Inspiring young children to read, share stories, and write can help them build skills that will stay with them for years to come. April is a great month to celebrate the joy of reading and writing with two national events: National Library Week and Encourage a Young Writer Day. These events give teachers an opportunity to help children develop more interest and excitement for reading and creating stories.
National Library Week, April 7-13, 2024
This year, National Library Week is April 7 to April 13. NLW was first started by the American Library Association and has been held since 1958. The ALA created the annual event out of concerns that fewer people were spending money on books, and devoting more time to television and radio shows.
The NLW campaign helps promote the need to read for leisure and learning with this year’s theme being “Connect with Your Library.” Libraries around the country celebrate the event in schools and communities. Library workers and professional contributions for the bookmobile outreach are recognized during the week.
Resources and tools for this event can be downloaded on the ALA website.
Encourage a Young Writer Day, April 10, 2024
On April 10, young children are encouraged to develop their writing skills during Encourage a Young Writer Day. This national event gives teachers and parents an opportunity to help young writers use their imagination to create a story.
Teachers can help children develop writing skills with the following activities:
- Create a young writers group. Offers an opportunity to share stories and receive feedback.
- Start a journal. Gives young writers a place to record their daily writing and create essays, poems, and stories.
- Encourage writing exercises. Writing prompts and a little direction can help a child use their imagination to write a story.
- Integrate reading activities. The more a child reads, the easier it is to develop writing skills.
- Mix up the writing style. Give children different writing styles to help them see an idea or story from a new perspective.
- You can also promote this event on social media with #EncourageAYoungWriterDay.
More Resources for Teaching Reading and Writing Skills
Young children have a vivid imagination that can be nurtured through creative writing and reading great books. The skills they develop at an early age can greatly enhance their learning and understanding in the future. Teachers and mentors can use these two events to share the excitement and joy of reading and writing with their students!
For more ideas while planning reading and writing lessons, check out these resources from Waterford.org:
