Read Across the States

During the month of March, we had a literacy night at my school. This year it was scheduled for March 14 (aka Pie Day) so the rooms were almost split between reading and mathematics. In the library, I decided to do a “Read Across the States” activity.

Pre-Activity

I did all of my prepping during the weeks prior to March. During free time, I made my decisions on what I was going to include and pulled books in addition to getting the other items ready.

I created a passport on Canva that families could use to create their own map as they visited each region, then printed it on cardstock.

I bought two copies of the United States map from Dollar Tree. I cut one into regions and laminated both the intact one and the pieces. (I recommend purchasing this in the store since you don’t need thirty copies of it.)

I printed multiple copies of the United States map and cut it into the same regions. Then I copied each region on colored paper. I made entirely too many copies of each region. I would suggest making only twenty or so, but having it in reserve to make more copies. I ended up having a lot of extra copies. This is a great resource to use for the maps, but make sure that you print multiple copies so you can cut them up.

I also pulled all of my books. These are the ones I used (per region), but you are welcome to use ones you have or prefer.

Finally I created a bulletin board at the front of the library with the other map of the United States and postcards from around the country.

Day of the Activity

Since our literacy night took place on a Thursday, I had classes during the day. I asked my last class to stack and move the chairs away from the table area. Once school was over, I arranged the tables so families could walk down one side and back up the other.

I set up one table at the beginning of the row as the entrance where the families could pick up their passports. It also had directions for the activity. It included pencils for them to fill out the passport and an example of a finished one.

Each table around the library held one of the regions with a sign listing the region name and the states contained in that region, some pictures from the region, and the books set in that region. There was also a map of the region (cut up from the large map) and the smaller one for pasting in the passports. I also included glue and scissors.

During the Activity

I greeted the families as they came in, gave them a description of the activity and let them wander about on their own. I visited with the parents and scholars as they wandered around the tables. Some of them participated, but none completed the entire map that I saw.

Reflections

I would definitely do this differently if I ran the activity again. While I think the families had fun with it, there was too much going on in the building and in the library for them to really engage with the activity. In addition, for the younger scholars (our building is PreK 4 to fifth grade), there was a lot of information and a lot to look at. This distracted them from the actual activity.

I think I would find a way to have some of the books become listen aloud stations and cut out the map pieces ahead of time. Having them all ready to glue down would absolutely speed up the process. In addition, having the station spread out among classrooms or in the hallway would allow the families to spend more time at each station, plus involve collaboration with the other teachers.

Overall, considering it was my first year and my first time hosting an activity in the library, I felt the activity went really well. I’m definitely already making plans for next year.