1-2-3 Come Make A Flip Hat With Me.

I got the idea to make hat flip books from Mrs. Zrihen over at A Teachers Treasure. She teaches 6-8 grade reading and made one for figurative language.   Click on the link to check out her creative blog.

My wheels were of course turning, of what I could do for lower elementary,  so I whipped together this one on coins.

The Cent-sational Seuss  hat is a quick and easy little activity for your Seuss unit that will help review coins in a fun way.

Students cut their cover into flaps and glue it to the edge of their hat, so that when they flip a stripe over, it reveals the appropriate coin that they've glued and how much it's worth.

Completed projects make a great spring bulletin board.  Click on the link to view/download the Cent-sational Seuss hat. 

Thanks for visiting today.  Feel free to PIN away.  

For another fun Seuss hat activity (this one on patterning) scroll down. 

"If you follow the crowd, you might get lost in it." -Unknown

1-2-3 Come Pattern With Me!

Whenever I covered patterns, I usually passed out several colored manipulatives like Unifix cubes or patterning blocks, so that my students could complete the patterns and show me one of their own and then name it, such as ABAB, ABCABC, ABBA etc.

I wanted to think of something different to do, as a math center, for Dr. Seuss Week, so I frogged around with a variety of things a child could create with the stripes on a Cat in the Hat hat.

The result is the 10-page packet: Dr. Seuss Hat Patterning

I think your students will enjoy these hands-on activities and game.  

They are an easy and fun way to whole-group assess patterning. 
Make a class set of the white-hat template, and cut a variety of colored construction paper strips.

Children choose 2 colors.  Teacher calls out a pattern and students arrange their stripes to show it.  You can see at a glance who needs help. 

If you don't want to save the game for next year, when you have completed your assessment, have students glue their stripes to their hat showing their favorite pattern. 

There are also several art "craftivities" as well, including my Y5's favorite, which was designing their own Seuss hat.

For little ones, use the pattern that has stripes on it, so that they can simply color it differently than the real cat's hat.

For some great fine motor practice, instead of coloring their hat, have children rip and tear a colored strip of construction paper and then glue the pieces to their hat.  Reinforce an ABAB pattern by having them choose only one color. 

Use the blank template for older students and encourage them to design a hat with something other than stripes.  Click on the link to view/download the Dr. Seuss Hat Patterning Packet.

Thanks for visiting.  Feel free to PIN away.   Do you have a Dr. Seuss activity you could share with us? I'd enjoy hearing from you: diane@teachwithme.com  or post a comment here.

"Fill your house with books, in all of the crannies and all of the nooks!" -Dr. Seuss

1-2-3 Come Study 2D and 3D Shapes With Me!

Reading Across America Starts the 24th and runs through March 2nd this year, and of course March is Reading Month will be in full swing as well.  Are you hopping on board? 

I always planned a huge Seuss Theme for that week.  My Y5's really enjoyed all the goofy things we did.

It was difficult to find Seuss lessons that met my Standards, so I simply dreamed them up, using easily recognizable Seuss characters for the clip art.

A classroom favorite was of course Cat in the Hat.  I even dressed up as the cat to launch that special day. 

Since one of the more iconic pictures of the cat is him juggling, I thought it would be fun to create 2 shape books where the cat juggles 2D shapes in one, and then 3D shapes in the other.

I've included the hexagon, pentagon and octagon, in the 2D booklet, as I've had so many requests to add these shapes.

The Cat Juggles 2D Shapes also nails several more standards than just the recognition of shapes.  Students circle the capital letters and add end punctuation.  Remind them of spacing, and that they are reading from left to right and top down, and you've covered 2 more Standards.

Children also trace and write the shape word, as well as trace and write the shape. Click on the link to view/download The Cat Juggles 2D Shapes.

The Cat Juggles 3D shapes, relies on a similar format, so students feel empowered, as once they've done the 2D booklet, the 3D booklet needs little explanation before they can get down to business.  This empowerment will build their self-esteem as they know what they are doing and can set to work.

I take this booklet a step farther, in that students cut and glue the 3D shaped object, to the matching numbered box in their booklet.  I also challenge students to think up another 3D shape and write it down. 

The last page in the book, as with the first booklet, has students drawing the objects that the cat is juggling. Click on the link to view/download The Cat Juggles 3D Shapes.

If you're looking for more Seuss Activities, click on the link to pop on over to that section of my site, and be sure to stop in tomorrow for a new Seuss FREEBIE!

Thanks for visiting today.  Feel free to PIN anything that you think others might find helpful. 

Do you have a Seuss activity you could share with us? I'd enjoy hearing from you: diane@teachwitheme.com or leave a comment here.

"Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind, don't matter, and those who matter. don't mind." -Dr. Seuss