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Celebrate Read Across America and Dr. Seuss' birthday by setting these fun literacy and math activities and the lively stories of Dr. Seuss on the loose at your next Family Night!
Please Note: Since I am not currently teaching, I have not been able to implement these ideas with my students at our annual family nights. So, if you have benefited from these ideas and have chosen to use them with your class or school, I would love to see a photo or two of your activities. I may even place them on this site (with your permission, name, school, and date of event of course =) ) Enjoy! I hope you have a great Seuss-filled evening!
Let students create their own Cat in the Hat Edible Hat Why: To practice following directions; to reinforce that print has meaning; to practice tracking print left to right
How: (Note: Each person in your family may make a 'Create a Snack'.) 1) Take 1 napkin.
Why: To match numerals to sets; to practice using one to one correspondence How: Printables:
Why: To practice sorting by color, size, etc. How: (Note to teachers - Use pictures of all kinds of hats in different colors and sizes. Some suggestions, fireman's hat, police hat, chef's hat, hard hat, western hat, baseball cap, sun visor, straw hat, bonnet, ski mask, stocking cap, and of course a Seuss style hat! I found a few hat pictures in Pictograms: Graphing Pictures for a Reusable Classroom Grid (Blackline Masters) by Laura Duncan Choate and JoAnn King Okey, Dale Seymour Publications, 1989 (ISBN 0866514872) )
Why: To practice making sets of objects to correspond with numerals (4-10); to join sets of objects and count how many there are in all How: Printables:
Why: To practice identifying the letters and sounds at the beginning of pictures How: (Note: You may keep this game if you wish so that you can play again and again at home! It is a game that can be played with 2 people or with 2 teams.) 1) Lay the picture cards face down in a pile.
Why: To increase fine motor skills; to practice orally retelling the main idea of a story How: 1) Trace a Sam-I-Am head pattern onto white paper. Then cut it out.
Why: To reinforce letter recognition; to match upper and lower case letters; to practice identifying the letters at the beginning of pictures How: Printables: Here is a variation sent by Tessa Scheperle. Thanks for sharing! Horton's Uppercase Letters A-L
Why: To measure and compare length using a non standard measurement How: (Note: There are two different activities at this station.) 1) Choose a mat with a picture of an item on it to measure. Use the unifix cubes to measure the length of the object. Then count and record the number of cubes you used. (Note to teachers: Either collect and use real items or trace the outline of various sized items onto cardstock, draw a line next to each object, for easier measuring, and then laminate for reuse! Provide sheets with either a smaller picture and word or just the word for students to record the number of cubes long each item actually is.)
If I Ran The Zoo Stations
Why: To make sets of objects to correspond with numerals (1-20); to use objects to add and subtract How: (Note: There are two different activities at this station.) 1) Choose a zoo animal cage that has a numeral on the top. Read the number out loud and then count that many animals into the cage. 1. Today, Gerald McGrew brought 4 tigers and 5 seals to his new zoo. How many animals in all did he bring today? 2. Yesterday, Gerald sent 3 animals to each of his 4 friends. Count the total number of animals he gave to his friends. 3. Gerald was playing a game with 7 of the animals. 2 animals unexpectedly ran away. How many animals did he have left? 4. Before taking them to the zoo, Gerald hid 2 small snakes in his mom's purse and 3 bear cubs under a blanket. How many hidden animals did he have that may surprise his family later? (Don't try this at home!) 5. Gerald made a house for the monkeys. He placed 3 monkeys in the kitchen and 8 monkeys in the living room. How many monkeys did he place in the entire monkey house? 6. Gerald had 6 rabbits. When he opened the cage to place more rabbits inside, 3 rabbits jumped out! How many rabbits were left in the cage 7. Gerald collected 5 mini alligators and placed them near a river in the zoo. He noticed that 3 alligators liked it better under the trees. How many alligators liked being near the river still? 8. Gerald and his friends were looking for unusual animals. They found 2 strange black lions, 2 small polka dot seals, and 1 purple and gold striped cow. How many animals in all did they find on their hunt? (Note to teachers: I found some good animal picture cards in Building Better Language Skills, Creative Teaching Press, 2001, but you could also use a clipart CD!) Printables:
Why: To practice letter formation and letter/sound associations in context ; to encourage creativity by drawing/writing How: Printables:
Why: To develop beginning estimation How: (Note: There are three related activities at this station. They may be completed in any order.) 1) Look closely at the three jars with the goldfish crackers. Without counting, which jar do you think has the most/least goldfish inside? Move the numeral cards to reflect your prediction. Then lift the flap to show the number of goldfish in each jar. Which jar really did have the most/least? What might have made this difficult to determine? 2) Look at the largest jar containing goldfish crackers. Each family may make 1 prediction as to how many goldfish are in this jar. Write your families' prediction (number guess and first and last name) and then place it in the can. (You may win a prize if your families' estimate was the closest!) 3) Choose 1 paper fish bowl. Estimate how many paper fish will be able to fill the fish bowl. Once you have told someone your estimate, start placing fish on the fishbowl until it is completely filled (without overlapping the fish). Count to see how many fish could 'swim' in the fishbowl!
Printables:
Why: To match pictures that rhyme; to practice hearing sounds that are alike at the end of words How: 1) Grab a free fishing pole and fish for any fish in the stream. Say the name of the picture and then place it in your pail.. (Note to teachers: Create a stream or pond on the floor by using the large rolled bulletin board paper. Set out pails and fishing poles for the number of students you wish to participate at the station. Attach metal paper clips to each fish and magnets to the end of each fishing pole. Students have to 'fish' for the two fish that contain pictures that rhyme! The pail is for students to collect their fish matches in.) Printables:
Why: To practice identifying, copying, and making AB, AAB, ABC, & ABB patterns How: (Note: There are three patterning activities at this station that progress in difficulty.) 1) Choose 1 pre-made fish pattern strip. Place the exact same color and size of cutouts on top of the pattern strip. Can you continue with the same pattern off the edge of the strip? Recheck your pattern by going back to the beginning and pointing to each fish. Either say the color/size or letters for the pattern! 2) Use just the laminated cut outs of fish to layout and form your own pattern. Tell an adult what your pattern is or see if they can guess your pattern. 3) Use crayons and the fish outline sheet to color and create your own pattern. Make sure to tell someone your pattern and check it!
Printables:
Wacky Wednesday Stations
Why: To begin the development of the concept of time; to practice following verbal and pictorial directions; using fine and large motor skills How:
Why: To sequence events in the correct order; to reinforce the use of position words such as first, next, last How: 1) Choose one of the bags of story pictures.
Various Seuss Stations
Why: To encourage the enjoyment of each families' favorite Dr. Seuss story! How: As a family, decide which one of the many books written by Dr. Seuss your family would like to read together. There is not time to read them all in one night =). Read and enjoy the story together! (Note to teachers: Set up a cozy reading area for your families! Place pillows, cushions, some smaller reading lamps, a photo and short biography of Dr. Seuss on the wall, some pictures of famous characters from his stories, and of course many, many books written by Dr. Seuss!)
Why: To encourage oral language; graphing- to compare sets to see which has more or fewer items How: 1) Graph your favorite Dr. Seuss book used at tonight's Family Night! Each person in your family needs to write their first and last name on a sticky note and place the sticky note on the
graph to show which book is their favorite.
Why: To help us remember the fun we had with Dr. Seuss! How:
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