March! A Celebration of Reading and all THINGS Seuss!

DR.SEUSS FAVORITES INSPIRE CREATIVITY 

It's getting to be that time of year again. When classrooms and hallways go awash with striped hats and cats! It's time to really finish up your plans for "Read Across America" and all things Seuss. I've gathered up some brand new goodies for your inspiration from my author/illustrator school visits across the country! The images today are from schools in Florida, Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio, New York, AZ and TEXAS! 

How can you possibly go wrong with paper plates, pipe cleaners and torn construction paper. 

Aren't these clever? 

A craftivity to be sure, yet each character has their own unique spin. 

Projects that extend the illustrations of picture books, 

into the lives and on to the bulletin boards of classrooms......... 

are a sure fire way to build enthusiasm for reading! 

Think of all that fine motor development with the tearing of the paper! 

Here's a bright bulletin board celebrating all THINGS Seuss. 

Lucky Mrs. Wishard to have 'only' 18 THINGS to teach. 

You may know that my first full time teaching position in public school was as the art teacher. My heart leaps and dances when I see such work as this composite of free hand drawings below. These clever renditions were created by kindergarten kiddos in my adopted state of Florida! I rejoice at the classroom teacher who values drawing as a foundation skill for young children. This level of work does not emerge from a class over night. This is the result of classroom teacher and students working in concert over many, many weeks to develop skills of observation and interpretation. FIVE STARS!! TEN STARS!!!! KUDOS!!! Winner, winner, Chicken Dinner! It can be done!

Even when given some 'templates' for the famed 

Cat-in-the-Hat 

these littles have obviously been given the lattitude to create their own renditions. 

I don't know if there's anything more exciting that being the author that gets to visit an Elementary School during "Read Across America" week! 

Sunburst Elementary outside of Phoenix was decked out from the first bulletin board to the last! 

These hand painted chairs and stools were stunning! 

Gotta LUV the effort of this classroom door! 

Just makes me smile from ear-to-ear! 

Dr. Seuss: the original motivational guru. 

Look at these two amazing decorated doors, 

courtesy of the teachers at Sunburst Elementary, in the greater Phoenix area, AZ!

So which is your FAVORITE Dr. Seuss Book? 

Last year about this time I had a RoundUP of ideas spotted on my travels. 

There are some real classics in this earlier article. 

{Just click the picture to go back in time.}

Here's a few of my favorite images from that  earlier RoundUP -- in case you don't have time for the extra click. You'll have to go back to see the various 'apples-up-on-top' projects and green eggs. Plus the details surrounding the CLASSIC Lorax decorated classroom door are in the earlier article. 

It has already been two years since I spent time with Crystal Radke, the beloved blogger at "Kreative in Kinder."  We had so much fun together. We were together for our own READING CELEBRATION!

I got to visit her school wearing my unique author-illustrator hat. We gathered all of the Kinder classes and Firsties into their cafeteria for the fun. {Don't tell. A couple of the second grade classes snuck in at the last minute, too!} Here's a couple of glimpses into our shared fun. 

Having a REAL-AUTHOR come to school is a sure fire way to get the students excited about the process of reading and writing! 

We had enough time together to have a BIG ending for our show. I am something of an unusual picture book author and illustrator, as my books are the embodiment of original songs that I have written and recorded. I have turned three of my songs into the traditional picture book format. 

All of my work starts with a song. Lyrics. Singing. This next picture is a capture of the teachers joining me on stage for a spirited rendition of my "Piggy Rap." I think that you can see that the teachers DELIGHTED their students with their enthusiasm. BTW: That's Crystal right in the middle of the picture. 

I received such a delightful surprise from Crystal's students. 

She had them each draw a picture for me. 

Then she bound them all into a book!!! 

The whole thing is a treasure, but this little portrait has captured by heart. 

Under the category of old dogs and new tricks! 

Crystal and her teenagers have taught me MUCH! 

Here is my first, ever fliptogram 'movie' WITH MY SONG! 

If ever you need a pick-me-up, just click for the joy! 

Whew! That was a lot! Wasn't it? I hope that you've found some inspiration. I'd be so grateful for your pin. That's how people 'discover' me! Thanks. 

Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss!

I love Dr. Seuss books and I have a boatload in my classroom.  My students love those books too, so despite the difficulty with copyright rules, This week I want celebrate reading, Dr. Seuss, rhyming, and all things silly.  It is not too late to plan your own celebrations.  My ideas are generally quick, and not to tough to pull together at the last minute.

First a little history lesson.  These two books are on my bookshelf at home.  Have you seen them before??

You may not have heard of them...but they both belong to Theodor Geisel.  Theodor Seuss Geisel, of course, is the given name of Dr. Seuss (a pen name he started using in college).  He was born on March 2nd, 1904.  He grew up in a time when Americans of German descent were hated and feared.  He experienced the hurt that this kind of prejudice creates.  He worked for a time in advertising, drew political cartoons, and of course he wrote children's stories.  His first was To Think That I Saw It On Mulberry Street.  A poem he wrote after crossing the Atlantic and mimicking the rhythm of the ship.  It took awhile for publisher to say yes and even then he was not an overnight success. Many of his advertising and wartime cartoon characters made another appearance in his children's books.  To learn more about his life try this movie:  In Search of Dr. Seuss.  It is a whimsical look at his life told through his books.

We are starting our week with a truffla forest.  These trees are made with foam pipe insulation (from home depot), yellow duck tape, and great big tissue paper flowers.  I made the flowers with tissue paper from the card and gift wrapping section at WalMart and pipe cleaners.  There is a great tutorial at Mrs. Lodge's Library.  Her instructions are easy to follow and you will have a forest in no time.

I will dress up like The Cat in the Hat himself with this simple costume:

I had the hat, so black pants, black turtleneck, white oval (I had some felt) safety pinned on, a wide red bow, and look at me....not too bad.  I needed some minions, little things 1 through 22.  A circle of white safety pinned to their shirts and a blue wig, and you would think we stepped out of a story book.

I used blue butcher paper for the wigs.  I just folded it in half, drew a line to show the kids where to stop, and added a couple of staples to stabilize the paper while my kinder kids are cutting.  The folded edge is the bottom, the open edge is the hair, students cut from the open edge.  When they are done cutting, I just fit it to their head and staple.

Now we need a snack...these red and white hats are quick and easy.

Having buddies to snuggle with and lots of opportunities to read make for a fun and exciting week.

I scour the thrift stores and at least once a month my husband brings me home a stack of books.  Here is what he brought me Friday.  They all seemed brand new or barely used.

Each day we will start our reading block putting sentences in the right order, sentences straight from the books we will be reading.   Stop by my facebook page to pick up these (or just write your own on 3x5 cards or half sheets of construction paper)

There is such wisdom in the words of Dr. Seuss.  Words adults can benefit from.

Here's hoping you have a Seuss-tasical week.  Even if the sun is not sunny, have some good fun that is funny from Terri at KinderKapers.  Don't forget to follow me on facebook to keep track of all our fun as the week progresses.