Dr. SeussLiterature Focus Unit

EDU 315Kyla Teske

Literature Selection• If I Ran The Zoo by Dr. Seuss• Horton Hears A Who by Dr. Seuss• The Cat in The Hat by Dr. Seuss• Yertle the Turtle by Dr. Seuss• One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish by Dr. Seuss• The Foot Book by Dr. Seuss• Who was Dr. Seuss? By Janet Pascal• Oh, The Places He Went by Maryann N. Weidt• The Cat in the Hat Songbook by Dr. Seuss• The Kings Stilts by Dr. Seuss• Your Only Old Once by Dr. Seuss• The Butter Battle Book by Dr. Seuss• Bartholomew and the Oobleck by Dr. Seuss• Hop on Pop by Dr. Seuss• Fun Facts about Turtles! by Carmen Bredeson• Look out for Turtles! By Melvin Berger• The Everything Kids’ Geography Book by Jane Gardner and Elizabeth Mills• States of Matter by Fiona Bayrock• Many Kinds of Matter: A Look at Solids, Liquids, and Gases by Jennifer Boothroyd

Theme Study

• Students will take part in a thematic unit on Dr. Seuss. This unit will integrate reading and writing with social studies, science, mathematics, art, music, and physical education.

• Students will develop an understanding of Dr. Seuss’s writing and illustrative styles and evaluate the author’s themes and characters. The students will make connections between the author’s life and their own experiences as well as those of his characters.

Language Arts Standards

• RL.10: Actively engage in group reading activities with purpose and understanding

• RI.1: Ask and answer questions to demonstrate understanding of a text, referring explicitly to the text as the basis for answers.

• W.5: With guidance and support from peers and adults, develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, and editing

• SL.1: Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions with diverse partners building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly.

Language Arts: Reading Activities

• Students will read various fiction books by Dr. Seuss as well as a few nonfiction books about the life of Dr. Seuss

• Students will read nonfiction books about states of matter and nonfiction books about turtles

• Students will read Dr. Seuss books to an older partner/younger partner

• Teacher will read aloud various biographies of Dr. Seuss• Students will read to class their group songs/poems• Students will peer review their classmates work

Language Arts: Writing Activities• Students will write their own creative story• Students will write their own autobiography• Students will write a group rap or song• Students will write down facts they have researched about

various destinations as well as turtles and their habitats• Students will draw their own Dr. Seuss character• Students will write their own Haiku poem along side the Dr. Seuss

character they have drawn• Students will write information about interview they have done

with an elder or grandparent• Students will write a report about the information gained during

their interview

Language Arts: Speaking Activities

• Students will share their group song or rap• Students will share with peers facts they have

researched about their interview as well as turtles and their habitats

• Students will share their information about their pamphlet and their chosen destination

• Students will participate in class discussions about various topics such as the science experiments, biographies, surveys, etc.

Language Arts: Listening Activities

• Students will listen to various Dr. Seuss books read by the teacher or peers, or on tape

• Students will listen as the teacher discusses various topics about states of matter, haiku poetry, turtles, various geographic destinations,

• Students will listen respectfully to their peers as they share their destination facts, turtle facts,songs, biographies, poems, etc.

• Students will listen to rhyming songs.

Language Arts: Viewing Activities

• Students will view science experiments• Students will view bar graphs from the surveys

they have taken• Students will view rhyming word wall• Students will view various pamphlets from peers• Students will view short videos on states of matter• Students will view artwork and haiku poetry done

by their peers

Language Arts: Visually Representing Activities

• Students will create their own Dr. Seuss character• Students will create a rhyming hat• Students will create a habitat for turtle• Students will create a bar graph• Students will make a Dr. Seuss rhyming word wall• Students will create a brochure with facts about

their chosen destination• Students will create a haiku poem to go with their

Dr. Seuss character

Science Activities2.3.3-Sort matter by observable properties (e.g., size, shape, texture, color)

• After reading Yurtle the Turtle, have students research about turtles, writing down facts they have found

• Have students make a turtle habitat in shoebox from materials found outside

• Watch small video on states of matter• Read nonfiction books about states of matter and have class

discussion about things in our environment and what states of matter they are

• Do a science experiment making “Oobleck” • After reading The Butter Battle, do a science experiment by

making butter• Visit the turtle races in Turtle Lake, ND.

Mathematics Activities

• Have each student measure all of their classmates in inches, then convert to feet

• Give students different colored goldfish, then graph them by color and number

• Play Hop on Pop math game (see attached)• Have students take a survey from the class on their

favorite Dr. Seuss book, then convert to percentages• Make bar graph from the results of survey• Have students help with the making of Oobleck, having

them help measure ingredients during the science experiment

2.MD.3 

Estimate lengths using units of inches, feet, centimeters, and meters.

Social Studies Activities3.6.2-Identify examples of how different groups, societies, and cultures are similar and different (e.g., in beliefs,

traditions, family relationships, celebrations, institutions, folklore)

• Read Dr. Seuss book Your Only Old Once• Have each student interview a grandparent on life events

throughout their life and write a report about it• Have students create a time line from the events from interview• Read Oh the Places You Will Go by Dr. Seuss and have students

pick a destination they would like to visit• Have students research that destination, writing down facts • Have students create a pamphlet, explaining why someone

should visit this place• Have students share with classmates the facts they have found

about geography and different cultures and compare it with the classmates destinations

Music and Art Activities4.1.5 Know how different visual art media*, techniques*, and processes* are used to

communicate ideas, experience, and stories.

• Listen to various songs that rhyme• Read the Cat in the Hat Songbook• Have student create their own song or rap• Have each student draw and create their own Dr. Seuss character

for their song with the haiku poem they have written• Have students cut out and decorate their rhyming hat• Have students share their song or rap with the class • Have students create a brochure about their chosen destination• Have students decorate their timeline with Dr. Seuss characters

Physical Education ActivitiesS4.E5.3-Recognizes the role and rules of etiquette in physical activity with peers

• Have students play a game of charades, acting out the different animals from the books

• Have students play a game of twister with rhyming words on the colored dots

• Have a human “turtle” race• Play Horton Hears a Who Game (see attached)• Have a foot race while wearing stilts (small

stilts)

Technology

• Horton Hears a Who movie on smartboard• Have students listen to books on tape• http://www.seussville.com/• http://www.catinthehat.org/history.htm

• http://studyjams.scholastic.com/studyjams/jams/science/matter/solids-liquids-gases.htm

• Using computer program for bar graph and creating pamphlet on Microsoft Word and Microsoft Powerpoint

Language Arts Strategies• Activating background knowledge: students will think about what they know from

video about states of matter• Connecting: Students will relate topics to the world by interviewing grandparents,

creating a timeline, and using a Venn-diagram• Predicting- Students will predict a measurement and compare that will what the

actual measurement is• Playing with language: students will use creative words to come up with their own

rhyming words, a rhyming hat, and a Haiku poem• Revising: students will make changes to autobiography after they are peer reviewed• Taking notes- Students will demonstrate how to take effective and useful notes

while doing interview and hearing information about turtles• Visualizing- Students will make pictures in their mind to make texts more vivid

while they create their own Dr. Seuss character and create their own creative story• Proofread- students will use a special reading procedure to identify mechanical

errors in their peers writing of their autobiography and creative story.

Grouping Patterns• Large group: class conversations, sharing projects to the whole

class, physical activity games, viewing videos, word wall, science experiments, listening to fiction and non-fiction books, listening to various songs, viewing turtle races

• Small group: peer conferencing, creating song or poem, measuring classmate, comparing pamphlets, comparing bar graph, graphing goldfish, reading to a partner or younger/older student, sharing group song,

• Individual: writing poem, creating Dr. Suess character, creating a turtle habitat, rhyming hat, interviewing a grandparent, creating a timeline, creating an autobiography, creating a brochure, creating a bar-graph, writing creative story, writing report about interview,

Assessments• Participation in various group discussions and presentations• 6 + 1 Writing trait assessment and rubric for autobiography• Informal observations of science experiments, group work• Assess Bar graph using rubric• Assess timeline and venn-diagram using a rubric• Assess the students’ pamphlet using a rubric as well as checklist• Active participation in physical education and musical performances using a checklist• Portfolio of all art work: Dr. Seuss character and Haiku poem, Dr. Seuss rhyming hat• Assess poetry using numerical score• Assess knowledge of science experiment by having students journal and write reports-

assess using checklist• Use KWL chart before hearing information about different geographic locations as well as

turtles• Create weekly spelling tests for various words on word wall• Performance-based assessments for the sharing of the students’ work such as brochures,

habitats, and songs using a rubric

Monday Tuesday Wednesday

Thursday Friday

Morning Language Arts Read Dr. Seuss Biography and explain the purpose of a biography

Start word wall

Have students write their own biography

Word wall

Have students write a creative story based on the Dr. Seuss book, If I Ran A Zoo

Word wall

Play the rhyming game, I Have, Who has with words from the book

Have Students create Rhyming hat using words from the game

Watch Movie Horton Hears A who, then create a Venn diagram showing the similarities and differences between the movie and book

Morning Art/Music Listen to various rhyming songs

Have students create their own rhyming song

Have each student draw their own Dr. Seuss character Write Haiku poem to go with character

Have Students decorate their rhyming cat in the hat hats

Have students perform their songs while wearing their hats

Morning P.E. Have a human “turtle” obstacle course

Play a game of charades acting of different animals from Dr. Seuss books

Play the game twister using the colored dots with rhyming words on them

Play Horton Hears a Who game (see attached slide)

Foot race using stilts

Afternoon Math Have students measure each student in the class in inches, then convert them into ft.

Give students different colored goldfish and have them graph them on a color and number chart

Hop on Pop Math GAme

Take a Survey from other classes on what their favorite dr suess book is, then turn them into percentages

Make a bar graph of the results from survey

Afternoon Science Have students research information on turtles, making a poster on the facts they have found

Have students make a turtle habitat inside a shoebox from materials found outside

After reading the butter battle book, do a science experiment making butter

After reading Bartholomew and the Oobleck do a science experiment and make your own oobleck, talking about the different states of matter

Talk more deeply about states of matter, finding other examples such as melting snow to water

Afternoon Social Studies Read Dr. Seuss book Your Only Old Once

Have students interview a grandparent about life events

Graph their grandparents life events on a timeline

Read Oh the Places you will go, then have students pick one place they would like to visit do research on that place

Have students pair up with other students and share the information about their places they chose

P.E. Games and Instructions• “Horton Hears A Who”

All Grades• "On the tenth of May, in the Jungle of Nool,

In the heat of the day, in the cool of the pool,He was splashing…enjoying the jungle’s great joys,When Horton the elephant heard a small noise."

Students will be divided into two teams with the first person from each team standing inside a starting hoop with a pair of chopsticks in their hand. On the signal to begin, these players must move through the “Horton” sprinkler to the pile of “Whos” in the hula-hoop. 1st and 2nd graders can use both hands with the chopsticks to pick up a Who and run back through the sprinkler to the beginning hoop. 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders may only use one hand with the chopsticks (they have to put the other hand behind their back) to pick up a Who and run back through the sprinkler to the beginning hoop. Students from all grades then place the Who in the bucket and pass the chopstick to the next person in line. Teams will continue to go until time has been called. Equipment needed: Event sign, 4 hula-hoops, 2 hoses, 1 “Y” splitter, 2 elephant sprinklers (purchased at Sam’s Club), 100 cotton balls, 4 sets of chopsticks, 2 small buckets.

Science Experiment Supplies• Ooblek Supplies:• 1 pound corn starch (one small box)• about 10 drops green food coloring• about 1 1/2 cups water

• After reading The Butter Battle Book by Dr. Seuss, shake up your own butter with a bit of science! Kids will have fun watching a liquid change into a tasty solid!

• Pour 1/4 cup of heavy whipping cream in a clean jar. (Make sure the jar is no more than halfway full, so that the cream has plenty of room.) Then shake, shake, shake! Note: 1/4 cup of cream = about 1 Tbsp of butter.

• "As you shake, you’ll notice the cream go through several fascinating stages. Feel free to open the jar and take a peek whenever you notice a new texture

Math Games• How to Make a Hop on Pop Math Game:• Tape contact paper onto a large piece of foam board. Make sure the

sticky side it facing out.• Cut out 25 paper circles and number them with a marker. I used a 2 inch

hole punch.• Draw Pop from the story on three white circles.• Place the circles in order on the sticky board. Insert the 3 Pop circles into

the line up wherever you choose.• Have each player grab a small toy or different colored Lego to use as a

marker.• The kids roll the dice and take turns moving around the board.• If they land on Pop they have to go back and start at the beginning. We

had lots of fun yelling out, “Stop! You must not hop on Pop!” whenever this happened.