March Celebrations & How to Use Them in the Classroom
March is one of my favorite months (mainly because it seems to fly by after the never-ending shortest month — February). There are so many things to celebrate throughout March. Not only is it getting warmer, and the sun is staying out longer, but there are so many things to celebrate during this time! I decided to do a little bit of a deep dive into all the national and international celebrations that somehow relate to the ELA world. There is a whole website dedicated to ALL the different celebrations— nationaldaycalendar.com. Now I am not sure who actually determines when something becomes a national day… but I would love to be on that team because reading over the list for March was extensive but so fun!
Here is the list of celebrations related to the ELA world!
March 2nd- World Teen Mental Wellness Day
March 2nd- National Read Across America
March 3rd- National Speech and Debate Education Day
March 4th- National Grammar Day
March 8th- National Proofreading Day
March 14th- National Write Down Your Story Day
March 17th- St. Patrick’s Day
March 18th- National Corn Dog Day— okay, maybe not ELA related, but it is one of my favorite treats
March 19th- International Read to Me Day
March 19th- Let’s Laugh Day
March 20th- World Story Telling Day
March 21st- World Poetry Day
March 25th- Tolkien Reading Day
1st Full week of March- Read an E-Book Week
1st Full week of March- Teen Tech Week
March- Women’s History Month
Alright, now I shared the list, but you are probably thinking, okay, what do I do with them?
Here are some ways I have used national celebrations in my classroom the past:
- Share the national day at the beginning of class as a fun fact
- Have students research the history behind the national day
- Have the students create their own national day to submit
- Complete one of the suggestions given for the national day
- Have students research the oddest-sounding one for the month
- Tie one day directly into the unit we are completing (for example— poetry unit— World Poetry Day)
Share any other ideas you may have for these National Celebrations below!