Dr. Seuss Month!

Read Across America with Dr. Seuss

As a first grade teacher, there's nothing more exciting than seeing my students grow as readers during that all important growth period in their lives. It's remarkable to see where they begin, and where they end up. To celebrate all of their hard work, one of my favorite months of the year is March! Not only is it the beginning of Spring, but it is also Dr. Seuss's birthday month! This is one of my favorite units of the year, as well as my students!

I start out by telling the students that we will be celebrating their growth as reader's and going on a journey, through the whimsical world of Dr. Seuss! I give each student a booklet, that we call their "Passport".

Get your Passport! here.

This is the fun part, because I tell students that they are responsible for keeping their passport, and never losing it. Losing it would mean they wouldn't be able to finish their travels through the magical world of Dr. Seuss (not really, I make extra booklets because someone always loses theirs, but they take it more seriously that way!)

The passport is a booklet with 10 pages. On each page is a Dr. Seuss book title and small writing section.

Get your Passport Book Here!

 I read a story to them, or sometimes show the book online Here! After hearing a story, I then give students an activity to complete. Once they have completed the activity, to my standards, I give them the book cover, which is provided in the passport download, to glue into their passport. I tell them it's like a stamp of approval that they have completed that story.

Download Here!

I also tell my students that at the end of the passport book, if they complete so many activities and earn so many stamps, they will be rewarded. After we finish up the unit, I ask for parent help in throwing a celebration for the students hard work! 

Dr. Seuss Day!

We call this, Dr. Seuss Day! I tell all my students to wear Red and on Dr. Seuss day morning I transform each of my students in a "Thing"! I like to call this "Thing Your Students". They get a kick out of it too. I'm always "Thing 1" and the rest of my students are Things  2-20, or however many students I have that year. 

Thing Your Students!

On this day, we do many Dr. Seuss activities and games in the morning. One project the kids really love doing is making a Truffula Tree. All you need is some tissue paper, toilet paper rolls or paper towel rolls and my product over at teachers pay teachers!

Truffula Tree Craft!

To do a little review of the books we've read, I love playing Dr. Seuss Charades! 

Students simply pick a card and they can either act out the story like Charades, or they can draw out the story like Pictionary. My students have a blast playing this and it's a great way for me to do a summative assessment of our unit.

In the afternoon, I read one final book, "Horton Hears A Who". I then surprise the students with watching the animated film and throwing a party to celebrate their reading accomplishments. Parents always volunteer to bring in food items, and I make sure to give suggestions. I try to make the party as whimsical as Dr. Seuss's stories.

Here are some of the suggested items I ask parents to bring in thanks to Pinterest!

Cat In The Hat: Jello and Whipped Cream

Green Eggs and Ham: Pretzels, White Chocolate, Green M&M

Hop On Pop-Corn

String Cheese: Colored with Red and Black Sharpie

Thing 1 & Thing 2 Cheese Wheels

Grinch Peppers

Cat In The Hat: Celebration Cake

Truffula Tree's: Trix and Marshmallows

Get the Recipe: Here!

Oh The Places You'll Go! Cookies

Get the Recipe: Here!

The Lorax Barbaloots

Truffula Seeds: Jelly Beans

Grinch Grapes

Once parents sign up for different items, I use these food labels to help add some magic to our party! 

Food Labels Here!

Check out all my Dr. Seuss Pins Here!

"The Sneetches"

I used the book "The Sneetches" to teach my students about the importance of not judging people by what's on the outside, but what's on the inside. We read "The Sneetches" and then wrote about what makes us special. This tied in perfectly with our recent lessons on adjectives.

T-shirt and Writing Pages

Students practiced writing adjectives about themselves. They could have wrote a few sentences, but I just had them brainstorm a list of ideas. Here is a huge list of adjectives that I used to help my students brainstorm.

Here!

Students then chose 10 words to add to their shirt. I gave half of my students shirts with a star and half without. The lesson being, "Star OR No Star, We Like Us the Way We Are". Here is my example:

I decided it was about time I changed my bulletin board. Parent/Teacher conferences are coming up and I want to share these with parents. It gives them a good idea how their kids feel about themselves. 

Check out the letters I created for my bulletin board Here!

When I was doing this lesson, I loved what one of my students said. I asked a student to use a word to describe herself and she said, "kind". A student called out and said, "she's also very smart!". I told him that was a great describing word, but I asked him why he thought she was smart (I had a feeling, I knew why he said that). He said, "She's smart because she wears glasses!". Making sure not to embarrass him, I told him that is exactly what we are trying to learn today. Just because a person wears glasses, it does not make them smart. The outside does not tell us what is always on the inside. One of those "teaching moments" that you don't always get, but love when you do. 

"Oh The Places You'll Go!"

What a great story by Dr. Seuss. This is a great way to teach children that they can do, be, or meet anything or anyone they want! It is a great way to practice writing about some of their dreams and goals. I got a freebie from TPT and added some primary lines. You can get the freebie Here! I've included my sample that I created.