READING IS OUR THING! Let the Cat in the Hat, assisted by Thing 1 and Thing 2, set your whole school buzzing with the wacky wisdom of Dr. Seuss as students take on reading challenges and explore the wonderful world of books. Oh, the stuff they will learn, with their eyes wide open! Strengthen the bonds between school and home by inviting families to participate. Send a note home with students outlining the program, encouraging parents to reinforce your efforts by sharing books at home— especially Dr. Seuss books—and announcing events they’re welcome to attend. SETTING THE SCENE library… so students feel their presence everywhere they go. Seuss Signposts: Create Seuss-style signposts to direct • Use pieces from the “Reading Is Our Thing” prog- kids to different sections of your school, library, or parts ress tracker to anchor a bulletin board display. In the of the library collection. You’ll find examples in Hooray middle, feature photocopies of covers of Seuss books for Diffendoofer Day or on the Seussville.com website. from your collection, your reading campaign goal, or Stick with bright colors and simple shapes and you can’t upcoming special events. go wrong! • Each time a student finishes a book, he or she will write the title of the book on a character piece and Stove Hats and Bows: Do you have a bust sign it. Starting with a Thing 1 cutout from the of the person your school is named for or “Reading Is Our Thing” theme materials, display a another venerable figure? A statue of a line of characters, representing individual school mascot? Where it’s appropriate, books read, in the hall outside the library give these symbolic figures Cat in the door. Keep adding to it, and see how long Hat treatment by adding a Cat-style of a line you can create and how many stove hat and red bow tie! halls you can cover with everyone working together. Let your line zig and zag up and Using the Progress Tracker: down in fine Seuss fashion! End the line • Place individual cutouts of Thing 1 and Thing 2 with a cutout of Thing 2. cleverly around the school, peeking through windows • Use character pieces in classrooms to dis- or out from behind doors, standing on the office’s play titles recommended by students, or the information desk or half-hiding behind books in the names of students who have reached their reading 1 Activity Guide © 2013 Demco, Inc. Dr. Seuss: Reading Is Our Thing! goals or personal increments toward those goals, such shirts, pencils, large sheets of paper, washable paints, and as reading three titles or an hour of reading time. a variety of brushes. Have children create large paintings • Use your display to conduct a school-wide survey of of the Seuss scenery from their books, based on Seuss’s Seuss favorites. Add a sign reading, “What’s Your Fa- illustrations, information from the story, and their vorite Dr. Seuss Book? Vote Here!” On a nearby table, imaginations! Place the paintings, labeled with the name place a ballot box (A Cat’s hat? A fish bowl? A red fun of the book and the grade, side by side in a hallway to box as in The Cat in the Hat?), character pieces for create an impressive mural. ballots, and pencils or pens. Gather ballots and work with students to analyze results and present them in Thing-tastic Helpers: colorful graphic form, as a bar graph of titles, or a pie Cat-hatted teachers of younger chart of the total votes cast. grades might choose a general assistant or two each day, and honor them with Thing paper headbands from the • In his lifetime, Dr. Seuss wrote forty-some books “Reading Is Our Thing” theme materials to wear in the to delight children, most of which are still in print. classroom. Challenge individual students, classes, or grades to see how many they can read, and bring their completed lists in for review. Post a character SCHOOL-WIDE SPECIAL EVENTS AND piece for each student, class, or grade that reads ACTIVITIES all, or the most, distinct Seuss titles, and offer Books small prizes as appropriate. “Reading Is Our Kick-off Assembly: Arrange a rousing, all-school kick- are my Thing” or Upstart’s “The Fun Never Ends ! off for your reading program. Enlist a staff member with Thing with the Cat in the Hat and His Friends!” a theatrical bent to perform a dramatic reading of I Can theme award certificates, bookmarks, stick- Read with My Eyes Shut! wearing a “Cat hat.” (These ers, book bags, buttons, or banners could hats are available at www.upstartpromotions.com, or serve as prizes. Keep in mind that some you can make your own using instructions at www.ma- Seuss books contain several different stories. maslikeme.com/2012/03/easy-dr-seuss-hats.html.) Announce your school-wide reading goals for this cam- Seuss Book Display: Have your media specialist pull paign (total number of books read, minutes of reading, all Dr. Seuss titles to feature on a large table or book- etc.). Use big, brightly colored charts and visuals, pre- shelf display for easy access. Use cutouts of Thing 1 sented with flair by two staff members dressed as Thing and Thing 2 from the theme materials on bookends, or 1 and Thing 2 (wigs and T-shirts available at www.seuss- intersperse plush or toy figures of the Cat in the Hat, land.com). Then motivate students with a challenge: If Thing 1, and Thing 2 with the books and movies. You’ll they complete the goal by the target date, their principal find such toys at www.amazon.com or www.seussland. will wear a “Cat hat” around school for an entire day! com. Seuss Sing-Along: Have a music teacher use the Cat in NEA’s Read Across America: Time your reading cam- the Hat Songbook to lead a sing-along of lively, silly songs paign to coincide with NEA’s annual Read Across Amer- from the movie versions of Seuss’s most famous tales. ica campaign, focused on March 2, Dr. Seuss’s birthday. You’ll find resources at Seussville.com, www.seussville. Seuss Characters on Parade: Invite children to come com/Educators/educatorReadAcrossAmerica.php. to school dressed as their favorite Seuss characters. Use music from the Cat in the Hat Original Motion Picture Seuss Scenery Hallway Mural: Assign grades different Soundtrack (see Resource list), and lead each grade in a Seuss books that show fantastic towns or landscapes as parade through the halls during different times of the settings for the stories, such as “What Was I Scared Of?” day. from The Sneetches and Other Stories, The Lorax, McEl- ligot’s Pool, or Happy Birthday to You! Provide painting 2 Activity Guide © 2013 Demco, Inc. Dr. Seuss: Reading Is Our Thing! Reader’s Theater: Invite students to form small groups Diffendoofer Day: Close your campaign on a high and prepare reader’s theater performances of their favor- note with a school-wide party based on Hooray for Dif- ite Seuss books. Start at the classroom level, with voting fendoofer Day! Serve pizza, milk, and cake or tasty treats for the best performance in the class. Move to the grade from the Green Eggs and Ham Cookbook. Sing “The level, and have the classroom winners perform for their Diffendoofer Song,” substituting your school and town grade peers, who will choose a winner for their grade. name. You’ll need to make up a melody or do it as a Then feature the grade-level winners in an all-school as- chant; there’s no official music for the song. Better yet, sembly and vote for a best overall performance. Perhaps prepare and perform the book as a Reader’s Theater play, the overall winner or grade winners could perform for using production notes for “A Diffendoofer Day Play” parents at a family literacy night event. Some shorter in the Teacher’s Guide at www.seussville.com/activities/ titles that lend themselves well to this challenge include HOORAY_TeachersGuide_0.pdf. Display theme-related Green Eggs and Ham, Gerald McBoing Boing, and several student work. Add the sing-along or the Seuss character stories in The Bippolo Seed and Other Lost Stories. parade above and you’ve got a Seuss-worthy celebration. Birthday Party: Dr. Seuss was born on AMILY ITERACY IGHT March 2, 1904. Use Happy Birthday to You! F L N as the model for a birthday party in the Multilingual Story Time: If you serve an ethnically author’s honor, or as a generic birthday diverse population or offer foreign languages, try a mul- celebration for students or staff. tilingual story time. Seuss stories have been translated into many languages; Spanish and French versions, in Write Like Dr. Seuss: Challenge stu- particular, are readily available. Choose stories that come dents to submit their own creative writing inspired in at least two languages (see titles in the Resource list). by Dr. Seuss. You might name categories, like tongue- Find readers fluent in each language—perhaps parent twisters (Oh Say Can You Say?), alphabet or counting or grandparent volunteers—and share the stories a page books (Dr. Seuss’s ABC), Seuss sequels (The Cat in the or section at a time, alternating languages. Use visuals Hat Comes Back), or stories with a social message (The like enlarged illustrations, felt board figures, or puppet Lorax). Consider separating entries into age ranges as characters as you read the stories. Add crafts, games, well. Seuss’s silliness is surprisingly hard to imitate! songs, or snacks from other sections of this guide for a Assemble a panel of complete family story time program.