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	The Cat in the Hat TM & (c) 1957 Dr. Seuss Enterprises, L.P. All Rights Reserved.

compiled by Kathleen Carpenter, Editor in Chief

Seuss Day So Much Fun! Posted by DL/K/Iowa

This has been our format for several years...so it now takes very little planning...we just do it...We divided our 44 K and 1st graders into four groups of 11 for the final two hours of the day. Associates and special teachers and the secretary were all involved. The first graders had made Dr. Seuss cookies (math) in the morning, baked them in the school kitchen. The cooks served green scrambled eggs and ham for lunch. The librarian had done Daisy Head Maisey project with the K kids earlier in the week). We rotated groups each half-hour. Group 1 (on a piece of foil so kids can wrap it up and take it with them if not finished) decorated and ate a Dr. Seuss cookie while listening to a teacher read. Group 2 listened to and acted out The Star-Bellied Sneetches. Group 3 made Cat in the Hat hats to wear and played Dr. Seuss Bingo and listened to a story. Group 4 (my activity) Oobleck! (science) My tired K's proclaimed it the "fun-est day ever!"

Our RAA Day Posted by Hyla

We spent the week reading Seuss books and doing projects which culminated with each child inviting a guest to read at 2:45-3:10. We wore our hats, played a self made tic tac toe game they read to us and we read to them and had a snack. Good time had by all.

Another wonderful Read Across America Day! Posted by Leslie/Alabama

I am so proud of my high school students. I am teaching a remediation class this term for seniors who have not passed the reading portion of the Alabama High School Graduation Exam. I planned a RAA event as a nice break.

All 30 of us donned a Cat Hat (their choice of color) which I made for them. We got into groups of five students each (two readers, one page turner/book introducer, one to pass out treats, and one to pass out bookmarks). We walked over to the elementary school and read to all the pre-k, k, and 1st grade classes. The students chose their books, practiced reading aloud, and did beautifully. They even had people entering the classrooms to watch them read.

We had one young lady and one young man dress as the Cat In the hat. They were wonderful!! I never thought they could have that much composure--future teachers I hope. They each had two Cat helpers who passed out stickers to the little kiddies.

I had two young people act as photographers on the new digital camera. They took some great pictures which I will attempt to link here if the rain ever stops to allow me to go to the car for them!

We had one student who was assigned to the press. Our local paper was able to send a photographer who stayed with the kids for over an hour taking pictures. We will be in the paper tomorrow instead of a picture of the superintendent reading to a class, like they usually have.

We ended our jaunt to the elementary school with a donation of the books we read to the elementary library--each signed by our students.

We had fun and we read. Posted by judy3ca

My darling third graders brought books, snacks to share, and pillows from home. We shared books, ate, read, and listened to the reader arranged by two wonderful fourth grade teachers. Our assigned reader was the school secretary and she did a great job. I managed to coerce the principal into reading when he made the mistake of stopping by. Fourth graders delivered milk and cookies for recess. Right before dismissal many parents came to hear our latest Reader's Theater. Very successful day, and lots of fun.

Our RAA Day Posted by southernteach

We had a great RAA day, too. Our theme was "Reading Roundup" and we had the kiddos (and teachers) dress as cowboys/girls. We built a "campfire" and had hay bales and cactus. The music teacher came in and sang cowboy songs with the kids, we read books, and the principal read "Armadillo Rodeo" complete with armadillo puppet. He came all decked out in boots, chaps, hat, badge, holster, and saddle bag which held his books. It was great! At the end we handed out bags of "trail mix" (Chex mix).

Door Decoration for Read Across America Posted by ASwan

Here is a door decoration I drew, and the first graders in room 7 at Smith Road Elementary School painted. Each student got to paint part of Cat in the Hat.

Read Across America Activities
Compled by Marcia Goudie from Teachers.Net mailrings

The Foot Book - Dr. Seuss

Children trace one foot on construction paper (provide an assortment of colors from which to choose), cut it out and write name on front. Display as "Meet Our Feet."

Animal tracks-study animal tracks in the snow (The Mitten could fit in here). Make painted human footprints on paper. Obtain rubber animal paws and press into dough or clay. Display with name and picture of the animal.

Class Book/s: Places I can walk to, Places I cannot walk to other modes of transportation

Don't forget to include Kim's kid-made Foot book - http://www.foresitecom.com/
kindernet/classbooks7.html

Foot Book

To prep for this book, you will need one sheet of white bond or construction paper for each child, pre-labeled with the student's name. Set up an area for making footprints. Of course, outside in the grass with a hose is ideal.....but not always possible! Sitting the child on a chair, paint the bottom of one foot black. (This does tickle, so be prepared!) Lay the pre-labeled paper on the ground and instruct the student to stand up on the paper to create a footprint. After the entire class has made a footprint, you will need to prepare a second set of clean, white, pre-labeled (on the back), bond paper to create the master copies for the book. Cut around the black footprints and affix to the new paper in the middle using a glue stick. With the child's name on the back, you know whose foot is whose. If wanted for future use, use a copier to copy the footprints so that you have a set of them to use for various measurement activities. Create some sentence strip frames that will say something like, "_________'s foot is _________cubes long." It is MUCH easier if you create the sentence using each child's name on your word processor, such as, "Marissa's foot is _________ cubes long." Also reproduce a number of unifix trains and put a strip across the top of the page---more cubes than will be needed. The students measure the footprint with cubes, count and color that many squares in the train, and write the number on the appropriate blank. There are different ways to complete the book. One way is for each student to have a book, so each student must measure 24 or so feet. It has been found that the high achievers of the class can do this at a center in one or two days, the middle students take several days, and the lower students seem to never get done! (You could require that everyone completes 2 pages a day, then the book would be completed in about two weeks.)Another way is to have each child complete his own page on the master copy, and then make copies of the completed pages for the classmates. Or, copy 4-5 blank footprint pages for each student, giving them a 5 page mini-foot book to measure, color, label, and take home. Then, with each student completing his own page on the master, make just one copy for a class book. The cover can be made by using footprint stamps, or having the students paint the side of their closed fist, blotting it on the cover, and adding little dot toes with their finger.

Books: Shoes by Elizabeth Winthrop, also Goody New Shoes

Shoe Graph - Kids all take off one shoe, make a class graph by type ( buckle, velcro, lace, etc.) or by color, or other attribute

Shoe Store - Set up a shoe store in the House area with different types of shoes, shoe boxes, homemade size charts,etc.

Sensory Walk - On long strip of poster paper, set up a path with different textures to walk on. Start with sand, move to hay or grass, then to cotton, then to paint or pudding, to make footprints, then to shaving cream, and finally to water. Don't even attempt this one without several helpers to hold hands while walking. P.S. Go potty first! Use footprint section of the paper for a mural.

Art - Use various real baby or doll shoes to do printing with paint. Make sock puppets.

Use the traced feet as a non-standard unit of measurement and have the kids measure things in the room...OR have them find things longer, shorter, or the same size as their own foot.

Story: Rosie's Walk...Map her walk and label with the things that she saw.

Story: The Elves and the Shoemaker

1. Compare different types of shoes. When would you wear each? What might happen if you wore them at an inappropriate time, for example, if you wore ballet shoes to play soccer, etc.
2. Concept of 'pair'. What else comes in pairs?
3. Trace and cut out feet. Compare sizes (longer, shorter, wider, the same, etc.)
4. Graph the kinds of shoes the class is wearing.
5. In discussing story--how did the elves help the shoemaker? How did the shoemaker and his wife help the elves? Extend discussion: How can we help others less fortunate (a good discussion at this time of the year especially
6. Introduce the sh sound (shoe), the /f/ sound (feet)
7. How many feet are in our classroom?
8. One of my kiddos' favorites is to use plastic animals (small & large) to paint -- choose ones with distinctive feet & children can later review which was used for which prints.
9. Follow cut-out footprints through an obstacle course.
10. Compare sizes of feet/shoes within the class.
11. Get four old shoes from your closet, graph the children's guesses as to which one will go furthermost when thrown. Go outside and test. Review results of predictions
12. Use the same 4 shoes and have the children decide what type of activity you do in those shoes. Make up a story about when you wore those shoes. What was the weather when they were worn, what stockings did you wear with the shoes? Etc.
13. Have the children make a prediction as to how many shoes are in their closet at home. Homework: Count the shoes in closet. Come back and compare numbers. Was their original guess an even number? Brainstorm "Why is it?"
14. Put all feet in the center of learning circle and count by twos.
15. During circle time teacher picks out all children that have buckle shoes (don't tell them) and they stand up. Have the children guess what each child has in common. Do the same with brown shoes, rubber sole shoes, white shoe laces,... Finding common attribute is a fine characteristic to build.
16. Brainstorm all the different types of shoes, write an emergent reader:

Book:

How Big is A Foot? I use this when introducing standard measurement. Children make a construction paper tracing of foot, cut it out and measure the same items. Leads to a better understanding of need for standard measurement.

Animal Tracks - just did this. Students loved it and came out great! Read Big Book of Animal Tracks by Arthur Dorros. Made copies of animal tracks. Students took one track put it on white paper with title, WhoseTrack is This? Underneath on another paper they wrote the animal name and a sentence about the animal.

Make FOOT BOOKS by writing a class story on sentence strips or large strips of paper. a class book based on One Potato, Two Potato - one foot, one apple etc. The students sequence the story on the floor and then place foot prints next to each strip. The idea is for them to 'read the strip' as they "walk" the story. I thought this was a really neat way to use a predictable chart and literacy centers.

Book: How Big Is A Foot? This is the story of the king who wanted to make a bed for the queen. He measured the bed and had an apprentice make the bed. The apprentice’s feet were smaller and the bed was too small. After reading this I gave the students feet and they measured each other to see how big their bed would be. We measures length, width and circumference.

FEET

Book: Whose Shoe? by Margaret Miller

Shoes, by Elizabeth Winthrop

1. Classification

• Buckle
• no buckle
• color
• heel
• no heel

1. Compare and Contrast Shoe Rubbings

• smooth---rough
• words---no words
• slippery---rubber
• plus many more

How Many Feet in the Bed? Diane Johnston Hamm

Have the children use pictures, numbers and words to explain how many feet are in the bed. How many toes are in the bed. How many people are in the bed.

The Foot Book By Dr. Suess
Find out how many feet are in The Foot Book. How many pairs of feet are in the story? Use pictures, numbers, and words to explain your answer.

Extension: Draw all the living things that live in your house. How many feet?

Math and Literature (K-3) Book One by Marylin Burns

Read How Big is a Foot? By Rolf Myller until the apprentice went to jail. Discuss apprentice's problem. Write letter to the apprentice and offer him advice how to get out of jail. Or write to the king explaining why it isn't fair that the apprentice went to jail.

The Napping House By Audrey Wood

Read the story. When all the sleepers were piled up how many feet were in the bed? Explain your answer using pictures, numbers, and words.

Exploring nonstandard measurement with shoes - Give a group of students several objects of varying lengths to examine and sort into groups. Students can then find 10 objects in the classroom that are one shoe in length, thereby, practicing the estimate and confirm strategy. Repeat for two shoe lengths. How many shoes long are you? How many shoes long is your desk? How many shoes long is a table? How many shoes long is the classroom? Discuss proper measurement techniques: no gaps between shoes; no overlaps; no part hanging over. Find a tiled floor in the building. Estimate how many shoes to go around a tile. Measure and confirm. After completing edge measurements of the desk, table, a tile, introduce the vocabulary perimeter. Advanced Challenges: How many shoes to go around the room? Body Measurement -- Estimate their height in shoes. Measure to confirm. Next measure arm span. Often I have students paint a picture of themselves then measure and label the parts on the painted picture.

Class book: Each child completes the sentence: I like to _____________with my feet. They illustrate their page, etc.

I saw an idea on a video for in-servicing teachers. It showed the children tracing their foot and then cutting it out of several layers of newspaper. They then used this as a non-standard unit to measure things. It turn out that every child was seven of their own feet tall, when measured. Another idea is to have every child trace circle templates onto a 12 x 18 inch page and then do rubbings from the bottoms of their classmates runners.

Have students work in groups of 4 to trace and cut out a footprint of each person, order them smallest to largest and glue on construction paper. Write sentences on sentence strips such as Ami's foot is smaller than Sam's foot. John's foot is the largest foot. Can also be used with <,>,=. Another math use of a footprint that has been traced and cut out: Use for measuring desks, doors, etc. Each student records measurements. Then discuss why the measurements aren't the same. Lead students to understand why "standard" measurement is needed. I had each child tell what they could do with their feet that they were particularly proud of. We made a class book out of it. EX. Bryce's feet can play soccer and kick goals. Dan's feet can take long hikes on Mt. Tam. Above the text, I had them trace their feet and then color in the color they liked best from the multicultural markers. I've also done this with the multicultural paints (having kids make their footprints), but this is something I do only when I'm feeling energetic! The kids like looking back at the sizes of each other's feet and recognizing each child's special skills. Great for community building. Others who work with very young children or in situations where you don't have easy access to washing facilities may find this idea useful: Talcum powder footprints on black paper. Have each child step on to a piece of scrap paper sprinkled with talcum powder and then on to a sheet of black paper. You can fix the footprints with hair spray but we don't and they last until the children take them home.