1-2-3 Come Write With Horton and Me!

Are you looking for a writing prompt for your Dr. Seuss activities?  Do you need a quick and easy Seuss bulletin board for March is Reading Month?  Well, you've stopped at the right blog.

I think your students will enjoy making a Horton Hears  "craftivity." Simply run off the templates on gray construction paper.

Children cut out the pieces, and glue their "ear flap" on Horton, so that it flips open.  Students complete the thought: Horton hears a Who how about you? and think of something that they hear and describe it. 

Challenge older students to use rhyme in their writing like Seuss does.  Remind them that made up words are OK as well.  After children have completed their writing, they draw a picture of what/who they heard, under the ear flap.

For that finishing touch, add the child's school photo to the front of the ear.

Mount on a green-backed bulletin board; sprinkle some jungle leaves around the edges to act as a border. Your caption can be the same as the one on Horton's ear, or Stampede To Read.   Click on the link to view/download the Horton Hears writing prompt craftivity.

Looking for more Dr. Seuss activities? Scroll down for other articles, or click on the link to zip to that part of my site for over 40 Seuss FREEBIES, and if you count all of the activities within the packets, there are over 100 Seuss ideas to help you have a wonderful Seuss Day/Week!

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"The more that you read, the more things you will know.  The more that you know, the more places you'll go." -Dr. Seuss

1-2-3 Come Make A Horton and Who With Me!

I always try to design some sort of "craftivity" to go with my lessons.  This helps motivate students to get down to business and stay on task, so that they can transition to the fun center.

I especially love making a manipulative that students can use while I read the story, or to show me that they understand spatial directions.

I've also found that some quiet students really come out of their shell. when they are behind a mask, or talking for a puppet, so I designed a double puppet with this Peek A Boo activity. 

How To Make Horton:  Run off the elephant on gray construction paper. Because of copyright laws I did not draw the “real” Horton.   Students color the tusks white and then cut their elephant out. Add wiggle eyes with glue dots for extra pizzazz.

The toilet paper trunk is simply covered with matching paper. Cut 2 slits so that you shove it between the elephant's tusks.  Students cut out their clover “flower” curl the end of a green pipe cleaner and tape it to the back of the clover.

I fastened a mini white pom pom for the “dust speck” but you could also use a little piece of cotton ball.  Stick the clover to Horton's trunk with a glue dot, or piece of rolled Scotch tape. The little poem on the clover says: Peek-a-me, Peek-a-you-Peek a Who from Whoville too!

Making a Who Popsicle stick Pop Up Puppet:  Tape or glue-dot 2 Popsicle sticks end to end.

I got the picture of the Who from Coloring pages ABC.  They have a variety of licensed characters that you can use to make worksheets to match your themes.

Because of copyrights, I did not make a page of Whos. You can click on the link and check out the Whoville characters you want, and then just copy and paste them into a word document so you can make them smaller.

Run off a master set, rough cut, and let students have a choice of  a Who.  They could also design their own.

Children color their who, trim and glue to the end of the Popsicle stick. I chose this girl from Whoville, because she had a feather on her head, so I added a feather for that finishing touch.

Children manipulate their puppets to show all sorts of spatial directions: “Poke your Who up, down, out, in" etc. "The Who is between the elephant’s eyes."

Students can also manipulate Horton and place him above their head, behind their back, in their left hand, in their right hand etc.  If you don't want to fuss with the toilet paper roll puppet, you can use Horton for all sorts of writing prompts. 

I've included 22 writing prompt  "trunk" templates. Students' completed projects make an adorable Seuss bulletin board, for March is Reading Month.

Click on the link to view/download The Horton Writing Prompt Puppet.  

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"Think left and think right and think low and think high.  Oh the thinks you can think up if only you try!"  -Dr. Seuss

1-2-3 Come Count and Flip Stripes With Me!

This Seuss flip hat is a bit more complicated than the money “cent-stional” one that I designed earlier, but it is still a pretty easy project that nails a lot of Standards in a fun way. Common Core State Standards: K.CC.4a, K.CC.4b, K.CC.4c, K.OA.1,K.OA.5, K.CC.6, 1.MD.3

How To Make A Hat:Run off the templates. I’ve made a teacher answer key with the time-consuming parts done, to expedite making a sample to show your students.  Because of the cutting. gluing, and assembling, this is a terrific fine motor skill activity.

You can have students either color every other stripe on the front cover flip portion of the hat, in an ABAB pattern, or you can run off the cover template on red construction paper.

Cut the stripes so that one child gets the odd numbers to glue to his white cover, and another child gets the even numbers.

By gluing the stripe to the matching number, you are reinforcing sequencing, one-to-one correspondence, as well as odd or even numbers, plus skip counting by 2’s for the even numbers.

Before assembling, have students fill in the inside of the hat.  If you have them use a yellow and green highlighter, you can revisit the science fact that apples come in red, yellow and green.  You can also have them color their apples in an ABC color pattern when they get to that portion of the hat.

I used apples for the group/set of things, because it’s a school theme, easily recognizable by students, and is a terrific transition activity, if you read Seuss’s 10 Apples Up On Top to your kiddos.

There is plenty of room to have your students write the numbers in as well.  I did this AFTER the tally marks, so that the first column of numbers stays separate from the writing of the numbers, so that the first number does not look like an 11, the next a 22 and so on.

Children draw hands on the clock to the hour.   Remind them that the hour hand is shorter than the minute hand.

Making A Hat: Students cut and glue the correct matching dice to the appropriate column.

I purposely used part of the fact family of 5.  Counting the dots on the dice and adding them together to = their number, will reinforce yet another Standard.

Students trim their front and back covers, and cut out their hat.  I found that it was easier, to fold the edge of the front and back covers and then glue them to the front and back parts of the hat, before cutting the stripes.

This way everything wasn’t flapping all over the place, with the risk of getting torn or completely ripped off.  This will also help prevent children from cutting their strips entirely off, if they don’t stop at the dashed line.

My Y5’s often did that because they were simply on a roll and kept cutting.  Once students complete their hats, there are all sorts of things you can do with them.

How Can I Use The Hats?  They are great for whole group assessing. Call out a number and have students flip to it.

Have them flip all of their even or odd numbers over. As they flip the even numbers, have them count by 2’s. Call out a number and have them flip over all of the numbers that are greater or less than that number.

Call out a time and have them flip to that. Do quick story problems by saying: “Flip to 2:00 o’clock. If 3 hours go by, flip to what time it will be.”  Call out 2 numbers, have them flip them and then add or subtract them.

Students can choose a partner and take turns rolling first one dice ‘til they have flipped numbers 1-6 and then add the 2^nd dice to roll and flip numbers 7-10.  The first one to flip over all of their flaps, or the one who has the most flipped stripes, by the time the timer rings, is the winner.

If you happen to think of more ways to use this number hat, I’d enjoy hearing from you. diane@teachwithme.com, or post a comment here if you like.   Click on the link to view/download the I've Got Your Number Dr. Seuss Hat.

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“The most precious jewels your arms will ever have around your neck, will be the arms of a child.” -Unknown

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. 

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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 Eat Green Eggs and Ham With Me!

Get your kiddo's "obseussed" with Dr. Seuss by reading a variety of stories besides Cat in the Hat.  Green Eggs and Ham, is sure to be a favorite.

I always tried to design activities to go with favorite stories, so that after story time, my Y5's could transition to some sort of activity that would reinforce Standards.

With that in mind, I decided to make several activity packets with a Green Eggs and Ham theme, so that you would have a variety of fun things to choose from.

The Green Eggs and Ham packet is a walloping 65-pages long and covers all sorts of reading and math Common Core State Standards:L.K.2a, L.K.2b, RF.K.2a, RF.K.1d, L.K.1a, L.1.1a, K.CC.1, K.CC.3, K.CC.2, K.OA.5, K.CC.6, 1.NBT.1
There's a little bit of everything for a Seuss-filled day.

My personal favorite, is the 3D writing prompt craftivity pictured.  Students' completed projects make a dynamic bulletin board for March is Reading Month.

Children choose either the writing prompt where they LIKE green eggs and ham, or the one where they do NOT like them, and then complete the sentences.

They also illustrate 1/2 a paper plate with 2 things that they like, as well as a combo that is disgusting and that they wouldn't want to eat.

By folding up the edge of the plate, and inserting it through a slit in a sheet of brightly colored construction paper, the plate will appear like a ledge, once it is stapled in place.

The traced hand of the child, is holding up the plate, just like the iconic illustration in Dr. Seuss's Green Eggs and Ham book.  Add a photograph of the student for that finishing touch.  Click on the link to view/download the Green Eggs and Ham Activities Packet.

To round out your day, play 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.   Click on the link to view/download the Green Eggs and Ham Telling Time packet. 

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 really little kiddo's can also easily play the game. 

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.

Finally, we can't leave shapes out. Where Have My Green Eggs Gone? Is an easy reader 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.

If you'd like to see a few more activities you can do with Green Eggs and Ham, simply scroll down for more Dr. Seuss FREEBIES.

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"Never grow a wishbone, where a backbone ought to be." -Unknown

1-2-3 Sport A Mustache With Me!

Anyone know why a mustache is so popular right now?  I see them everywhere, in all sorts of novelty, craft and stationery stores.

Well, because they are the "it" thing right now, I decided to whip up a big-yellow fluffy-Lorax one!

Making a mustache/moustache to launch a writing prompt, is an interesting and "Suessical" way of doing things. I think your students will enjoy it.

Make a sample, cover your nose, and ask your students in a deep voice: "I mustache you, would you save a Truffula tree?"  Thus begins the fun writing prompt "craftivity."

For an adorable bulletin board, take everyone's photograph wearing their mustache and put it next to their writing. 

Your bulletin board title could be the same question you asked: "We mustache you, would you save a truffula tree?" 

Flank the board on either side, with 2 colorful truffula trees.

Make them out of strips of neon-colored tissue paper, and rolled up green bulletin board paper for the trunk. Stripe it with brightly colored border.

Or you could really make them sturdy with PVC pipe.  Mrs. Lodge, a very creative librarian, did just that.  I LOVE her Truffula trees! Click on the link for directions.

As a surprise, while you're "truffulling" why not whip together some Truffula pencils.  I think students would think it rather cool, to write about saving a Truffula tree, with a Truffula pencil! These were made by Jin Yong. Click on the link to get directions over at the inspiring Under The Cherry Tree Blog.

Click on the link to view/download the Lorax Mustache writing prompt craftivity.

Thanks for visiting today.  Feel free to PIN anything you think others may find helpful.Do you have a Seuss idea you could share with us?  I'd enjoy hearing from you: diane@teachwithme.com or post a comment here.

"You have brains in your head.  You have feet in your shoes.  You can steer yourself any direction you choose!" -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.

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

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 Tell Time With Me!

The Cat in the Hat Telling Time Game is a fun additon for your Seuss-themed activities.

Students make their analog Cat in the Hat clock and add digital time stripes to their hat by rolling dice.

They trace the stripe, place it on their hat and then manipulate the paperclip hands to show the analog time.

The first one with a completed hat, or the one with the most stripes when the timer rings, is the winner.

Teachers should make a sample for demonstration and then use it as an anchor chart for the month of March.

Click on the link to view/download The Cat In The Hat Telling Time Game.

These Seuss bookmarks would make a nice "prize" for the winners, or use them as a sweet surprise, and leave them on your students desks.

Click on the link to view/download the Dr. Seuss Bookmarks.

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

"Sometimes the questions are complicated and the answers are simple." -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