1-2-3 Come Do A Seuss Craft With Me

It's "March is Reading Month" and Seuss is on the loose!

"You may have heard of Thing 1 and Thng 2.  They are a bit silly and a pretty bright blue.

I wonder though, if you've heard of Thing Three.  I doubt that you have because that would be me!"

And so begins the introductory poem that I wrote for a super-fun, Seuss inspired, writing prompt craft that I feel confident your students will really enjoy!

An added bonus is that completed Thing 3 projects make an amazing bulletin board.
I’ve included 2 posters for the center of your display.

This is easy-easy “print & go” prep for you, with a lot of bang for your time.

The packet is very versatile so that you can easily diversify your lessons.

Pre K kiddos can make their “Thing 3” and leave it at that, or dictate their answer to one of the writing prompts.  

Students can color my Thing 3 pattern, or use the blank-face pattern and draw their own. 

I made matching turquoise hair for my example, but for more variety, give children a choice of rainbow bright or neon colors, which make for an especially vibrant display.

You don’t have to, but to make it even more of a keepsake, have students trace one of their hands on a folded sheet of complimentary-colored construction paper, then cut once to make two hands.

Glue them to the sides of the back of Thing 3’s “belly” circle. Bend them a bit forward for some 3D pop.

For beginning or advanced writers, there are 11 writing prompt pages.
Pick your favorite or give children a choice. 

Another option is to make a “Things Journal”, doing all of the writing prompts.

Students can create their booklet on one day, then each day afterwards, complete a writing prompt page. 

Time constraint? Making & assembling the booklet can be done as a homework assignment, then returned to complete the writing in class.

Finished booklets make a nice keepsake and your “Writing Block” is taken care of for several weeks! Woo hoo.

I’ve found that when students get to share things about themselves, they are excited to get right down to the business of writing.

These interesting prompts not only do that, but they are also thought provoking.
I’ve actually had students who have no clue what they’d like to be, or places they’d like to go. They simply have never really thought about it.
When I tell them “The sky’s the limit” imaginations take flight.

How much you want students to write is up to you; share one “thing” or as many as three per prompt, leaving enough room on the bottom to illustrate one of their thoughts.

I chose 3 examples to go along with the "Thing 3" theme.
Be prepared for some enthusiastic writers to ask if they can list even more “things”!

As a fun way to get to know their classmates better, have a time of sharing when everyone has completed that prompt for the day.

Another booklet option reviews the 5 senses.
You can do this “instead of” the writing prompt pages or in "addition to"; creating a journal that will now last 3 weeks!

Using your five senses to describe things you like seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, and touching, makes for some wonderful descriptive writing too. Remind students to use plenty of adjectives.

As with some of the writing prompts, I’ve included my completed "5 senses" example pages, so that you can quickly & easily make a sample to share.

The student pages include a graphic for each of the 5 senses that they color.  Have them illustrate one of their thoughts on the bottom as well.

Today's featured FREEBIE also has a Seuss theme.  I designed this word work packet to go along with his book Green Eggs and Ham.

Did you know that Dr. Seuss wrote Green Eggs and Ham on a bet that he couldn’t write a book with fifty or fewer distinct words? 

After doing some checking, I discovered that the bet was made in 1960 with Bennett Cerf, the co-founder of Random House, and was for $50.  Ironically, even though Seuss wrote Green Eggs and Ham using EXACTLY 50 words, it's been reported that Cerf never paid up.

Green Eggs and Ham ranks in the top 3 best-selling Seuss books, so it's definitely worth reading.  I painstakingly found all 50 words in my copy, then alphabetized them in a handy list, as well as on an anchor chart poster. All but 8 of these words, appear on the Dolch word lists (6 of the 8 are nouns; the other six nouns in the story ARE on the Dolch noun word list!)  

Use the 50 word cards to play a variety of games like "Speed", Memory Match and "I Have; Who Has?". Students could also pick a partner, and play "Speed" against them, to see who can arrange their set of cards in alphabetical order first. The packet also includes a 2-page tip list of ideas, like Kaboom!

For writing practice, print, laminate and trim the cards.  Toss them into a Seuss hat and have students choose 2-3 and incorporate those words in sentences.  Remind them to use proper spacing, capitalization and end punctuation. 

So that children can practice long and short vowels, I've included two green eggs vowel sorting mats.

For some rhyming practice, run off the two "trace, write and alphabetize" worksheets, which use words that rhyme with Sam and green.  All of these activities are perfect for your Daily 5 word work block. 

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

March has roared in like a lion here in Michigan, so it's time for a cup of hot chamomile tea and a little reading by the fire. 

Wishing you a carefree, lamb kind of day.

"Sunshine is delicious, rain is refreshing, wind braces us up, snow is exhilarating; there is really no such thing as bad weather, only different kinds of good weather, mixed with a positive attitude." -Unknown

Launch March Is Reading Month by setting up a quick and easy TV tray - table center.

I picked up my wooden TV tray tables at a garage sale for only $3.00.

They are perfect to set up a small center for students to stamp at or pick up supplies to do a quick project and are great space savers because they take up very little room, and fold up nicely for storage.

These Dr. Seuss “Thing 3” Banner-Bookmarks are sure to become a cute keepsake. You can either print off color copies or use the black and white template and have students color their own.

Make up your own sample ahead of time, to show children the appropriate colors.

Cut students’ school pictures into ovals and lay them out on the TV tray along with pre-cut construction paper, a glue stick, a hole punch, and 18 inch strips of red, white or blue 1/8^th wide ribbon.  You can also use yarn.

Students can hang them on their doorknob or use them as a bookmark.

If you’re putting up a March is Reading Month bulletin board, these make an adorable boarder, or scatter them kitty whompus on a black background with the caption: Reading’s The Thing In ________________’s Room.  Come Read Along With Us!

Click on the link to view/download Dr. Seuss Thing 3 Banner-Bookmark