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Netters:

Someone anonymously sent me a compiled list of Dr. Seuss/Read Across America ideas 
gleaned from the archives and requested me to post them with my "HIT." That would 
make my "HIT" too long but decided it would be worth reposting as an additional 
"HIT." I edited the list as there were several duplications. The Netter who sent it 
said that all the links had just been checked, so I trust they will work for you.

The list is in no particular order and ideas for elementary and middle school are 
randomly included. Since (in many cases) it was impossible to determine where one 
article began and the next ended, I just edited them for clarity. All the 
contributor names had been removed previously so I am unable to give any credit 
directly. You can check the archives for the originals if you wish.

Included with the ideas was this quote and it is very appropriate to share here:

With apologies to Horton:
 I meant what I said
 And I said what I meant
 This group is terrific
One hundred percent!
**************************************
List of ideas from Archives:

Here is a list of Dr. Seuss books followed by the food item mentioned in the book:
Green Eggs and Ham - green eggs and ham, of course!
Fox in Socks - "cheese trees"
Scrambled Eggs Super - eggs
One Fish, Two Fish... - fish
Dr. Seuss' ABC - This is not mentioned in the book, but you could get cookie 
cutters and make cookies in the shapes of the letters of the alphabet.
Oh the Thinks You Can Think - Schlopp Sundaes with cherries on top

Dr. Seuss recipes from the Idaho Education Association:
http://www.idahoea.org/professional/2003%20Dr%20Seuss%20Recipes.html

The following link gives some ideas about decorations:
http://entertaining.about.com/library/weekly/aa022803a.htm

Since the theme for Read Across America is Dr. Seuss' book "Oh, the Places You'll 
Go," for the 7th and 8th grade classes we have guest speakers scheduled for March 
2nd to talk about their career and how reading is important to them. This 
correlates with the 8th graders beginning to plan for their high school schedule.

 Students who serve as library  aides are staying after school on Thursday to bake 
cakes in our home economics dept. kitchens & serving them to students and staff on 
Friday. 6-10 students will be involved. I have invited all classes to plan a shared 
reading activity during the day.

We have announced our plans on our bulletin board by drawing a huge Cat in the Hat 
hat with the slogan: "Stop in the LRC for cake and a good book on Friday, March 2" 
& mini cake clip art. We have a loooong hallway display featuring a banner "Oh the 
Places You'll Go"  "Read Across America" and posted the appreciation certificates 
from the NEA ReadAcross website along with the map logo enlarged. We have included 
posters from the Upstart "America Reads" promotion.

 On Friday, we plan to set tables with red tablecloths, the cakes and utensils with 
a Cat in the Hat Stuffed toy for a centerpiece & and nice framed photograph of Dr. 
Seuss. Of course "Oh the Places You'll Go" book will be on a book easel in the 
"place of honor." Other books displayed with be career related as our guidance 
counselor is currently instructing all students in our building to complete a book 
about themselves which includes a personality profile, and research from the 
occupational outlook handbook online and other sources.

I have submitted a brief plan to the NEA link and have read some of the states' 
efforts on their site. I have also posted a few photos on my website which is in 
the very primitive stages thus far.  You can view the photos @
 http://www.clyde.k12.oh.us/jh/stbstult

 We will be having staff members read short selections on the closed
circuit TV system each day of the week, so that those teachers who don't want to 
participate won't "have" to. (Most all of our activities are optional.)

The school theme happens to be "Oh the Places You'll Go," so that will be the first 
reading. The art teacher will be using a puppet to read poetry, and Green Eggs and 
Ham will be Friday's reading while the cafeteria will be serving those very things 
during our breakfast program. We will have several pledge lists available for 
students and staff to sign promising to read (other than that which is school 
related) on Friday, March 2 through March 4.

 For those who want a more personal experience, there will be readers in the  media 
center, and classes can sign up for those sessions. The art teacher will be 
teaching lessons on book illustration. The band class will perform Seussical march. 
Students and staff will be encouraged to dress like Seuss.

Characters, and a representative of the Cat's will pass out a yellow award slip to 
those caught reading on March 2. Not really "special" but I am offering all 
teachers to come to their room for 10-15 minutes and read the class humorous poetry.

 In our district March 2 is read-a-loud day. This is organized by a group called 
the San Francisco School volunteers. They provide readers,  authors, and others to 
come to classrooms to read. I am having an author, and several volunteers come. I 
have also recruited several teachers,  paraprofessional staff and administrators to 
read. My thought is to show the kids as many adults reading as possible that day.

In our Middle School, the kids are bringing something to read (book,magazine, 
newspaper, etc.) and something to eat, and we're reading and eating during our 
language arts classes. We are also doing a travelling story again this year (we 
tried it for the first time last year, and it was a lot of fun).

Students sign up a few days before the event. I start the story by writing one 
stanza (Dr. Seuss style) and read it over the intercom. Then the students come into 
the library one at a time and add stanzas to the story.  We had quite an amazing 
story last year!  I'm looking forward to this one again.

Finally, we're having reading buddies with our younger students (we're a K-8 
building). The middle school students bring their favorite Seuss book from home and 
will be paired with a k - 3 student to read to them.

The  elementary school:

1.  Served Green Eggs and Ham at breakfast
2.  Made a huge paper cake and classes voted for favorite Dr. Seuss book and put it 
on one of the candles.
3.  Trivia questions were used on the daily announcements

During the months of January and February I have the 5th and 3rd graders read as 
many of the Dr. Seuss books as possible. The 5th graders will be responsible for 
writing  the questions for the 3rd grade "Dr. Seuss Trivia Contest".  On the 
library day closest to his birthday we celebrate:  trivia contest, pictures to 
color, I have parents do face painting and they bring cupcakes to share.
Go to www.nea.org and click on their Read Across America link.

 Thanks for all of the Oobleck recipes.  Most of them were variations on the 
cornstarch and water combination, but there were some other combinations.

 I am sending examples of both:

 Oobleck  (Note: this one seems incomplete but there is another recipe following)

 1 - 8 ounce bottle of glue

 Fill empty bottle with water and stir.

 Mix in a bowl:

 Add green food coloring

 In another bowl stir in 1 cup of water and 1 1/2
 teaspoons of borax powder

 Pour into glue mixture stirring constantly.


 *Here's the Oobleck recipe:

 Equal parts cornstarch and water (2 cups was suggested)
 Green food coloring

 Mix it up!

 ********************************************
 *This is a more detailed description of
 Oobleck-making.

 This is really quite simple to make. Put cornstarch in a bowl. Then put water into 
a measuring cup (not as much as the cornstarch- maybe 1/4 as much). Add some green 
food coloring to the water. Then pour the green water into the cornstarch (slowly) 
and mix it with a spoon until the right consistency. The Oobleck should seem as 
though it is hardish i.e. when you put your spoon in (or in a primary teachers case 
- hand) it almost resists you (it is really quite firm). However, when you hold 
your hand still (or the spoon) it kind of oozes off in a runny stream. If you have 
ever made the roux for gravy with water and cornstarch you will realize the stages 
the cornstarch goes through. The amount of Oobleck dictates the amount of 
cornstarch needed. If you make it too runny, just add more cornstarch.


SANDY'S READ ACROSS AMERICA SUBMISSION:
http://www.forsyth.k12.ga.us/schools/mashburn/activities/scrpseus
s.htm

AND TO PLAN YOUR NEXT EVENT, TRY . . .
RESOURCES TO CELEBRATE READ ACROSS AMERICA:
http://www.nea.org/readacross/resources/index.html

Find certificates, book selections, and other resources to help
you plan your own events.

SUGGESTIONS FOR READ ACROSS AMERICA:
http://www.nea.org/readacross/wb_read.html

Teachers from all over the country have sent in their own event
ideas, suggestions, and comments on this page.

GRADE ONE READS ACROSS AMERICA:
http://www.homestead.com/msross/readacross.html

"Read Across America" is the special celebration with special
activities for Dr. Seuss's Birthday. Go to www.ala.org go under "events" for all 
sorts of suggestions.

We have been celebrating RAA for 4 years. I dress like the Cat in the Hat and read 
to the pre-K to 4th, other classes do a special Seussian D.E.A.R. (drop everything 
and read).

Using the theme of green eggs & ham have a contest that the kids try to list as 
many foods that "go together" as possible -- like peanut butter & jelly.  We also 
rewrote the announcements for March 2 in Seusseze -- you know, rhyming everything 
in silly ways.

Today, our mayor declared next Friday, Read Across Laurel Day.  Our students were 
photographed with her and an article will run in our local paper.

Each of our teachers has chosen a book and decorated their door, bulletin boards, 
walls, etc. We will have guest readers come in throughout the day.  We are having 
an assembly that morning and 2 of our second grade classes will act out "The 
Sneetches" while one of the teachers reads it out loud.

Our coach will have games during the PE time that include: Green Eggs and Ham Spoon 
Race, Fox in Socks Sack Race, etc. One year I even made a 6 foot birthday cake out 
of chicken wire and paper.  That year our cafeteria department served green eggs 
and ham for breakfast.

I asked teachers to let me know the titles of their favorite books.  I printed out 
pictures of the covers from amazon site (don't start yelling at me about copyright) 
and taped them on a poster board and gave each a number. I made a list of the 
teachers' names and put a blank beside each one. Students can come by the library 
and pick up an entry form and take a look at the pictures and either try to guess 
what book goes with what teacher or take the form around to the teachers and ask 
and fill in the number beside the name. (Some teachers will tell, some won't.)  We 
are giving prizes on RAA Day for the most correct answers.  We are a new school and 
the students are getting to meet some teachers, and vice versa, they did not know 
before
in this way.

Our elem. librarian is planning to have some parents come in to read, but she also 
devised this contest where she constructed a "Seuss" hat made of a clear cylinder 
and a felt brim and filled it with red and white M&Ms. The object is to guess how 
many M&Ms are in the hat. The kid who gets closest gets the candy for his/her class.

I've been at schools who were visited by the Cat in the Hat (NJEA members).

I'm having the kids all make hats and everyone in the building will wear a hat (a 
Cat in the Hat hat stapled onto a headband). I have guest speakers for every class. 
I made up packets for all of the teachers. I'll be doing my lessons around Dr. 
Seuss all week and I've put up bulletin boards all over the building.

We are having a contest which incorporates "Library Lovers Month" with "Read Across 
America" at our library. By homeroom, every time a child reads a book and sends a 
paper with their name, homeroom, book title, author, and number of pages, they 
receive 25 mileage points. If they include a short summary and opinion of the book, 
they receive a bonus 50 mileage points. The lower grades (K-2) can submit a picture 
about the book in lieu of a written summary. The books must be on their 
grade/reading level. We are traveling from Ocean City, Maryland to Sacramento, 
California by way of US 50. We have placed maps for each grade in the library so 
they can see their progress. The contests runs the entire month of February and the 
winning class will be announced on March 1. The prize is an ice cream party and 
movie. Competition is fierce! One 4th grade class with 27 children read more than 
80 chapter books in the first week and a half! The teachers are even participating.

Besides dressing up like the Cat and serving birthday cake I was thinking of doing 
some kind of a matching game from the celebrity book pics on the NEA page with the 
stars kids had heard of and their favorite children's books.

Another thing I'm planning is to use Styrofoam cups and draw red stripes on them 
and make a cardboard base for a hat rim. Have candies in them that the kids get 
after they do their celebrity match up and other quizzy things. I wanted to do an 
all school time for the reading oath that is also on the resource page of the NEA 
website. I'm going to blow up the favorite kid and teacher lists too so the kids 
can see them.

Check out what my school is doing:
http://www.lumberton.k12.nj.us  then click on "F.L. Walther School" link and then 
on the read across America link.

For Dr. Seuss' birthday this week, I read one of my old-time favorites, Bartholomew 
and the Oobleck to grades 1-3.  Many of my students were not familiar with this one.

When I read books with lots of dialogue, I change the voices for each of the 
characters - so for the royal magicians I used a really low, mystical, monotone 
voice.  One student commented during the story:  "Those guys sure have strange 
voices, don't they, Mrs.H?"  It seems he was so immersed in the story, he didn't 
realize "I" was "those guys."

Our pre first class made darling cat in the hat hats Friday.  They took a cheap 
paper plate and cut the center out so it looked like a donut.  Then they stuck 
white paper up through the center and glued it in a circle, then added a  strip of 
red, then white, then red, then on the top put the cut out part of the paper plate 
for the top of the hat.

I've been using a really nice game that can be purchased through Amazon.com. It is 
a board game, but I've revised into a combination "Who wants to be a millionaire, 
and several other games.  I.E. they can phone a friend, or do 50/50 or poll the 
audience, if they don't know the answer.

It is: Dr. Seuss Trivia Game in Collectible Tin Box
by University Games  Price: $19.99
University games has some other Dr. Seuss games available at their site:
http://www.areyougame.com
 Type Dr. Seuss into the search box and see the many games available.

We made Cat Hats for everyone provided by NJEA and Saturn car co. Guest readers 
from the local University visited in each classroom. Finley, the Riversharks 
baseball team mascot visited. Evening Family story time from 7 to 8 pm with three 
teachers reading books, a fake bonfire, and cookies and juice. Friday everyone came 
dressed in back shirt and pants. We added the hats we made, and red bow ties. Too 
cute!

 Assembly with University president reading Cat in the Hat while filmstrip 
illustrations were projected on a screen, class presentation of Chicken Soup with 
Rice and Junie B. Jones, and a visit from Captain Underpants and the Cat in the 
Hat. Then prizes were given out. Books and software  from Scholastic book fair, and 
a few other items were wrapped and presented to fifteen kids whose names were drawn 
from our Cat box.


Our weeklong celebration of reading ending with Read Across America on March 1 was 
great. Since this year's battle was to drum up interest for next year, I chose 
titles that many kids had read. I had a different set of questions for 5/6 and 7/8. 
That worked well. There was a battle in each grade level reading class then a 
battle within each grade and finally the Grand Battle on 3/1 was between grades. 
(7th grade won - a team of all boys!) I let kids choose their own teams of 3-5 
students. Everyone seemed to enjoy it and are asking to do it again next year.

Now that I have the teachers interested and students excited I will use the format 
that seems to be the norm. That is choosing a list of books of wide interest, genre 
and difficulty, advertise that list and choose questions from those books. I 
thought I'd make that my summer reading list. I'm also considering having a 
different list for 5/6 and 7/8 and getting a champion from each. Then kids can read 
the other list if they want to. It might motivate some kids to read twice as many 
books! I will definitely use the suggestion to matchbooks with audiotapes so 
everyone can participate.

The biggest difficulty I ran into was determining who rang their bell first so we 
may go to the format of asking each team the same number of questions so we take 
out the speed factor (although the kids love that part!)

 We also had other activities going - during lunch we made Dr. Seuss
hats one day; bookmark making was such a hit we did it several days and I
think I'll make the materials available all the time and kids can do it as
wanted. I provided construction paper, glue stick, markers, gel pens,colored
pencils, bookmark templates, book mark ideas and the biggest hit was old
calendars to cut things out of, esp. Mary Engebreit and Children's Book
Council calendars have great things. Friday was dress as your favorite Dr.
Seuss character Day. I was the Cat in the Hat which even my big (taller than
me) 8th grade boys loved. Our first prize went to a girl whose mother had
braided her hair into a sculpture like design. I had the cafeteria make Dr.
Seuss treats which were oddly colored cupcakes. Kids got their name in a
drawing for each Reading Counts test they passed or for each Book
Recommendation they filled out. I displayed the recommendations all over the
library with the book and the check out rate for those books has been
amazing. We had a Reading Marathon all day Friday with guest readers -
Superintendent, parents, local university athletes. I brought in a rocking
chair and lamp and put good reads next to it. The kids love the rocking
chair so I'll have to get one for all the time.

We all had fun. Reading was celebrated and then we started this week
off with a site visit from the Blue Ribbon school committee to determine if
we are up to their standards.

 One year I had the A-Cat-amy awards. I had all grade levels vote for
their favorite books. From the results I made categories and put the
answer in an envelope. We had an assembly to announce the winners.

Example:

The nominees for the best picture book enjoyed by 1st graders the nominees
are (I would list the top 3) open the envelope and announce the winner.
I had different categories for each grade level. Series, subject etc.

We sent a teddy bear with a Dr. Seuss hat to all the classrooms in turn. When the 
bear arrived, the class would stop what they're doing and read.

All the elementary schools across the district do a stop everything and read for 15 
minutes at the same time on a certain day.

Everyday is an event school-wide...I did it a few years ago and can't
remember all the days...connect activity to a book.each day...
Monday-
Tuesday-
Wednesday- Wacky Wednesday (kids wear two different shoes or clothes backwards)
Thursday-Crazy hat day--Cat in the Hat hats or a wacky hat.
Friday- One, Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish--Everyone wears red or blue that 
day.

We had a guess the red fish in container game..winners at each grade
won a Dr. Seuss book.

 I have also gone to seussville website....printed some characters and
made a memory /concentration match game...

One year (while I was in an elementary library) I had the fifth grade students make 
up a spoof on the lines of Hooray for Diffendoofer Day. Then they illustrated and 
we put the pages in sequential order up the halls. When the week was over, I put 
the pages together into a book, and the kids could check it out if they wanted to.

I also had younger students make posters on the subject - Why read? The
posters decorated the school and library walls.

In many classes we did author studies and learned about Theodore Geisel.

One year I made a Seussish Turtle, the kids wrote a sentence about their favorite 
book, put the author and title of the book on it and then decorated it. The kids 
put them in shelf order and then we made a huge stack of them that went up the wall 
and across the ceiling of the library.

The little ones (maybe first or second grade) made a circus train that was as big 
as we could make it (I think that we used bulletin board paper). They created their 
own characters, we cut them out and added them to the train.

With one class we read And to Think that I Saw it on Mulberry Street,and the kids 
created exaggerated tales and picture of what they had seen.

Our summer reading program is Reading Across America. Perhaps
some of the websites on my page will help.
http://www.websterschools.org/classrooms/state_library/usa.html

If you are an NEA member there is information available through
NEA, if you contact your local or NJEA president there should be packets of
information available.

Students and teachers may bring in their favorite books to share.
On Wednesday, March 1, 2000 - The Foot Book Day
Students may wear two different shoes to school
On Thursday, March 2, 2000 Dr. Seuss’s Birthday
Students may wear funny hats to school.

Students and staff in all four elementary schools will read silently from 10:15 
a.m.-10:30 a.m.

On Friday, March 3, 1999 - One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, BLUE Fish -  Students may 
wear Wilson School T-shirts/sweat shirts or anything blue and white.

Guess how many Swedish fish are in the jar? Winners get a Dr. Seuss book. (Note: 
Swedish fish are colorful and similar in texture to Gummi-worms, etc. Usually come 
in a cellophane bag or plastic container)

Guest readers will visit the library.

The following are some websites that the children can enjoy!!!!

http://www.randomhouse.com/seussville/
http://www.seuss.org/seuss.home.html
http://www.nea.org/readacross/games.html
http://k12.albemarle.org/MurrayElem/White/Seuss/seuss.shtml

Have a coffee time for the faculty and parents so they can come in and see the new 
books, etc. serve refreshments. displays books, resources.

Have a poster contest about books throughout all grades. Ask teachers,
staff, friends, and authors to come and judge for you. You might ask the local 
newspaper
to come.

Have students dress as their favorite book character and have a parade, etc.

Using an opaque projector, make silhouettes of as many Dr. Seuss
characters as possible. (Draw just the outline of the character. Cut it
out on black paper and glue onto white poster board). Number them and
post them all around the school. Have a contest to see who can identify the
most.

One year I organized a fund raising program for a fellow teacher battling Leukemia. 
 Our elementary students raised $900 ! It was amazing and the kids loved it!  I 
created a chart
for reading minutes. The person the child asked to “sponsor them” could fill in the 
amount of money they wished to donate “per page.” Most people paid a penny or five 
cents. I made an enormous hat and placed it in the media center. Students brought 
down the collection bags each morning. After I counted the money I announced our 
running total. I had a thermometer in the front hallway to indicate how much money 
we raised.

Rocking chairs in the hallway while students read silently (timed).

The principal will_____________ (you fill in the blanks) if students
read___________ minutes by the end of the week. (one year our principal shaved
his head, then the next we rented a dunking machine, and another year kids who had 
read a certain # of  minutes threw pies).

**********************************************************************************
Joanne Ladewig, Library Media Technician (A.K.A. "Library Lady")
Lawrence Elementary, GGUSD Garden Grove, California
shatz1@earthlink.net

" You may be only one person in the world, but you may also be the world to one 
person."
- - - comments are my own and may not reflect those of my employer- - -

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