Dr. Seuss Experts: Just READ

Happy Read Across America Day! Dr. Seuss’ characters are often symbols used to represent reading on this day.

I’m obSEUSSed with Dr. Seuss but I’m not an expert by any means.  I’m inspired by Dr. Seuss’ whimsical world and his desire to help children love reading. I get a little carried away collecting Dr. Seuss ideas, so much so that I don’t have time to do all the Dr. Seuss activities I've seen on Pinterest or other blogs.  I’m busy planning a Dr. Seuss carnival for our elementary school happening mid March so I haven’t had time to plan anything to do at home to celebrate his birthday this weekend.   Yes, me, obSEUSSed. I have no elaborate Dr. Seuss crafts or projects planned this weekend. This is real life, with three kids.

So, here’s my plan:   I’m just going to READ to my kids.  Nice and simple. That is what the NEA’s Read Across America Day is really all about.  Just pick up a book and read with your kids.  Just ask the experts.

THE EXPERTS

Although it is fun to see other bloggers’ and teachers’ ideas across the web, my most favorite and trusted official resources for Dr. Seuss are the following.

SEUSSVILLE

Seussville is the Official Dr. Seuss site. They have online games, videos, a store filled with Dr. Seuss products and more.
They also have excellent teacher and parent sections including this book guide.


Random House, the official publisher of Dr. Seuss books, has official worksheets and games at their site too.


The National Education Association runs the Read Across America campaign. Today they are celebrating RAA for the 16th year.  This program focuses on motivating children and teens to read through events, partnerships, and reading resources.  They also have a store with Dr. Seuss products (great for party planning) and excellent education resources.


Scholastic has excellent Dr. Seuss resources as well. Check out: Dr. Seuss  Everything You Need. They also have a fun Dr. Seuss Weekly Reader online


As I mentioned earlier this week, I love that PBS has joined with Dr. Seuss to present The Cat in the Hat Knows A Lot About That! The children’s TV/DVD series. You can also watch episodes online, play games and they have a store too.


I’ve featured several of Oceanhouse Media’s Dr. Seuss book apps on obSEUSSed before.  They have done an excellent job of keeping the books simple and true to their original feeling while making them interactive for kids to touch and hear the words and sounds that go along with the story. They now have the ‘Read and record’ feature so you can record your voice reading and play it back with the book.


And I can’t forget our favorite official Dr. Seuss board game creators. Wonder Forge has creative and classic games for preschoolers and grade school children. Just take a look at their site featuring all their games.


I hope you enjoy visiting these Dr. Seuss experts when you’re ready for some Seusstastic fun. Even though I haven’t planned anything other than reading, I know I can pull up The Cat in the Hat on PBS.com, or have my kids play a Dr. Seuss book app or pull out a board game without any planning – or craft supply gathering- necessary.

Disclosure: I am not affiliated with Dr. Seuss Enterprises or any of these companies in any way. I have not been compensated by them for this post. I enjoy their resources and hope you will too.

Book Order Bucks, Reading Incentive Bookmarks

Book Order Bucks - Bookmarks
This past year I created Book Order Bucks for my first-grader. For each chapter book she finishes reading she fills out the title on the blank bookmark/buck. She has been flying through the Rainbow Fairy series. 
If she reads five books she gets $5 credit for the next book order that she receives at school. We love getting book order forms from Scholastic. They have great prices and everything is divided by reading levels. It can add up when my daughter circles 13 books she wants. This incentive program helps her learn to budget what she has earned.

SUMMER READING INCENTIVE
During the summer I tell her she can pick out five books at the thrift store as her reward. This is a better deal for me because the books are only 50 cents. It motivates her to keep reading and she loves seeing her progress and tracking how many books she has read.

Book Order Bucks: Free Printable for non-commercial use.

Click on the picture. Copy and paste into word, resize if needed. Print on green paper to look like money.
Happy reading!

Best Books for Boys: Book Review

My five-year-old son is currently learning sight-words.  We read plenty of picture books together but I’m trying to figure out the next step to help him learn to love reading.
 
How Do You Get Boys to Love Reading and What Books Should They Try?

I was thrilled to see this new book from Scholastic, Pam Allyn’s Best Books for Boys (K-8). How to Engage Boys in Reading in Ways That Will Change Their Lives.

Pam is also a mom and literacy advocate. She is the Executive Director of LitLife and LitWorld, organizations developing strategies for children’s literacy on the national and global level. In this book she focuses on strategies to encourage boys to love reading. Just what I was looking for.

I had heard friends say that it was harder to get boys reading than girls and Pam shares a list of statistics supporting that boys do struggle with reading more. Because of that, she founded and directs an initiative called Books for Boys and created this book for teachers and parents to use as a guide. 

Pam gives a variety of modern tips about how to engage boys in reading. She suggests books aren’t the only things we should have boys read. Additional reading options include video games, texting, sports page/magazines, websites and blogs.  Anything that interests them, encourage them to keep reading. Surround them with words. We also shouldn’t stereotype books into gender as it is just as fine for boys to read Anne of Green Gables as much as Diary of a Wimpy Kid.  Find out what they are interested in and find something they can read about it.

Pam presents the “READ Model” including four elements to create a love of reading.

R- Ritual

E – Environment

A- Access

D- Dialogue

We need to create a reading environment, make reading accessible, make reading a habit and talk about what we are reading.

The final and largest section of the book, Pam shares her favorite books for boys by reading level and genre. Starting with Flat Stanley for emerging readers, she gives a description of each book she suggests and gives a discussion or activity idea to go with each book.

This book was very well organized and will be a great reference book to use now and as my son grows older. Pam Allyn’s Best Books for Boys is a much needed resource for anyone teaching boys to read. After reading this book, I can’t wait to check out the books Pam suggests for emerging readers. I’ve already put several books on hold at the library that I hadn’t heard of.
 
CREATING A READING ENVIRONMENT:
 
I loved how Pam separated her picks into categories so much that I decided to organize the books in my son’s room by genre so he could find his favorite books better.
I grabbed some containers from IKEA and grouped his books into categories. 
     Box #1 – Trucks, Trains and Cars
     Box #2 – Dinosaurs and Animals
     Box #3 – Story books, Pirates and Lego
     Box #4 – Superhero books, Star Wars and Firefighters

He has a transportation themed room so we have the alphabet train (a classroom border) along the wall so we can play letter games and recite the alphabet together. (Anything to get more letters around him.)

I found some pictures on Google Images to match my categories and printed them out. Some were outline images I had my son color to get him involved. Then I helped him sound out the words to match the pictures and put them on the boxes.

What are your favorite boy books?  My son has been on a pirate kick lately.

Disclosure: I was sent a free electronic copy of Pam Allyn’s Best Books for Boys. All opinions are truthful and my own.


Linking this idea to more great ideas at: