How to Observe ‘Read across America Day’ in the Class

‘Read across America’ is a fairly recent phenomenon in the history of America’s literary movements. In 1997, the National Education Association came up with the idea of creating a day to celebrate reading. Dr. Seuss being one of the most widely celebrated children’s writers in American literature, it was only befitting to commemorate his birthday as ‘Read across America Day’. Thus, March 2 sees the largest celebration of reading in the history of the United States of America.

It is important to motivate children to read because reading is undoubtedly one of the best educators and companions for life. Research has proved that children who are motivated to take up reading as a pastime do better in school than those who consider reading to be just another chore. Reading opens up a world of possibilities and fans the desire to know more. So how can ‘Read across America Day’ be observed so that children are motivated to love reading?

Reading by Moyan Brenn

Classroom Activities

Three to nine are the formative years in any child’s life. It is during their kindergarten to 3^rd grade that they have to be motivated to read and take up reading as a hobby. Activities and worksheets can play an important role in motivating them. Browse the online space to download suitable reading activities and worksheets for 1^st to 3^rd grade kids that will introduce prominent authors and books to them with a fun approach. Here are a couple of activities that will encourage the kids to read.

Kindergarten-1^st grade activities to encourage reading

Get plenty of clothespins and distribute them equally among the class. Have the kids write a consonant each on the clothespins they got. Vowels will eventually fall short so you get as many clothespins as the number of students in your class and write a vowel each on them. Collect the clothespins and distribute the consonant clothespins equally among the class. Give a vowel to each student. Put up a clothesline from one end of the classroom to another. Call one student after another and ask him/her to form a word using any of their letters. Have them clip the clothespins arranged as their word on the clothesline and make way for the next student. 

The words they make may not necessarily be meaningful, but they must have a proper pronunciation, an example being chank, teck, feg, bord, etc. Have the students read all the words aloud in unison after everybody has finished clipping their words on the clothesline. Though this is an activity for kindergarteners, it can be tweaked to make a great 1^st grade activity if you challenge them to use all the letters they got or ask them to make a synonym of a certain word (this can be asked only when you’ve studied their letters carefully) or a word where the vowel is placed last (such a word may not sound coherent always), etc. Improvise on these activities further to make them suitable for higher grades.

Reading activities for 2nd-3rd grade

How can we write an article on ways to observe ‘Read across America Day’ without having an activity based on the man himself, Dr. Seuss? Inspired by Dr. Seuss’ Green Eggs and Ham, this is a classroom activity that’s just right to observe the Day. Divide the class into two groups and give them a magnetic sheet each along with markers. Have a group write 20 random verbs on the magnetic sheet while the other group gets to write 10 random common nouns and 10 adverbs. Cut out the words and distribute the words equally among each group – 10 verbs, 5 adverbs and 5 nouns. Challenge the groups to make a story using the words they got. To increase the difficulty level, challenge them to use all the words. They will have to arrange the words on any magnetic surface and form their story. Isn’t that a fitting tribute to Dr. Seuss’ Green Eggs and Ham which consists of just 50 different words?

Other Miscellaneous Ways to Observe ‘Read across America Day’

Reading Across America in Milford by CT Senate Democrats

• Invite athletes and actors to issue challenges to students of your class/school
• Invite an author/poet to read to your class
• Read to your class
• Take your class to any literary figure’s house that has been converted into a museum
• Arrange a ‘book donation’ drive for the needy

Learning without learning

Many kids don’t like mathematics, because they believe they are not good at it. But you watch them do math while maximizing their pocket money or adding points playing a game, and you will be surprised at how very good they are at math. As babies grow, they learn language by primarily listening to others speak the language. It’s far more difficult to learn a language when it is taught. It is obvious that learning something without actually learning it is the best way to learn it. Might sound confusing, but learning via play is the best way to learn.

Kids Playing Monopoly Chicago by Colleen Kelly

Teachers who can get their kids all excited about what they are learning, have accomplished half of teaching. In his article Don’t Teach Math, Coach It, Jordan Ellenberg talks about getting his kids to do math without resenting it. Math is all around us, in everyday life. All we have to do as adults is to get the kids to do math without knowing that they are doing it. The author talks of sitzfleisch, the ability to focus on a complicated skill for the length of time it takes to master it. Gaming is all about that. Wanting to master a game, can get kids to focus and learn enough to win.

Apart from our everyday life where we trip over math in shopping, cooking (proportion), craft making, sport etc. there is a whole world where kids pick up math with ease – play. The old board games of chess, Monopoly, Snakes and ladders etc. use math. The newer world of gaming uses Math in Rush Hour, Dragon Box and a whole bunch of other Games in Mathematical Education.

Learning something must not be a pain for kids. Games are a great way to get kids to learn without learning

Best Online and Mobile Games That Feature Penguins

With the recently released Penguins of Madagascar  catching everybody’s fancies, it’s time to list down the top penguin games of the year that’s gone by. Here’s my list of top 4 penguin games that are widely loved by gamers across the world.

Penguins on Parade by David Stanley

Air Penguin

Jump, fly and dodge through Antarctica in this fun penguin game. Air Penguins will have to journey through the ice-land and save their families from the melting ice caps. ‘Tilt’ (that’s how you have to move your phone) your way out of the hazards of global warming and make the little animals fly by flapping their tiny wings. Critics have agreed that “Air Penguin's hotter than Tiny Wings and top Angry Birds”! The adorable graphics, frills-free gameplay, and an engaging scoring system ensure players go back for more.

Flying Penguins 

This penguin game has proved its mettle on the iOS platform and now finds a place in the Android platform too. Penguins will have to fly swiftly and flap rapidly to escape the evil polar bears that are out to prey on them. Based on physics principles, the game has 3 addicting worlds and 24 racing levels that will improve your finger deftness and problem solving skills. The game is suitable for both girls and boys as everybody adores the black and white animals from the Poles.

Crazy Penguins

Who can resist chubby and naughty polar bears and cute and wobbly penguins? The game’s user base would have multiplied in millions had it been free! This penguin game is heavily inspired by Angry Birds where grumpy polar bears unleash attacks on harmless penguins that disturb nobody. Therefore the penguins have embarked on a mission to restore their peace with a deadly weapon – not a heavy-duty nuclear weapon but the penguins themselves! Keep away invading Polar Bears by throwing brave, little penguins at them with your faithful catapult, a la Angry Birds, and bring down the enemies. The better start you get with the catapult, the better chances you have of bringing all of them down together. With pleasant graphics and sounds, win epic battles and unlock cool penguin power-ups including Ninja, Penguin on Fire, The Twins and more!

Dibble Dash

Join Skipper, Kowalski, Rico and Private in their adventure in this ‘cute and cuddly’ penguin game.  The secret agents use speed, agility, and lightning reflexes in finding the Cheesy Dibbles that are crucial to take them forward in the game. The mobile game has interesting twists and turns and seems like a boundless quest that will never end. Using swift and reflexive finger movements, players will have to move through a Temple Run-ish path and collect packets of Dibble Dash, cross hurdles, solve math puzzles and quizzes, and avoid being contaminated by the ‘mutant venom’. As Kowalski might say - brains are an important part of this operation.

The free penguin game is a good platform for the kids to practice their math skills like addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. The game offers free power ups to escape sticky situations where the Penguins have been affected by the mutant-creating goo. Daily players are rewarded classified Daily Missions. Outrun Paul the Octopus and his Henchmen to reach the climax of the game. The penguin game has special educational Expansion Packs which help players to access more ‘top secret’ files and mission and achieve higher security clearance.

Let us know if you have more exciting penguin games that you like. We would love to hear from you!