Dr. Seuss' birthday & Read Across America

Read Across America Day which is March 2nd, is just around the corner.  Time to begin planning all the special activities that goes along with this special day.   March 2nd is the birthday of a famous author whose favorite character wears a funny hat and it is also my birthday, too.  What better way to celebrate the day than with a day devoted to books!  In fact, I love books so much I think it should be Read Across America WEEK!


Begin plans now by sending home the parent letter(before February 27th) which asks students to bring 3 picture books from home whose setting takes place in the United States.  Make sure the books have students' names on the inside so they can go home with the right owner on Friday, March 2nd.  Then put the books in a special center called "Oh!  The places we've read about this week!"  Below is a sign you can use.  Students can put their books that they brought from home in tubs labeled with regions of the United States.

There is also a parent letter asking for supplies to make oobleck that should be sent home as soon as possible.  Here's a copy of the oobleck note:

To add a tech connection.  Let students choose favorite Dr. Seuss book, make a word bank of words from their book, and then go to the computer lab  to make a wordle word bank.  

This is an example of a wordle word bank made from words from Green Eggs and Ham.

To make your own word bank visit:  WORDLE.NET

This "Read Across America" unit is packed with too many activities to do in one day.  It's a week's worth of fun!  Included in this unit are:

Social Studies Connection:
-Let's Travel to___ (setting from book)
Write important information such as food, weather, terrain about your book's setting.
-Map study: Keep track of your book's setting on the map

Writing Connection:
We celebrate Read Across America Day on a famous author's birthday.
-Let's celebrate a birthday of one of the characters from your book. Write about the celebration and what would be the perfect gift.

Math Connection:
-Students are asked to bring in 3 picture books from home that has a setting located in the U.S.A.
-Parent letter requesting books is included
-Read & swap books all week, documenting the location of the books on the map.
-On Friday, graph how many books your class from the different regions of the United States.
-Ordinal numbers (Thidwick the Big-Hearted Moose)

Tech Connection:
-Compare your town to your book's setting. Look up the following information on the computer: avg. high/low temperature, population, and other important facts.
-Students choose favorite Dr. Seuss book, fill out word bank worksheet, and then go to WORDLE.NET.  Type words into wordle to make a wordle word bank.


Science Connection:
-Oobleck experiment (Bartholomew & the Oobleck)



What better way to celebrate our favorite author's birthday than with reading some of his books! The following activities are also included: 

Bartholomew & the Oobleck
-oo word family
Illustrate each word and write a sentence using the word. If it is difficult to draw a picture of the word, students may decorate the word. SEE EXAMPLE 
Oobleck experiment: recipe and parent letter included

If I Ran the Zoo
-ard Word Family
Animal invention

Thidwick the Big-Hearted Moose
-unch word family
Sequence order of animals
Animal cards and ordinal number cards

Hooray for Diffendoofer Day!
-ee word family
Chart the difference between your school and the story's school

Gerald McBoing Boing
-ound word family
Characterization 


All of these activities are included in my new unit which is sold for $5.

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