By KENNEDY TOLBERT / Community Columnist

Read Across America Week inspired teachers, students, parents and even other countries to get involved in reading.

Promoting a love for reading in young children also promotes a love for learning, and many schools have made pledges, created videos, played games and studied books to celebrate this time.

Dr. Seuss is a big part of this celebration and his books, like “Green Eggs and Ham,” are often used in activities during Read Across America. In fact, Dr. Seuss is such an inspiration for young readers that Read Across America Week actually takes place during the week of his birth date, March 2. They call it a “Seussational reading adventure.”

In celebration of Dr. Seuss’ birthday, students across Shelby County and beyond did fun activities to participate in Read Across America Week and the students at Wilsonville were no exception to this. Dr. Seuss bookmarks, quotes, books, stickers, prizes, coloring pages, activities and puzzles were given out all week by teachers and were available to students in the library from Judith Lay, the library technician.

Each day the students had a Dr. Seuss theme for the day. Monday the students wore something from a vacation they had been on for the theme of “Oh The Places You’ll Go With Reading.” Tuesday’s theme was “We are fishing for great readers,” and students got a fish for a prize when teachers caught them reading in any spare time they had. Green eggs and ham were served for lunch Wednesday. Thursday the students wore a Dr. Seuss hat, or a hat of any kind representing any profession for the theme of “Reading is for everyone, so tip your hat to reading.” Finally, Friday was “Readers Have Imagination Day,” and students used their imaginations to think of all Dr. Seuss’s characters and wear outfits that were imaginative.

The students in Joanne Carter’s learning lab began by reading a recipe they were given.

Next, they were told to follow the directions to make it. The recipe ended up making a cute Cat-in the-Hat snack in honor of Dr. Seuss’ birthday. “Students really gobbled up our lesson today and were so excited about learning!” Joanne said excitedly.

Not only was this a very delicious lesson, but the students were also required to retell how to make the special snack, incorporating transition words and using skills they have been practicing from their expository writing. Joanne described wanting to share the joy of reading while making learning fun for the students.

Global Youth Service Days are April 15-17, and many schools are planning activities for these days also. Keep up the good work, students!

Kennedy Tolbert, the community columnist for Wilsonville, can be reached at kennedytolbert@bellsouth.net.