Author Study - Dr. Seuss

Well, I remember doing a scavenger hunt that included little riddles. I had them tracing them to the cafeteria, office, copy room, music teacher, etc. (All with permission of course) and then I also had them do a scavenger hunt with books and hid little post its in books on the shelves in our classroom library. They had to work together on that one to see who could think of a book with those characters or situations in it. That was a fun one! At the end of the hunt, they found a "treasure box" with books in it and they each got to pick out a book to take home. We also had a book swap, where students bring books that they are done with at home and don't want anymore and trade with others. Hope this helps! Let me know if what you come up with!

I always read the book, "Bartholomew and the Oobleck" to my class. I then have them draw a picture of the oobleck and write a sentence about the picture. We then make oobleck. They really seem to enjoy these activities. Here's the recipe I use for oobleck:

Oobleck
Materials Needed

1 1/2 C. Corn Starch

1 C. Water

Green Food Color (optional)
Mix the ingredients and allow children to play with the mixture. When"pushed" together, the mixture will appear dry and solid; as children let go of the mixture, it flows like a smooth liquid.

I usually use smaller amounts because I have my kids mix their own in Ziploc bags. This makes less of a mess. I do the measuring and they mix it themselves in the Ziploc baggies.

I hope this helps!

Dr. Suess's b-day is March 2.
-You could do a birthday board.
-You could do: "Oh the places you'll go" and the kids could write about exotic places, real or made up.
-"Horton Hears a Who" or "the Lorax" and talk about ecology and how we all affect one another.
-With "to think that I saw it on Mulberry street" after reading the book you could discuss all the things the boy saw, how he could have used his imagination to transform ordinary things into the extraordinary things he talks about. Put a "street" on the board and let your kids create fantastic things to go on or beside it. Have them write descriptive paragraphs about what they saw.
-Model your board on "If I ran the circus" and the circus parade. Each student creates their own float or car for the circus parade. They write about it and draw and cut out their's. (We did this for Mardi Gras and it was precious!)
-Read "the cat's quizzer." Make your board interactive with windows observers can open. Have your students look up trivial, obscure and funny facts. Write the question on the door and put the answer inside, written in rhyme, of course!

I used the idea below last year with sixth graders.

"You wake up on Christmas morning ready to open your presents. You take a second look under the tree because you can’t believe it. . . there is the Grinch. He says he wants three of your Christmas presents from Christmas past, present, or future. What three presents are you willing to give the Grinch and why? Descirbe each present with at least 3 details and give at least 2 reasons why you can depart with this present."

I had graphic organizers to help with the prewriting but unfortunately home computer problems from earlier this fall have erased them. I had a clip art of a present for the students to write eight presents. Then I had them narrow down to three. Then students wrote each present onto another clip art of a present and listed details. Then if I remember correctly I used a flow chart for the reasons. Students were real creative even remembering the Grinch's dog Max. It made a cute bulletin board.

"Dr. Suess"
Posted by Darci on Feb-27-05 at 00: AM (EST)

HI!
His birthday is this week, isn't it?
In my classroom we do all sorts of things. I know I will not remember all that I have in that file, but here goes a few ideas.
Of course we cook "Green Eggs and Ham."
We read many books by Dr. Suess.
I have the movie Green Eggs and Ham and some others.
We study rhymes and write a class book together using them.
We talk about the real rhyming words versus the made-up ones from a book. Then we list them on chart paper to see which list of Dr. Suess' is longest.
We make a "Word Family" binder book for each student. (I can explain that if you need me to do so.)
We have dressed as our favorite Dr. Suess character.
I have a stuffed Dr. Suess and a stuffed fish from the "Cat in the Hat' It is the one about the rainy day inside the house.
For Book Character Day one year I got a fellow teacher to dress up with me. Now we do it at this time each year. We bought matching flannel pants and matching long-sleeved t-shirts. We then bought blue shiny wigs. Next we cut out the letters "Thing 1" and "Thing 2" and glued them on white paper which we cut into ovals. We then pinned them on our shirt. We wore blue thick socks. The kids flipped out!
We also have a woman in our cafeteria who dressed up like the Cat in the Hat. She greets the kids at lunch. It is a big hit!
I study / review compound words too. I have a huge poster of Thing 1 and Thing 2 each hanging from vines by one arm at the top of the poster. Their other arms hang down to the bottom of the poster. I have two pieces of velcro (one beneath a space below each arm). Then I have prepared compound words (one word on one card.....the other half of the word on the another card). I place those in a huge pocket chart and then the kids take turns coming up in pairs (Thing 1 and Thing 2) and figure out a compound word together to velcro correctly on the poster. I keep bringing up pairs until all the cards are matched. Then we write sentences to see who can use the most compound words in complete sentences before a timer goes off. Fun race. The winner gets a little something (candy, sticker, choice from the treasure box, whatever I have handy).
I typed in "Dr. Suess Lesson Plans" in the computer and found a lot of mazes, crosswords, etc......
Hope this gives you maybe one idea you had not thought of. Do you have any to share? I am always looking for more!
Enjoy yourself!
Darci

Just finished planning for Seuss week. Our school is doing some dress-up stuff. Rather than reading a story from the basal I am doing an Author study on Theodore Geisel and reading his books.

Monday - Reading And to think we saw it on Mulberry Street. (Dr. Seuss' first published book) we will write our own version of the stroy and title it To Think We Saw It On _________ (our school road).

Tuesday - Hat day Reading the 500 Hats of Bartholemew (sp?) We will make a graph of the hats we wore. I didn't know about the Saturn dealership. There is not one in my city, but if I am out and about this weekend I may check into it.

Wednesday - Read Wacky Wednesday We are dressing up. Also reading Green Eggs and Ham and we will make a class recipe book. Students will pick their fav. food and write ingredients and directions. I also have a recipe for Green Eggs and Ham that they will answer questions about.

Thursday - One Fish Two Fish. Wearing fishy clothing. Read The Lorax. Discuss character's point of view. Do activity from Mailbox magazine. (Can't remember exactly what it was but it had something to do with the different points of view.)

Friday - Read The Cat in the Hat and retell from the Cats point of view.

In a Peoples's House: Draw a diagram of the inside of a house with various rooms. Have each child cut out from a magazine and label one thing that would go in each room. (Ex. couch in LR, TV in den, dishes in kitchen.)

Hop on Pop: Let children jump on packaging bubbles!

Suessardy: Play Jeopardy using questions from a few Dr. Suess stories. Divide class into groups. They much choose story question together and discuss possible answers BEFORE they give final answer. Great teamwork activity.

If I Ran the Zoo: Create, illustrate, and write about your own zoo animal.

The Cat in the Hat: Rhyming Word BINGO

We did a ton of things for Dr. Suess' birthday. One went with "One Fish, Two Fish..." I bought the multi-colored goldfish crackers amd had them glue on a piece of paper labeled one fish_____
two fish____ red fish____ etc. Then, at the bottom of the page, the children experimented with patterning with the fish.

Rhyming words with group activity: we alternated strips of red and white paper to build a Dr. Seuss hat. One child came up with two words that rhyme and we wrote them on a strip of red paper and hung it up, then the next child we wrote their words on a strip of white paper... and continued this until the whole class had a turn. At the bottom, I put a strip of black paper and wrote on it with chalk "we can rhyme with Dr. Seuss" (this was the base, a bit longer than the red and white pieces to really make it look more like a hat.)

Green Eggs and Ham: make a list of green foods, graph how many in the class like which foods. Have a tasting party??

The First of Octember: (this book is difficult to find) but after reading it, my class each dictated a story to me and/or my co-teacher about what they would do or have if they could do/have anything they wanted. We ended each story with...and we can or and we can have this on the first of Octember. Then, each child illustrated their stories.

I also made a rhyme match game. I made this to be used on the flannel board, but regular pieces or magnetic or any way really would work. I made pieces of different items, for example a bat and a hat and they had to figure out and put together the items that rhymed together. (a worksheet with connecting a line from one picture to another would work also, but I know my children need hands-on.

I have a ton of others if you want to e-mail me, I'd be glad to help!

I made a large pocket for BB. Title There is a wocket on my pocket. At writing center kids made up their own rhymes (there is a strair on my chair) One of the rhyming words could be made up---Dr Suess style. They wrote the sentence and made a picture. I also read 1 fish 2 fish .... they used the raindow fish crackers to sort make a data sheetat the math center. Then we used those to make a pie graph on the computer. This was first grade, hope I helped you.

How about reading one of his more complex stories such as Bartholomew and the OObleck. Then have kids make some oobleck of their own (outside). Cornstarch mixed with water has some very strange properties....if you put a handful in your hand and squeeze it, it appears to be a solid ball, but quickly turns back into a liquid. The kids have alot of fun experimenting with it. They do not need much. I do not have the exact amounts to mix, but you should be able to get a good mixture by trial and error. Email me for more info. The story is a treat in itself and many of the kids have not heard some of his longer books. Or read The Lorax and discuss the importance of preserving our natural resources...perfect for 5th grade studies. Have fun!

I love Dr. Suess' Birthday. My kids come to school in their Pj's and we start our day by reading Green Eggs and Ham. We then eat green eggs and ham. They absolutely think it's the coolest thing. This year I bought the cat in the hat cereal and gummy snacks. We make a red and white hat and make -at words on it. We Invite parents and staff members to read a Dr. suess books to the class. For math we add using red and blue fish to go with the book 1 Fish 2 Fish Red Fish Blue Fish. It is tons of fun!

I am doing a day full of activities to celebrate his birthday. Today we read "The Cat in the Hat" and made hats to wear. I had my students create the stripes using rulers and paint the stripes it made it alittle more interesting. Tomorrow I am reading "One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish" our class is goign to graph the colored goldfish and eat when we are complete. On Wednesday I am going to read aloud "Green Eggs and Ham", then we wil make a whole class predictable chart "I don't like..." Then create a class book.

I divided my class into groups of 2 students. I provided a Dr. Suess book for each group and post it notes. They then searched for prepositional phrases and put a post it note on the page. I then read each book aloud and the kids had to "snap" out the phrases. Of course, the first time I really emphasized the phrase and had the kids snap to the object. I would speed up toward the end of the book. Very effective.

I also have my kids play charades with prepositions. They choose a preposition out of a hat and then have to act it out. For example, if they chose the word above they might use an eraser and hold it above someone's head.

I took How the Grinch Stole Christmas and turned it into Reader's Theatre for my kids. Perhaps you could do that with one of his other ones?

A fun art activity (if you teach your own art) might be to have the kids create their own Dr. Seuss character. Or you could tie that into writing, and have them create a Dr. Seuss-esque character and write and illustrate a story about it.

We have done Family Reading Nights at my school for the last few years. The most successful is Dr. Seuss Night, which we try to do around Dr. Seuss's birthday. We invite families to come in their pajamas. We start in the cafeteria and have then split the families into three or four groups. Each group goes to an assigned classroom or the library or cafeteria. There, one teacher reads a Dr.Seuss book and does an activity that corrosoponds with the book. In the cafeteria, they read Green Eggs and Ham and then make green eggs and ham. (We get the food donated from 1 or 2 local supermarkets.) In the library, we have them surf the Dr. Seuss website, which is very cool and kid friendly. In another classroom, they read The Cat and the Hat and make Dr. Seuss hats. You can also read Bartholomew and the Oobleck and make oobleck (cornstarch and water). The Dr.Seuss website has many more great ideas and resources. At the end of the night, we have families come back to the cafeteria and we have handouts for parents about strategies for reading with their children at home. Each child gets to pick one book, which the Home and School Club buys from Scholastic. We also do a drawing and give away several gift certificates for Barnes and Noble (or some other local gift shop).

1. For One Fish, Two Fish...you could have the children estimate Swedish fish, or graph goldfish crackers.

2. For The Lorax have the children design posters for the environment.

3. For Hooray for Diffendoofer Day! have the children write a special song for your school like in the story. Since I assume you will have centers for groups they could perform them too!

4. For Oh! The Thinks You Can Think have the children invent wacky inventions and write about what they will do and draw them!

5. We did a quilt square for our favorite Seuss book and made a cute class quilt.

6. You can of course make Oobleck and have the children fill out a paper what it looks, feels, smells like etc.(It would be neat to let each group make a small batch)

7. You could tape record all sorts of sounds and put them at a listening center with a paper _____ hears a _______. (Horton hears a Who inspired!)

8. Have them design a map of a magical world like Candy Land, TV Land , etc., for Oh, the Places You'll Go!

Last year we celebrated Dr. Seuss' birthday by having a "Pajama Day". The students were allowed to wear their pajamas so they could relax and read a lot that day. Also, I assigned each homeroom a letter that would spell out "happy birthday Dr. Seuss". The homeroom teachers made a cake and put the letter on it. I then took the cakes and arranged them on a LONG table in the cafeteria. All the students came to the cafeteria and sang Happy Birthday to Dr. Seuss and then we all ate cake! I also used a bulletin board in the cafeteria to post a Dr. Seuss trivia question each day. The principal told the answer during afternoon announcements. I ordered stovepipe hats for everyone from Oriental Trading.

McElligot's Pool: Read the story with the students, have them cut out a fish from a pattern and decorate it as creatively as they would like or time allows, hangs these is a soccer net out in the hallway

Yertle the Turtle: Have the students draw a picture of what a turtle would look like without a shell, have them write about how it might feel

The book about the zoo (title ?): Have the students draw one animal made by 2 different animal parts, then cover with a black outline frame and black bars made of construction paper to make it look like it is in a cage, have them write about the animal giving important facts

Have the students come to school dressed up in their favorite Dr. Seuss character.

The Cat in the Hat: Have the students write about a story when they are at home on a rainy day and explain what they would do

We make a human size Cat in the Hat, and make up trivia questions and then post this in the hall. The questions are on hats and the answer is underneath! Kids moving through the hall LOVE to stop and participate.

We use white sticky tape and red paper to make our own cat in the hat hats! They are darling - AND easy.

I have my class make cat in the hat hats. I give them an outline of the hat and have them paint red stripes on it. Then I glue them to sentence strips for the headband. we also make the cat in the hat bowties and have a birthday cake. Don't forget to sing happy birthday and read lots of Dr Seuss books.

We made Dr. Seuss the author of the month that month and we did all kinds of activities all month long, one writing activity we did was we read In a People House, then the kids drew a house shape and Glued pics of things found in a house (I had precut a bunch from magazines) and then labeled them.
To celebrate his bday we had read that the author loved crazy hats and that he used to have parties where everyone would wear a crazy hat, and if you didn't wear one, he would find one for you to wear, so we had a crazy hat party,all the kids wore their crazy hats to school, they loved this.

Each year we read Green Eggs and Ham and then we make green eggs and ham. Just buy lunch meat, cut the slices in half, put them in a plastic ziplock bag with some water and green food coloring and in about 20 minutes, the ham is green. Just add green food coloring to the eggs when you mix them to scramble them. As a follow-up, I have my third graders write to perform a task- they are to write up a set of directions to make green eggs and ham. When I taught first grade, I had the directions printed out already and the children sequenced the steps. The students love it and there is never any food left!