Read Across America A day to celebrate and encourage reading March 2, 2012 Dr. Seuss’ s Birthday

Who is Dr. Seuss?

Theodor Seuss Geisel Born on March 2, 1904 in Springfield, Mass His mother used to chant rhymes to get her kids to sleep Attended Dartmouth College and was editor of a humor magazine, using Seuss as his pseudonym (name used for writing) Went to Oxford University, but decided to tour Europe instead Wrote 44 children’s books, translated into 15 languages o 11 television specials o A Broadway musical, “Suessical” o Several full-length movies Died in 1991

His Books: How many have you read? And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street Bartholomew and the Oobleck The Butter Battle Book The Cat in the Hat The Cat’s Quizzer The Cat in the Hat Comes Back The Cat in the Hat Songbook Did I Ever Tell You How Lucky You Are? Dr. Seuss’s ABC Dr. Seuss’s Sleep Book The Foot Book Fox in Socks Great Day for Up! Green Eggs and Ham Happy Birthday to You! Hop on Pop Horton Hatches the Egg Horton Hears a Who! How the Grinch Stole Christmas Hunches in Bunches I Am NOT Going to Get Up Today! I Can Draw It Myself I Can Lick 30 Tigers Today! And other Stories I Can Read with My Eyes Shut! I Had Trouble Getting to Solla Sollew If I Ran the Circus If I Ran the Zoo The King’s Stilts The Lorax Marvin K. Mooney, Will You Please Go Now! McElligot’s Pool Mr. Brown Can Moo! Can you? My Book about ME Oh Say Can You Say? Oh, the Thinks You Can Think! Oh, the Places You’ll Go! On Beyond Zebra! One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish Scrambled Eggs Super! The Seven Lady Godivas The Shape of Me and Other Stuff The Sneetches and Other Stories The Tough Coughs as He Ploughs the Dough There’s a Wocket in my Pocket! Thidwick the Big-Hearted Moose Yertle the Turtle and other Stories You’re Only Old Once The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins

His Books And To Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street o Was published in 1934 o Was rejected 27 times before being accepted o First published children’s book by Dr. Seuss Cat In the Hat o Was published in 1957 o Written in partnership with Houghton Mifflin and Random House o Dr. Seuss was challenged to write a book using only 236 ‘new-reader’ vocabulary (made up words) and he DID it with “The Cat in the Hat”! Horton Hears a Who! – Published in 1954 – Talks about the importance of friendship and community

His Books The Lorax o Published in 1971 o Focuses on environmentalism and going green o Has been made into a movie, opening March 2 nd Oh, the Places You’ll Go o Published in 1990 o Last story published before his death o Encourages ‘you’to overcome and achieve great things Green Eggs and Ham –Published in 1960 –Only uses 50 words –Wrote it because of a bet –4 th best-selling children’s book of all time

Videos And to Think That I Saw It On Mulberry Street Green Eggs and Ham SYIQXEBZSs&safety_mode=true&persis t_safety_mode=1&safe=active SYIQXEBZSs&safety_mode=true&persis t_safety_mode=1&safe=active ULDtgnQ0fy4&safety_mode=true&per sist_safety_mode=1&safe=active ULDtgnQ0fy4&safety_mode=true&per sist_safety_mode=1&safe=active

Videos Oh the Places You’ll Go The Cat in the Hat re=related&safety_mode=true&persist_safety_mode=1&s afe=active re=related&safety_mode=true&persist_safety_mode=1&s afe=active _mode=true&persist_safety_mode=1&safe=active _mode=true&persist_safety_mode=1&safe=active

It’s time to read (or listen to) a Dr. Seuss book Now your teacher is going to read you a Dr. Seuss book. Sit back, listen quietly, and enjoy a Dr. Seuss book. If you still have time in class, there are three slides after this one with LOTS of Dr. Seuss activities to do. Feel free to browse through them and do the activities.

Activities- Choose one or two to do… And to Think That I Saw It On Mulberry Street o Seeing a horse and wagon on the street in our day would be unusual and something worth sharing. But 75 years ago, horses were used for transportation. Pretend that you are Marco and that you have traveled through time from 1937 to Imagine and write about a modern street scene based on Marco’s 1937 point of view. o Use your powers of imagination to describe something you saw on the way to or from school. The Cat in the Hat o Pick out a few subject-specific vocabulary words and create a story. o Discuss the last question in the book, “What would you do if your mother asked you?” What is Dr. Seuss trying to teach his readers? Horton Hears a Who? o Answer the following questions, either as a class or individually. What do you think Dr. Seuss meant when he said “a person’s a person no matter how small”? Why do you think Horton was so determined to help the Whos even though the other animals were making fun of him? What difference did Jojo’s voice make for the Whos? What do you think this shows about community?

Activities The Lorax o Start a class discussion using the following questions: Was it fair for the Once-ler to destroy natural habitats for his business? Could the Once-ler have kept his business going without cutting down every Truffula Tree? Do people destroy natural habitats in your community? Where has it happened? Does destroying other animals’ habitats affect humans? o Divide the class into groups and assign each group a section below to act out for the class. Then discuss the possible ways the Once-ler could have continued his business without damaging the environment as much. o Scene #1: Describe the land before the Once-ler came o Scene #2: The Lorax appears in the story o Scene #3: When the different animals are forced to leave their homes Green Eggs and Ham o Sam-I-Am is trying to get the other guy to eat green eggs and ham. The other guy says he doesn’t like them even though he’s never tried them. Describe something new that you want to try even though you might be scared. Oh! The Places You’ll Go o Start a class discussion using the following questions: What does the author mean when he talks about ‘bang-ups’ and ‘hang-ups’? Can you control these events, and does everyone have them? Who do you think makes most of the decisions in your life? What does Dr. Seuss mean when he compares life to a great balancing act? What different things do you balance in your life? o Hand out paper and divide the paper into 3 sections. In the first section, draw pictures or describe everyday choices or challenges you face as well as hobbies or activities. In the second section, draw or write the major challenges or ‘slumps’ you have had to overcome in the past. Show what your goals are for the future in the third section. Finally, at the bottom, write a paragraph describing your most important goal for the future.

Activities