Dr. Seuss Week

We had a fun week celebrating the great Dr. Seuss through our dress up days, stories, and fun activities.

The Trillium discovered who Dr. Seuss was and his job as an author and illustrator.  Then we read Fox and Socks and found rhyming pairs.  We had a great time making up rhymes.

The Huckleberries read, Oh, Say Can You Say and also worked on creating rhyming pairs.  We discussed our favorite rhymes from our Dr. Seuss books and then worked on fun coloring activities.

The Clarkia classes had lively discussions about how our land has changed over time since the Oregon Trail days.  We read The Lorax and what purposes Dr. Seuss may have had for writing a book like this.  Did he see our land changing?  Do we see our land changing?  Is this a good thing or bad thing?  What do we notice about the land changing around us and what are we doing to improve it or not to improve it?  It lead to some very interesting questions, comments, and dialogue about our small town of Molalla and the way it has used the resources and land around it.  It was an intriguing discussion as the students wrapped their minds around the dilemma it creates when we want to use resources and create jobs and what happens when we lose those resources or jobs.  We learned that this book caused some controversy when it was first published.  It was inspiring to see these young minds strive to create solutions for proper care for our land and each other.

The Alders read The Sneetches.  The story about star-bellied Sneetches and those without and what happens in their community as one tries to become like the "other" and the other trying to not to become the "other".  In a shared google doc we explored questions quietly through our typing..."What causes one group of people to think that they are better then others?  What makes someone "cool" ?  What causes fads to happen?"  This book was written after World War II with the purpose of making others see what happens when we discriminate.  The Alders had well thought out responses to the questions and it was a fun way to enter into a class discussion without the use of verbal communication.

The Cedars read Hooray For Diffendoofer Day!  This fun story is written about a school who has to take a test to show the world what they know.  If they don't pass the test they will all be sent to dreary Flober town where there is no fun in learning at all.  This was perfect timing with our state testing coming up in the next month.  We discussed the question through a shared google doc, "Miss Bonkers made this quote: “We’ve taught you that the earth is round, that red and white make pink, and something else that matters more We’ve taught you how to think.” Discuss the meaning. Does thinking matter more? WHY or WHY NOT? How have you been taught to think this year? What strategies can you use when you must think about answers you don’t have?" We were so engaged in our responses that we are still working on them. I hope to post their answers to this questions next week.