Aims:
1. To read books written by Dr.
Seuss aloud and silently, in pairs and groups.
2. To identify setting, characters
and story plot of Dr. Seuss books.
3. To understand elements of
various writing styles.
4. To use graphic organizers to
compare and contrast the writing style used in
Dr. Seuss books.
5. To identify elements of a book
review.
6. To write a book review of a Dr.
Seuss book.
7. To deliver an oral presentation.
8. To share reactions to Dr. Seuss'
books via a collaborative e-pals
book
review project with students in another state.
Materials:
Vocabulary:
Motivation:
1. Listen to
audio clip of Dr.
Seuss describing his writing philosophy. What is
Dr. Seuss' writing philosophy?
2. View trailers for
The Cat In
The Hat movie and
The Grinch. Who are
the main characters in each story? Listen to the
stories being told to be able to describe the
meter and pattern of the rhymes in each story.
For example: In The Cat In The Hat the
rhyme scheme follows this pattern: A B A B (the
first line rhymes with the third and the second
line rhymes with the fourth).
3. Create a
word wall of rhymes
in which rhyming words are grouped by same
ending.
4. Create a KWL chart
like the one below. Elicit from students
information that they already know about Dr.
Seuss' writing style.
WHAT DO WE KNOW
ABOUT DR. SEUSS' WRITING STYLE?
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WHAT INFORMATION
DO WE WANT
TO KNOW ABOUT DR. SEUSS' WRITING STYLE?
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WHAT DID WE LEARN
ABOUT DR. SEUSS'S WRITING STYLE?
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Rhyming words
are used. |
What is the
sentence structure like? |
Simple and
complex sentences give a rhythm to the
stories. |
The books are
humorous. |
What are some
themes used? |
Words and
phrases are repeated. |
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What makes the
books humorous? |
The central
theme on each page is continued onto the
next page. |
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The theme of
the books is stated in a simple sentence
on the first pages of the books. |
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Longer phrases
on some pages break up the choppy
sentences on previous pages. |
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Dr. Seuss makes
sense out of nonsense. |
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The books are
written in a narrative style. |
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Political and
moral messages are used. |
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Seuss writes
his works in the third person. |
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The unexpected
should be expected. |
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Life lessons
such as how to achieve your goals are
taught. |
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Categories of
Dr. Seuss's books include fables such as
Yertle the Turtle , fairy tales such as
The Five Hundred Hats of Bartholomew
Cubbins , and outlandish, exaggerated
tales such as If I Ran the Zoo. |
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His rhyme
schemes are simple but he has created for
us a slew of outlandish names and places. |
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Satire is used. |
2. Read And
To Think I Saw It On Mulberry Street by Dr.
Seuss.
Elicit answers to these questions
from the students:
What
genre does this book belong to?
|
What rhyme
scheme is used in this book? |
What is the
setting of this book? |
What are the
characters like? |
What is the
problem of this book? |
How was the
problem solved? |
What lesson did
you learn? |
Development:
The following web sites will be
used to research information about writing
styles.
1.
http://www-personal.ksu.edu/~rmm9977/LiteraryRelations.htm
This web site compares the writing
styles of Dr. Seuss and Laura Numeroff.
2.
http://www-personal.ksu.edu/~rmm9977/NarrativeStyle.htm
This web site describes and gives
examples of the narrative style of Dr. Seuss.
3.
http://www-personal.ksu.edu/~rmm9977/Theme.htm
The underlying themes in Dr. Seuss' books are explored.
4. http://www.carolhurst.com/authors/drseuss.html
In addition to a biography of Dr.
Seuss, an analysis of his writing style can be
found at this site.
1. Students are assigned to one of
six literacy groups and assigned roles. Each
group will read one of the six Dr. Seuss books
listed above. Roles include readers who read the
book aloud to the group; recorders who take notes
onto the chart below; and reporters who share the
information found with the class.
Questions
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Answers
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What
age range is the book written for? |
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How
would you describe the writing style? |
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What
are the characters in the story like? |
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What
theme runs through the book? |
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Why is this book still charming? |
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What
is the setting? |
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What
is the plot? |
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What
lesson is taught in the book? |
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2.
Students use this
sequence
chart or
story
chart to put the story events in order. A
sample may be found
here.
Summary:
1. Students share information about
Dr. Seuss' writing style. Create a
Venn
Diagram comparing and contrasting writing
styles in two of the books. (From these Venn
Diagrams, the whole class may compare and
contrast all of the books read in one or two
large Venn Diagrams.)
2. Students rotate the books so
that each group has a chance to read each book.
Student roles rotate within the group as each
book is rotated. Students play "Name That
Book" a game in which one group presents an
event which takes place in one of Dr. Seuss'
books. The other groups guess the book. (An
example might be: In which book does Sam I Am get
another character to enjoy a new food?)
3. Log onto
http://teacher.scholastic.com/writewit/bookrev/challenge.htm to learn
the steps in writing a book review. Steps
include: Describe the setting; Describe the main
characters; Give your reader a "taste"
of the plot without giving away the ending. Each
group will write a book review for one of the
books read. These book reviews will be shared as
a collaborative project through
epals with Mrs.
Willard's third grade class at Rochester
Elementary School which is located outside of
Topeka, Kansas. (Teachers can use the free service of www.epals.com
to locate other classes for collaborative projects.)
4. Students dress up as a character
from one of the books and give oral clues to the
class that describe the character. Students in
class guess the character and the title of
the book.
Evaluation:
During this lesson the teacher
meets with each group for guided reading. The
teacher uses the
Narrative
Text Form to evaluate the progress
of each group. Guided reading questions the
teacher might ask each literacy group include:
Setting
Where and when
does the story take place? |
Which part of the story
best describes the setting? |
What is the place
like? |
Could there be a
place like this in real life? |
Characters
What
are the characters like?
|
Who is the most
important character in the story? |
Do any of the
characters do things you think are
good/bad? Explain why. |
Do the characters
change in the story? How? |
Plot
What are the main events of
the story? |
Were you able to guess what
was going to happen next? What clues did
you use? |
Can you think of another
way the story might have happened? |
Mood
How did the story make you
feel? How did the author make you feel
this way? |
What was the funniest thing
that happened? |
Style
What did you like and/or
dislike about the way the author has
written the story? |
What unusual words or
expressions did the author use in the
story? |
How did the author describe
the characters? |
Were there any unusual ways
of saying things? Give examples. |
Theme
Why do you think
the author wrote this book? |
Have you learned a
lesson from reading this story? What is
it? |
Follow Up:
In
Lesson 3, students will explore the illustration style of
Dr. Seuss.
Related
Activities:
1. Students may do word activities
in which they follow rhymes ending the same way
as those in Dr. Seuss books. Students can create
their own words using the rhyme pattern and write
and illustrate what the word means.
2. Students may take an online quiz
related to characters and events found in many of
Dr. Seuss' books at
http://fi.edu/fellows/fellow7/mar99/probability/seuss_book_quiz.shtml
3. Students can use printable forms
to take a survey on their favorite Dr. Seuss
books at
http://abcteach.com/Reading/suess/survey.htm and graph
with their results at
http://abcteach.com/Reading/suess/graph.htm. Students
can make a printable version of their written
reactions to favorite Dr. Seuss books at
http://abcteach.com/Reading/suess/favbook.htm and
favorite characters at
http://abcteach.com/Reading/suess/favchar.htm and make
an advertisement for a book at
http://abcteach.com/Reading/suess/ad.htm. Favorite
Dr. Seuss scenes may be recorded at
http://abcteach.com/Reading/suess/favscene.htm
4. A printable word search can be
found at
http://abcteach.com/Reading/suess/wordsearch.htm
5. A recipe for Green Eggs
and Ham is available at
http://seussville.com/seussville/titles/greeneggs/recipes.html
A recipe for oobleck is available
at
http://teachingheart.net/bartholo.html
A recipe for decorating a Cat In
The Hat hat is available at
http://auburn.wednet.edu/homepages/ilalko/Seuss.htm/hat
6.
Online
math, science, reasoning, and reading games
featuring to Dr. Seuss characters may be found at
http://seussville.com/seussville/university/
7. Math word problems based on
material from Dr. Seuss books are found at http://mathstories.com/bookstories/Book_12_Dr_Seuss.htm
8. Printable Dr. Seuss cards and
directions for card games are found at http://auburn.wednet.edu/homepages/ilalko/Seuss.htm/
Cards
9. Links to activities and lesson
plans to use with Dr. Seuss books including: The
Foot Book, Dr. Seuss' ABC, The Five
Hundred Hats of Bartholmew Cubbins, Green
Eggs and Ham, Yertle The Turtle, The
King's Stilts, The Butter Battle Book,
Horton Hears A Who, Horton Hatches The
Egg, The Shape of Me And Other Stuff, Hop
On Pop, If I Ran The Zoo, The Lorax,
The Cat In The Hat, and Bartholomew and
the Oobleck can be found at: http://teachingheart.net/thedrsuesspage.html and
http://eseuss.com/seuss/seussactivities.html
10. The events of The Cat In The
Hat as told by the fish can be read at this
site. Students might write story events in one of
the Dr. Seuss books they have read as told by one
of the story characters. http://cat-in-the-hat-merchandise.com/fishs-eye-view.htm
Additional Teacher Resources:
1.http://teachers.net/mentors/raa/
Teacher chat board where questions
may be posted regarding Dr. Seuss books and other
related items.
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