Read Across America Week at DashStrom

Every year, schools across the country celebrate Read Across America Week, a nationwide initiative launched by the National Education Association (NEA) to inspire a love of reading in children.

Classrooms transform into storybook wonderlands. Teachers don their favorite literary costumes. Hallways fill with bookmarks, bulletin boards, and beloved characters.

But at DashStrom, we asked a different question this year: What if reading together isn’t just about literacy — but about leadership?

What if the ability to enjoy a good book depends not only on decoding words, but on how we treat the people around us?

Beyond Books: The Social Side of Reading

Reading is often framed as an individual skill — phonics, comprehension, vocabulary, fluency. But anyone who has tried to read aloud to a group of children knows something essential: Reading can also become a shared experience.

It requires:

• Listening.

• Patience.

• Respect.

• Self-control.

• Encouragement.

Without those qualities, even the best story falls flat.

So in honor of Read Across America Week, DashStrom designed a special lesson that blended literacy with character development — because finding your dash means building the inner confidence and grit to contribute positively to a community.

Enter: The Great Distractor and The Great Peacemaker

Instead of beginning with a lecture about kindness, we did what DashStrom does best — we created an experience.

Each child was secretly assigned one of two roles:

• The Great Distractor

• The Great Peacemaker

The mission? Sit together for a group read-aloud and act according to your role.

The Great Distractors were instructed to (harmlessly and playfully) interrupt the reading experience. They could:

• Whisper side comments.

• Say they couldn’t see.

• Ask to ask a question.

• Squirm.

• Giggle.

• Leave the circle.

The Great Peacemakers, on the other hand, were tasked with:

• Listening to the story.

• Responding to the reader, when asked a question.

  • Staying focused on the book even with the Great Distractors busy distracting.

No one knew who had which role.

And then — we started reading.

The Hilarity (and Frustration) happened all at once.

Our goal? To read for 2 minutes. Immediately, the room transformed.

Hands went up and “Coach!” kept getting called, with dramatic tones.

Someone whispered, “Wait, what page are we on?” for the third time.

A student raised a hand and asked, “Can that many apples really stay on a dog’s head?” — in the middle of a suspenseful moment.

Giggles erupted. Eyes rolled. A few children tried desperately to track the story.

And the Peacemakers got to work.

They sat, riveted to the story. They laughed at the funny parts. 

And then the 2 minute timer announced it was time to pause. We had only read 6 pages.

The Debrief: What Just Happened? (DashStrom lessons always hinge on reflection.)

We asked:

• How did it feel to try to listen?

• What made it hard?

• What helped?

• Distractors — what did you notice?

• Peacemakers — what worked?

• Did anyone enjoy the story fully?

Hands shot up.

“It was annoying.”

“I couldn’t focus.”

“I wanted to know what happened, but people kept talking.”

“I didn’t even hear the ending.”

One Distractor admitted, laughing, “It was kind of fun to distract people… but I actually just want to hear the rest of the story.”

A Peacemaker shared, “I was glad to be a Peacemaker. It was hard because not everyone listened. Can we try again?”

And that was the moment.

The children witnessed something powerful: small behaviors shape shared experiences.

The Real Lesson: Your Actions Impact Others

We asked the group a simple question:

“If we acted like Great Peacemakers every time we read together, what would change?”

The answers were immediate:

“We’d finish the book.”

“It would be more fun.”

“Everyone could enjoy it.”

Reading, they realized, isn’t just about books.

It’s about showing each other kindness. Respect. And enjoying something, together.

When one child chooses to distract, everyone loses part of the experience. When one child chooses to bring calm, focus, and kindness, everyone gains.

That is leadership in its earliest form.

Finding Your Dash Through Everyday Choices

At DashStrom, we believe confidence is not built through easy praise or perfect performance. It grows through challenge, awareness, and choice.

The Great Distractor/Great Peacemaker exercise wasn’t about labeling kids as “good” or “bad.” In fact, the laughter made it clear that everyone is capable of being both. It was about how our actions impact others.

The deeper lesson was this:

You always have a choice about the actions you take.

Are you helping people grow? Or are you pulling attention away?

Are you strengthening the group? Or are your actions actually weakening it?

These will become better understood questions for DashStrom kids, because they experienced what it feels like to be on both sides. 

In experiences like today’s they will be able to remember how they were asked to show up and then how they watched their classmates and themselves yearn for better respect and kindness.

• In classrooms.

• On sports teams.

• At dinner tables.

• During group projects.

• In friendships.

And yes — during story time.

Literacy and Leadership Go Hand in Hand

Research consistently shows that positive classroom environments improve academic outcomes. But children don’t need research papers to understand this truth. They just need to experience it.

By the end of the lesson, we read the same story again — this time with everyone playing the role of Great Peacemaker.

The difference was immediate.

Stillness.

Curiosity.

Shared laughter at the funny parts.

Gasps at the surprising ones.

And when the final page turned, applause.

Not because someone told them to clap — but because they felt the difference.

They had created it.

A Movement of Great Peacemakers

As the session ended, we asked one final question:

“Which role do you want to choose next time?”

Every single hand went up for Great Peacemaker.

Not because they were told to.

But because they experienced what it felt like to belong to a group that shared the same value: to hear the story. It became a moment in time where the kids shared that sense of belonging, that so many of our school partners teach as well.

This is how DashStrom helps kids find their dash — that inner spark of confidence and grit that emerges when they realize: I can make things better. My actions matter. My actions impact others.  I influence the people around me. I am strong, brave, powerful, fierce and mighty and I can choose to show my classmates respect and kindness, even when I feel like wiggling, talking and asking questions.

Reading together became the vehicle, but kindness and respect became the lesson.

And laughter? Well, that just became the glue to keep us all having fun all the way along. .

During Read Across America Week, DashStrom kids didn’t just celebrate books. They discovered that the best stories unfold when we find our dash and choose to treat each other with respect. And perhaps that is the greatest chapter of all.

Sources: Read Across America https://www.nea.org/professional-excellence/student-engagement/read-across-america

National Education Association National Education Association (NEA)

Shadyside Academy “Community of Belonging”