Thinking Theme: Dr. Seuss

In honor of Dr. Seuss's birthday (and his inspiration to this blog!), we did a unit based on his wonderful books!  Each day focuses on a different Seuss book and activities associated with it.  Remember that this is another great theme to concentrate on rhyming words!  Have fun!

* I have included links to the YouTube videos of the books if you don't have them.  There are great apps that you can purchase on your phone for these books, as well.

Letter of the Week:  Dd

Number of the Week:  15

Bible Verse of the Week: "Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart. " Psalm 37:4

Books:

Dr. Seuss Websites:
Seusville
Apples for the Teachers - Dr. Seuss Page
Homeschool Share - Dr. Seuss Printables
2 Teaching Mommies - Dr. Seuss Unit
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Lesson 1: The Cat in the Hat
Objectives:
* To read The Cat in the Hat
* To recognize the rhyming words in the story
* To use patterning skills to create a hat that resembles the one from the book
* To use the fine motor skills involved with cutting and taping/gluing

Materials:
* The Cat in the Hat book or the YouTube video
* red and white construction paper
* scissors
* tape or glue
* paper plate

Procedure:
*  I found this hat craft from Craft Ideas.  Follow the directions from the site, and have fun wearing your hats! We used a paper plate for the bottom of the hat instead of construction paper.  Make sure to focus on the red and white pattern as you are making it!

* Here are a few more fun crafts/activities for Cat in the Hat:
1. Phonics Hat - from Kiboomu
2. Marshmallow Hats - from Tip Junkie
3. Thing 1 and Thing 2 Handprint Crafts - from Little Warriors

Lesson 2: The ABC Book
Objectives:
* To read The ABC Book
* To recognize the rhyming words in the story
* To understand and recognize the different sounds that letters make
* To match objects from around the house with the letters they start with

Materials:
* ABC book or the YouTube video
* Alphabet Printable from Homeschool Share
* ABC flashcards (You can also just write each letter on a small piece of paper.)
* items from around your house that start with each letter of the alphabet
* pencil

Procedure:

1. Spread out all of the letter flashcards in alphabetical order, making sure you have plenty of room by each letter to place an object.

2. Go on a scavenger hunt around your house in search of items that start with each letter.  Then place the items by the corresponding flashcard.



3. After the "hunt" is complete, guide your child in writing the names of each item next to the correct letter.  This will help them to see the beginning letter of each word.  Brainstorm other words that start with each letter, as well.

Lesson 3: Hop on Pop
Objectives:
* To read Hop on Pop
* To recognize the rhyming words in the story
* To understand what word families (words that have the same ending, -at, -all, -ike, etc.)
* To sound out beginning letters to determine the word within the word family

Materials:
* Hop on Pop book or the YouTube video
* Paint color strips with different colors
* scissors
* marker

Procedure:

* I found this great lesson at The Snail's Trail.  Follow the directions from this site. There are so many different word families you can use.  Do what you think your child will be most comfortable with!

Lesson 4: Fox in Socks
Objectives:
* To read Fox in Socks
* To recognize the rhyming words in the story
* To match words and pictures together, as well as rhyming words
* To use the fine motor skills involved with cutting and writing

Materials:
* Fox in Socks book or the YouTube video
* Seussville Printable
* Socks Printable from Homeschool Share
* pencil/crayons
* scissors

Procedure:

1. Print out each printable from the links above.  First, help your child to match the rhyming words on the Seussville printable.

2. Cut out the socks from the Homeschool Share printables.  First match the words with the correct pictures.  Then match pictures that rhyme with each other. 

3.  You can place three pictures in a row like in this picture and have your child choose the one that rhymes with the selected picture at the bottom.  By using a smaller group of pictures, it is easier for them to pick out the rhyming words.

Lesson 5: The Foot Book
Objectives:
* To read The Foot Book
* To recognize the rhyming words in the story
* To recognize the opposite pairs in the story
* To use your own feet as a source of measurement to measure objects around the house
* To use writing skills to record measurements
* To analyze the results of the measurements (which is the biggest, which is the smallest, etc.)

Materials:
* The Foot Book or the YouTube video
* Object Measurement Printable from Homeschool Share
* pencil

Procedure:

1. Print out the measurement printable from the link above.  Have your child guess how many feet long they think each object is.  Help them write the numbers on the guess column.

2. Go around the house and walk beside each object, counting the number of steps you take as you go.  Then record the results on the paper.  Sawyer and I did it together and really counted my number of steps.  For older kids, you could do 2 different measurements (your feet and their feet) to see the differences.  Talk about why the measurements are different according to the size of your feet.

3. After all of the results are recorded, look to see how close the guesses were.  Also, determine which object was the biggest and which was the smallest.  Talk about other ways you could measure the objects, as well.

Extras:
* Oh, The Places You'll Go - Read the book Oh, The Places You'll Go or go to the YouTube video, and then print out a map of your state or of the entire United States and mark places that your child has been.  Ask them to talk about the things they did there and the memories they have of those places.

* Ten Apples Up On Top - Read the book Ten Apples Up On Top or go to the YouTube video. Using the Ten Apples Up On Top printables from Homeschool Share, color the tree and apples, cut out the numbers, and place the correct number of apples on the tree.

* Green Eggs and Ham - Read the book Green Eggs and Ham or go to the YouTube video, and then make Green Eggs and Ham. There are lots of recipes for this online.  I know my child will not even touch this dish, so we are just going to try something new. :)

* The Sneetches - Read the book The Sneetches or go to the YouTube video. Then, make a list of all the things that make your child special and unique.  After this, make another list describing ways they are the same as everyone else.  Help them to understand that we are all the same in some ways and different in some ways, but God loves everyone just the way we are.

* One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish - We have done this lesson before, but it's a great one to repeat and see if you get different results.  Read the book One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish or go to the YouTube video, and then do Goldfish Graphing.  Check it out from the Ocean Unit - Lesson #9.