuals to promote their favorite books. They can also write skits or poems inspired by their reading, or give oral presentations on topics related to literacy. Get as many parents and other adults involved as possible—the more the merrier!
- Have a ” read-a-thon.” This is a great way to raise money for literacy programs or new books for the classroom library. Students can ask family and friends to sponsor them for every hour they spend reading during the week. Prizes can be given for those who read the most books, raise the most money, etc. Be sure to set some ground rules ahead of time so that everyone knows what’s expected (e.g., no TV or video games while reading).
- Take a field trip to the library or a local bookstore. This is a great opportunity for students to explore different types of books and find new favorites. If possible, invite a librarian or bookstore owner to come speak to your class about their job and what they love about reading.
- Make it a “tech-free” week. With all the emphasis on digital media these days, it’s important for kids to unplug and enjoy some good old-fashioned print books once in awhile! No screens allowed all week—that means no TV, computers, tablets, phones, etc. Encourage kids to read physical books, magazines, newspapers, etc., instead. They may just surprise themselves by how much they enjoy it!
If you are searching for picture books to use in your classroom, make sure you check out the different ones here. You can also check out the different reading activities that I have in my TPT store.
