1-2-3 Come Do Some Dr. Seuss Activities With Me

Do you read “Oh, the Places You’ll Go!”  by Dr. Seuss? It’s one of my all-time favorite Seuss stories.

“Oh the Places You’ll Go” is not only perfect for March is Reading Month, Read Across America, or a Celebration of Seuss Week. but the story is also appropriate at the end of the year, when students are advancing into a new grade or graduating!

With that in mind, I decided to combine reading and writing with a bit of geography, with this super-fun “Oh, the Places I’LL Go!” craftivity.

Children think of a place they’d like to travel to. Money is no object, so the world is literally at their feet.

Older students can do a bit of research to find out about a fascinating place they’d like to travel to. (Thus the geography connection, as well as great research & technology practice!)

The cover of this “flip-the-flap” hat, comes with the question words: Who? What? Why? When? Where & How? written on the stripes, which when flipped over, reveal the student’s answers.

For example, “Where would you like to travel to?”, "When would you like to go?", "Why do you want to go there?", "Who do you want to go with?", "What do you want to see?" and "How do you want to get there?"

The craftivity provides an interesting way to practice & reinforce the “5 Ws + 1 H” question words in a fun way.

I’ve included a poster, with the entire questions that you can use to introduce your lesson.

As always, patterns come in both black & white for students, as well as color, so that teachers can quickly & easily make an example to share.

There are also blank patterns, so that older students can write in their own words and title.

Completed projects make a terrific bulletin board or hallway display.

I’ve included a variety of posters that you can sprinkle among your students creations.

I rewrote a few of the story's most popular quotations in first person to match the "Oh,the Places I'LL Go!" writing prompt title, and put them inside speech bubbles, as if your students are saying them.

Besides the quote posters, there are two others featuring students reading their way to wonderful places.

I had a lot of fun designing background papers using the color scheme from the cover of the "Oh, the Places You'll Go!" book.

I thought maybe teachers would like to use them for their own personal creations, so I've included those as well.

I also designed a set of letters which spell out the caption: “Oh, the Places We’ll Go!” to add some extra pizzazz.

Simply print, laminate & trim; then hang above your display. 

To add a bit of a "geography look", I created several globes, which can be substituted for the capital and lowercase letter O.

You can leave the hat “as is” or have students glue their completed craftivity to the suitcase pattern.

A luggage tag for a student’s name, adds some 3D pop, when the top portion is glued to the handle of the suitcase, then bent up.

Today's featured FREEBIE also has a Seuss theme featuring the Grinch. 

Celebrate Seuss with these two rhyming & writing, Grinch-themed "craftivities". One features two writing prompts. 

Students think of things that make them grin like the Grinch,  jotting these down on the left side.  On the right side, they list things that make them "grinchly and grumpy".  

The other craft is a "doorknobber".  On the front, students glue their photo face over the Grinch's, after they color it.  On the back, they list all of the words that they can think of that rhyme with whatever word you assign.  I chose Grinch and Seuss. 

Samples of both are included, so you can easily show examples to your students to help explain what you want them to do.

 Well that's it for today. Thanks for stopping by.

The sun is shining, which makes the cold and windy weather almost bearable. 

Wishing you a wonderful week.

"When everything seems to be going against you, remember that the airplane takes off against the wind, not with it." - Henry Ford

1-2-3 Come Do A Doctor Seuss Activity With Me

Right along with “March is Reading Month” our school celebrates Dr. Seuss.

By mixing reading with math, I get more bang for my time, so I thought I’d design an activity using Seuss’s book, “One Fish Two Fish”.

So that you can easily diversify your lessons, I’ve included two booklets in the packet.

The first one is an emergent reader, which is packed with over 40 Dolch sight words.

For your convenience, I’ve included a full color version, so teachers can quickly & easily make an example to share, as well as a black & white option for your students to color.

Using Seuss’s story for inspiration, I’ve included some of his rhyming words, so there are "bad & glad" fish, along with fish that are fat, with one wearing a yellow hat; as well as one with a star and another driving a car.

The last page is also very “Seuss-ical” as well: "From 1 to 10, from 10 to 1, counting is a lot of fun! From there to here, from here to there, you can count things everywhere!"

Except for numbers 9 and 10, there are two numbers featured on a "fish bowl" page, which is a nice time saver that conserves paper.

The other option, is a simple “trace & write” counting booklet, which practices numbers, plus number and color words.

Pressed for time? Assign the cutting and assembly of the booklet as homework, which is then returned so that students can complete one or pages each day, during your reading or math block.

When everyone is done, read the booklet as a whole group, or have children partner up and take turns sharing each page. 

Going along with the "One Fish TWO Fish" theme, there are TWO featured FREEBIES today!

The first one is a Seuss-themed reading log, which will help encourage students to read more during the month of March. 

FREEBIE number two is a 34-page "Cat in the Hat" themed packet. 

Review all sorts of standards with this quick, easy and fun Seuss-themed Cat in the Hat game. 

Print, laminate and trim the "food" cards.  These are mini cards that include upper and lowercase letters, numbers from 0-120,  number word cards, color words, 2D & 3D shape cards, 35 contraction cards, & 20 at family cards.

There's also a set of math symbols as well, so you can use the number cards for other math activities, like making up equations & solving them, plus showing greater and less than. 

Students can also sort the number cards into odd and even piles and sequence them. Play Memory Match or "I Have; Who Has?" games with the number word cards and their matching number cards.  These games also work for the shape and color word cards.

Well that's it for today.  Thanks for stopping by.

It's currently snowing here in Michigan, and while the frosted trees are quite lovely, I'm so very sick of winter and looking forward to some sunny spring days.

Wishing you a fun-filled "Seuss-ical" kind of week, as you enjoy reading from "here to there and everywhere!"

 “Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not.” -Dr. Seuss (The Lorax)

 1-2-3 Come Do Another Cat in the Hat Activity With Me

Just when I thought I was done designing Seuss "stuff" 'til next year, I'm back at it.  (Part of my "obseuss-ion" with this author?) Actually, it's all Paula's fault. (I say this with a big smile on my face, as I LOVE helping others.)

She's from Florida and asked if I had any March-themed activities to help practice alphabetizing.  She's working on that with her kinders, who are quite bored with the standard.

Since they were already "not interested", I certainly didn't want to make another "same-old" worksheet. 

What could I design that would be a hands-on kind of game that they'd find interesting?

One thing led to another and the result was The Cat in the Classmate Hat packet.

Paula LOVED it! I hope you can use it too. There are two main alphabetizing activities.

The large cat hat can be used as a game, independent center or whole group activity.

Print the stripe template off on red and white construction paper, so that you have enough stripes for however many students you have.  Laminate the paper and then trim.  

Make an alphabetical list of your students' names, so that when you pass out a strip to each child it will be the appropriate color. 

Then later, when you arrange their names in alphabetical order, they will show the correct ABAB color pattern like Seuss's hat. 

Children write their name on the strip.  For extra pizzazz, have them glue their photo next to their name.  Collect the strips and keep them in a Ziplock Baggie.

To play as a whole group game, or independent center, children arrange their classmates' names in alphabetical order on a brim of their choice:  "1-2-3 Come ABC with me!" , "__________'s students really stack up!", "Hats off to wonderful word work! We know how to alphabetize.", and "The alphabet begins with ABC. Numbers begin with 1-2-3. Music begins with do-re-mi and friendship begins with you and me."

You can demonstrate  what you want children to do, by first playing this as a whole group activity, explaining rules for alphabetizing along the way. 

I've included a recording sheet if your students choose to take the "Speed" challenge, to see who can assemble the hat in correct alphabetical order the quickest.

Make an extra set to hang up as a bulletin board or hallway wall display. There are 9 "brim" options for you to choose from. 

The packet also includes a mini cat hat activity for your students, along with a worksheet to help them alphabetize their classmates' names.

They can choose to put their hat on a cat template, a photo of themselves, or pick a head pattern and draw a face on it.

There are 9 faceless head templates they can pick from. Children color, trim and glue their hat on top.  

These completed projects also make an adorable bulletin board.  Click on the link for the Cat in the Classmate Hat packet. 

Thanks for visiting.  As usual, my day is flying by me. I have got to put my adult hat on, and get to the grocery store, so I can wear my chef hat and dream something up for dinner. 

It's dreary and cold, and I'd much rather snuggle in and play.... Wishing you a wonderful week.

 "Today was good; today was fun; tomorrow is another one!" -Dr. Seuss

1-2-3 Come Do Some Green Eggs and Ham Activities With Me

I think one of the reasons that Seuss is so popular with children, is that he captures the reader's attention with outlandish characters, tongue-twisting alliteration, and nonsense words that complete the sing-song rhyme, a poetic beat that has become synonomous with Seuss. 

Ironically, as a child I didn't really care that much for him.  Possibly, because teachers across the world were not as enamored with this author, as they are now.  Back then, it was all about Dick and Jane and "See Spot run."

It wasn't 'til I started teaching that I too hopped on board the Seuss bandwagon.  You might go as far as to say I became quite "obseussed" wth Seuss and all things silly.

My "obseussion" is reflected in the over 50 Seuss-themed FREEBIES that are available on TeachWithMe, especially for Seuss's iconic Cat in the Hat. 

No matter what grade I taught, the cat was always the chosen favorite on our "Who's Your Favorite Seuss Character?" graph.  I thought this was perhaps, because we had done a lot of Cat in the Hat-themed activities. 

With that in mind, I wanted to expand my students' horizons, and read a different Seuss book each day, followed up by some interesting and fun activities that they could transition to. 

Green Eggs and Ham quickly became "the" favorite, 'til of course I introduced them to the Lorax... Today's blog article features some of my most popular Green Eggs and Ham downloads.

The Green Eggs and Ham packet is a whopping 65-pages long, and covers all sorts of reading, writing and math Common Core State Standards. The packet includes green eggs and ham-themed alphabet cards, as well as number cards from 0 to 120. 

My personal favorite part of the packet, is the 3D writing prompt craftivity pictured.  Completed projects make an interesting bulletin board for March is Reading Month.  Students write whether they like green eggs and ham or not; the half paper plate features 2 things that they like to eat, as well as a combo they think is disgusting.

By folding up the edge of the plate, and inserting it through a slit in a sheet of brightly colored construction paper, it looks like a ledge.  The traced hand of the child, is holding up the plate, just like the illustration in Dr. Seuss's Green Eggs and Ham book.  

The packet also includes a "Would You Eat Green Eggs?" graph.  Each year I find that I'm in the minority, as most of my Y5s are quite adventurous and would eat Sam's green eggs. 

My students also enjoy picking a partner and filling in a Venn diagram, comparing the book Green Eggs and Ham, with the Cat in the Hat story.  There hasn't been a run-away winner here.

Since the other grammar card downloads have been so popular, I included 12 green eggs and ham-themed pocket chart cards in the packet as well.  

Using a dry erase marker, students correct the sentences by adding capital letters and end punctuation. 

Click on the link to view/download the Green Eggs and Ham Activities Packet.

Toss in some math standards, by playing the It's Time For Green Eggs and Ham spinner game.  Students can choose to play with clocks to the hour, or time to the half hour.   Whatever time they spin, they color in the green eggs under that clock.

Review colors and color words in a fun way, with the Green Eggs and Ham Color packet. Children spin the colored egg spinner.  Whatever color they land on, they color the matching color word egg that color.  There's also a recording sheet with no words, so  young children can easily play the game too.

I've also included colored eggs with matching, traceable-color word cards. 

These are great for more games or to make an Itty Bitty booklet.  Click on the link to view/download the Green Eggs and Ham Color Packet.

Another egg activity that I think your students will enjoy is an egg color matching game.

Students can match either the colored egg yolk to the color word, in a face up fashion, or flip the cards over and match a colored egg with a word color egg, for a Memory Match game.

If you have plastic eggs, have students twist them apart and match the colors and color words that way. 

Students can also play "I Have; Who Has?"  i.e. "I have the color word egg yellow.  Who has the yellow egg?"  Click on the link to view/download the Egg Colors Packet. 

I wanted to make another activity to help students learn and practice contractions. A cracked egg shape was the perfect vehicle to show the contraction on the top, and the words that make it up, on the bottom.

Run the template off on a variety of shades of green to use with Seuss's Green Eggs and Ham, or use pastel colors for springtime. Keep the laminated eggs in a basket. 

There's also a blank set of eggs to program with upper and lowercase letters, word wall words, spelling words, equations or whatever.  Click on the link to view/download the Egg Contraction Packet.

Finally, since continued reinforcement of standards is important, I like to review shapes throughout the year.  Where Have My Green Eggs Gone?  Is an emergent reader about a shape mystery.

Students read the sentences, circle the capital letters and add end punctuation. 

They also trace the shape word, write it, trace and draw the shape and then color the shaped egg yolk green.

This booklet reviews the circle, oval, triangle, rectangle, square, hexagon, pentagon and octagon shapes. Click on the link to view/download the Green Eggs Shape Booklet.

Well that's it for today.  Thanks for visiting.  My tummy's reminding me that it's time to get some breakfast.  "I'm Diane I am, and I won't be eating green eggs and ham."  Wishing you a delightful day.

"If things start happening, don't worry, don't stew, just go right along and you'll start happening too." -Dr. Seuss

1-2-3 Come Write With Me! Waddle You Write About?

I love using a poster as a segue for a writing assignment.  Dr. Seuss's "Lucky Duckie" quotation is a great vehicle for that. 

It's from his book Did I Ever Tell You How Lucky You Are?  which is a wonderful story for discussing the theme of contentment, and being happy with who you are.

"Thank goodness for all of the things you are not! Thank goodness you're not something someone forgot...That's why I say, "Duckie! Don't grumble! Don't stew!  Some critters are much-much, oh, ever so much-much, so muchly much-much more unlucky than you!"

Print off the poster and share it with your students. In a discussion before hand, brainstorm why a person is lucky.  What things do they have, that others who don’t live in America, or who are poor, don’t have etc.

Print off the cover for the class book + the writing prompt page for each of your students. 

Remind them of beginning capitalization, end punctuation and spaces between their words and you have covered 3 common core standards.

Students trace the beginning prompt and then complete the sentences: "I think I'm a lucky ducky because..." and "I'm glad I don't..."

Collect and collate the pages and share the completed book with your class, by having each student read their page when you come to it.   If you don't want to make a class book, you can use the duck template and make an adorable spring bulletin board for March is Reading Month.

Here's How: Run off the ducks on yellow construction paper.  
Students cut them out and then write why they feel they are lucky.  

For more pizzazz, add a wiggle eye. student photo, feather, and a 3 dimensional beak. Mount the ducklings on a blue background bulletin board, so that the ducks look like they are swimming in a pond.  Add clouds to the sky.

Glue the poster to a sheet of pastel construction paper and put it in the middle of the board. Add some toilet paper roll “cat tails” for a 3D effect + some pastel polka dot or striped bulletin board boarder for that finishing touch.

Click on the link to view/download Dr. Seuss Lucky Ducky Packet.

Thanks for visiting today.  Feel free to PIN away.  

"Today you are you; that is truer than true, there is no one else that is youer than you." -Dr. Seuss