Celebrating Dr. Seuss!

Hello from Fitchie’s room! Today, I am going to share a peek into our Dr. Seuss week! This week is so much fun with my kiddos and I want to share it! Below is one of the activities we do during the week and I’ve laid it out (I hope) in a way that will show our process from start to finish. I’ve also shown how the activity covers concepts we work on even at this young age. I hope this is clear, not only for parents interested but also for any teachers out there who might find something useful!

One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish

Book by Dr. Seuss

Grade Levels: Early Childhood (3-4) - Kinder

Concepts/Skills: High/low; listening; fast/slow; big/little beat;

Day One: (3-5 minutes – depending on the age/grade level)

•          Read excerpt of book to students  - I find this age group doesn't have the attention span for this length of book yet. ;) In my classroom, I read to p. 15 - our Seussian friend is counting his 11 fingers!  I chose these pages because they briefly cover high/low and fast/slow, so I emphasize them while I’m reading.  

•          Discuss how it looks like these fish are up in the sky. Hmmm…. Do we know a song about fish up in the sky? They love to yell “YES!" Chant Fish in the Sky while moving around the room to the “feel” or beat of the chant (depending on where your students are in concepts). Also, use “big” beat or “little” beat if your students are working on these elements. I often use a fish puppet while we move around the room.

Day Two: (5-10 minutes - again, depending on the age/grade level)

•         Read excerpt again & allow students to count the 11 fingers – they LOVE to do this!

•        Make fish puppets!  (In my school, my class must cover all the arts areas for grades up to 1st,  so I incorporate art, theater and music in a comprehensive kind of way.) Now, obviously, this activity could be done however you choose as the classroom teacher. Here is the very basic activity plan I used.

o   Print/copy a fish template onto card stock. - I found a graphics set at www.letteringdelights.com that has both color and black/white graphics of fish. I simply inserted the graphic I wanted into Microsoft Power Point, resized till I was happy and printed away!

o   Cut out the fish template prior to class. (We wouldn’t have time to cut in my classes! )

o   Allow students to use washable markers to color, decorate or give their fish a design.

o   Write the student’s names on the back and using double-stick tape, adhere them to a small popsicle stick and Voila! Instant fish puppet. See one of my sweeties holding his fish? Isn't he cute! :)

Day Three:

•          In my classroom, we have what we call “choice time”. On Fridays, my Preschool and Kindergarten classes come in and have an exploration time with a center rotation of sorts.

o   Puppets & puppet stage – they choose puppets & put on a puppet show

o   Costumes & spotlight stage – they choose their costume & put on a show

o   Whiteboards & colorful markers – free draw

o    Scarves, streamers & hula hoops – I normally play the piano for this center and allow them to make up a movement to go with my song. Or sometimes, I take requests! 

o   Instruments – they may use any of the classroom instruments to play their own “thang" - I allow them use of all my percussion in the classroom and I also have several of the "B" toys from Target! Pictured below is the ever-so-popular "Symphony in B" - my kiddos LOVE to change the instruments and listen to their favorite tunes! 

•  During “choice time” the students come in small groups to the puppet center and use their fish puppets to put on a puppet show for me – they LOVE for me to be their audience. Here's a pic of my thespians in action and the TEENSY bit of chaos that ensues on Choice Day! Please excuse the not-so-ladylike shot of my not-so-better half. ;o)

 

• I give them the option of me singing a song for them to act out or they can put on their own show. They normally choose both.  I sing a melody I came up with one day, but you could use whatever would work for your class! 

 

My classes and I had such a blast with this activity! Hope you enjoyed the “low-down” and have a great week!  

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