Stovepipe Hat

Supplies (makes 1 sample and 2 hats)
3 pieces red construction paper     3 pieces white construction paper     2 pieces large drawing paper
glue sticks     scissors     permanent marker

How To
Cut about one inch off of the long edge of three pieces of red construction paper and three pieces of white construction paper. Trace one of the remaining rectangles onto a large piece of drawing paper. Then trace the cut off piece of paper onto the base of the large rectangle to form the brim of the hat. Make one tracing for each child.

Give each child the tracing of the hat. Have each child glue the one inch white strip to the brim of the hat. Have the children fold the red paper in half hamburger style twice and cut the paper along the folds. Do the same for the white paper. Now create a pattern with the colors on the tracing by gluing red, white, red, white. (Each child will have 2 extra pieces of red and 2 extra pieces of white paper. Reserve these for another project.)

Have your children help spell the words “Cat in the Hat” and write them as a title at the top of the page.

Word Work

Supplies
remaining strips of red and white construction paper     permanent marker    pencils

How To
Use the remaining strips of paper to write the words “cat”, “in”, “the”, & “hat”. As you write the words (except “the”, which you write out and explain that it is a sight word), have your child say the sounds in the words and tell you the corresponding letters. Then have the kids trace over the letters. Your children can play “Concentration” and “Go Fish” and also practice spelling the words with these flash cards.

Indoor Seuss Inspired Frisbee

Supplies
2 dessert size paper plates (per child)     red marker     read crayons

How To
Draw a stovepipe hat on the back of each of the plates. Draw lines for your child to color in with red crayon. Once the Frisbees are decorated, toss them around. We played Frisbee down our hallway and even played relay races. Be creative!

Dr. Seuss was the master of rhyme, and rhyming is a great literacy activity that builds phonemic awareness and can build vocabulary. You can have fun rhyming with your kids in your homeschool as you celebrate Dr. Seuss’s birthday on Read Across America Day – March 2!

~Read One Fish, Two Fish, Read Fish, Blue Fish. This book is full of short vignettes that rhyme. You can discuss which words rhyme in each vignette and compile a list.

~Play “Go Fish for a Rhyme”. Make a deck of cards with pairs of rhyming words. Play as you would normally play “Go Fish” except ask for a word that rhymes with one of your cards. For example, ask, “Do you have a word that rhymes with car?”

~Play “Toss-a-Rhyme”. Use a bean bag or a small soft ball for this kinesthetic activity. The first player holds the ball, says a word (such as cat), and tosses the ball to another player. The next player catches the ball and says a word that rhymes with the first player’s word (sat). Then the ball is tossed to another player for another rhyming word (fat). Other players can give hints if someone gets stuck. If no one can think of a rhyming word, then the player holding the ball chooses a new word.

~Make collages of words that rhyme. This is an especially great way to work with younger children who are not yet reading. Brainstorm words together first. For example, a collage might include pictures of the following: black, sack, tack, track, hack, jack, mac (truck), pack, rack, and stack.

~Play “Find the Rhyme”. This is another kinesthetic way to teach non-readers to rhyme. Fill a shoe box with small items, trinkets, or toys. Be sure to include rhyming pairs (sock-block, crow-bow, girl-curl, hat-cat). Pair up the items that rhyme.

~Write a short story or even a rap in Seuss’s style. Easy Fun School has a great example of how you can do this with your kids.

Enjoy some word play and rhyme away!

Photo courtesy of ffg

On March 2 celebrate Read Across America Day in the green with these homeschool ideas for Dr. Seuss’s famous Green Eggs and Ham. I have included a fun game to play with your kiddos!

~Read Green Eggs and Ham. As you read, talk about the words that rhyme. Also discuss how the character learns that you don’t know if you like something or not unless you try it!

~Cook green eggs and ham with your budding chefs. This post on Green Eggs and Ham on Blissfully Domestic has a recipe and a video for how to make green eggs and ham. Here are the pictures from our cooking experience.

~Play “I Like Green Eggs and Ham, Sam-I-Am” (an onset and rime game created by ME!). Here is how:

Supplies
17 dessert size paper plates     pencil     Green Eggs and Ham scissors     plastic storage bag green & orange crayons     paper clip

Prepare the Game Pieces

1. Create your green eggs (onset) and ham (rime) cards. Use the following words: see, tree, house, mouse, box, fox, train, rain, boat, & goat.

a. Cut out the center circle of 10 paper plates. Cut those circles in half. Discard the outer rings. You will use the circles to write onsets and rimes on.

b. On one half of the circles write the onsets: s, tr (x 2), h, m, b (x 2), f, r, & g. Draw green eggs on the other side of the cards.

c. On the other half of the circles write the rimes: ee, ouse, ox, ain, oat. Make two sets of these. On the back draw a picture of a ham.

2. Create your plate (player boards).

a.Draw a line down the center of four paper plates. On the left side of each plate draw green eggs and on the right side draw a ham.

3. Create your spinner.

a. Using the back of a paper plate divide the plate into fourths.

b. On one fourth draw a ham. On two sections draw eggs. On the last fourth write “Sam-I-Am”.

4. Create holding plates for the cards.

a. On one plate draw a picture of green eggs. The onset cards will be placed here during game play.

b. On another plate draw a picture of a ham. The rimes cards will be placed here during play.

5. Store your game pieces in a plastic storage bag. You might also include a copy of the game play instructions with the pieces.

*The object of the game is to fill your plate with an onset and a rime that make a word. Play ends when there are no more cards left. The player with the most words wins.*

Set Up

Place the green eggs cards and the ham cards on their respective plates. Each player gets a plate to fill. Place your paper clip on the center of the spinner and put a pencil tip through one end of it.

Play the Game

1. Player 1 spins the paper clip. Pick up the appropriate card. Play continues going clock wise.

a. If the player lands on the Sam-I-Am space, the player jumps up and down saying, “Do you like green eggs and ham?” The other players respond with, “Yes, I like green eggs and ham, Sam-I-Am.”

b. If a player spins a card type that is already filled on the plate, the player skips that turn and the next player goes.

c. Once a player has made a word, the player sets the two cards aside to be kept for the tally at the end.

d. If two cards do not make a word, the player returns the card just picked up. The next player takes a turn.

Have a great time with Dr. Seuss and “I Like Green Eggs and Ham, Sam-I-Am”!

I hope that you are planning on “Seussing Up” your homeschool for Read Across America Day on March 2. The Sneetches can help you to do just that by opening a conversation about “Seuss-itivity” – tolerance. The Sneetches is one of my favorite Dr. Seuss books! I have included activities here that appeal to a wide variety of ages.

~Read the book together. Take this opportunity to teach your children about racism and tolerance. Try this Star Belly activity at Teaching Tolerance. The activity can be modified for your homeschool by planning to do it with another family.

~The setting of The Sneetches is a beach. Put that sand to good use and make sand paintings. Kaboose has a plan for this activity.You can learn about Navajos as well since sand painting is important to their culture.

~Be an inventor! Sylvester McMonkey McBean was an inventor. Unlike McBean’s inventions, you can invent something that is helpful instead of harmful. Teacher Vision has lots of great ideas.

~This is a great opportunity to study geometry specifically looking at stars. Crayola has a great geometry lesson plan involving making 3D stars.

~Teach phonograms to your younger children with this fun game that I found at Hot Chalk’s. The game is similar to BINGO.

I hope you can share this very special book and its important message with your children.

Photo courtesy of evaxebra

Are you planning on celebrating Read Across America Day on March 2 with your ‘tween or teen in your homeschool? Even though this day celebrates Dr. Seuss’s birthday, older kids can get involved in the celebration through a study of Dr. Seuss’s life and work.

~Have your child read a biography about Theodore Seuss Geisel. There are many great biographies available now. Here is just a sampling:

Dr. Seuss (First Biographies)

Oh, the Places He Went: A Story About Dr. Seuss (Creative Minds Biography (Turtleback))

Dr. Seuss: American Icon

Dr. Seuss: Young Author and Artist (Childhood of Famous Americans)

~Listen to the NPR interview with Philip Nel, author of Dr. Seuss: American Icon. Take notes on the interview.

~Read a variety of Dr. Seuss books as part of your research. Note patterns that you find in the texts.You can even create a grid with certain traits that are common to Dr. Seuss books such as rhyming, a message, fantastical characters, etc.

~“Interview” Dr.Seuss after you have researched his life. Watch the interviews with Audrey Geisel on the Reading Rockets website. Now create your own interview with Dr. Seuss. Have one child portray Theodore Geisel and one act as the interviewer. Have the children write a script for the interview and rehearse. Now film the interview. Show your interview to an audience.

Enjoy learning about Theodore Seuss Geisel to celebrate reading!

Photo courtesy of Allan Ferguson