Where have you been caught? Caught reading that is! May is national Get Caught Reading Month. This annual celebration promotes the joy of reading. A consistent reading habit has many benefits such as: improving vocabulary, reduces stress, develop empathy, and boost knowledge and brainpower. For children, reading can help improve their language skills, increase their concentration, and may even improve their imagination and creativity. Below are some fun ways to celebrate Get Caught Reading.
Photo Challenge
Challenge your class or your own family to finding fun places to read. Reading in the tub, minus the water, with stuffed animals is usually one of the favorite spots for a child to read. You can take pictures of their unique reading spots and share the photos at the end of the month. Or maybe offer a small prize for the reader who found the most unusual place to read. The key is to find them reading, not just posing for the photo.
D E A R Time
Drop Everything And Read is a special reading celebration. Designed to encourage families to make reading together each day a family priority and habit. Families are encouraged to read and enjoy books together for 30 minutes. If 30 minutes seems too long, start with 15 minutes.
For example, a Family Read Aloud with younger children. Reading aloud sharpens a child’s emerging reading skills. Not to mention that you can have fun together with a good book. If the children are a little older you can have them retell stories in their own words, what happened first, next and last.
You can snuggle up with your little ones with a stack of picture books. By the way older children love picture books too. Fix a plate of cookies to munch on or hot chocolate to sip on together as you read. Tell each other about who your favorite character is, and why. Enjoy the time and make it special.
Scavenger Hunt
For the child or adult who does not like to read, you can have a scavenger hunt that revolves around finding different things to read. If your scavenger hunt outside, have the children look for parking signs, advertisements, menus, or ingredients. You decide where the scavenger hunt will take place and start making your list. You will be surprised how many items you find! This activity helps children to connect with print in everyday places. Reading is something that happens outside of the classroom and is not always in book form.
Mystery Reader
Mystery Readers are special guests who come into classrooms to read a story to students. Readers can be parents, grandparents, older siblings, or other relatives. You can also do this at home. Maybe a neighbor comes over to read a story, or if Grandpa lives nearby, he could read a story. You can also use Zoom and ask family members who cannot make it in person, read a story over a Zoom call.
Book Swap
Book swaps are another idea. You can organize a book swap on your block or with just a few families. Ask your child to select a few books that they’d like to lend to a friend. Label the inside of each book with your child or family’s name so that the recipient family can keep track of which books they are borrowing. This can be an activity in itself if your kids use the paper and colored pencils or markers to create decorative name plates to glue inside the front cover of each book. Place all the labeled books in a tote bag or box for delivering to the other family and exchange books. This a great activity to help children read different genres and find new authors.
One More Fun Activity
Get Caught Reading Bingo is a great activity for families. These cards give you some fun places to read like the playground, under the stars or with the teacher. The cards are free and printable. Grab a book, find your spot and get caught reading!
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