Read Across America: School Readathon and Printable Reading Log

Our elementary school PTA hosts a two-week read-a-thon for the students.  The past few years the theme has been Dr. Seuss so we coordinate it around Dr. Seuss’ birthday (March 2) which is also Read Across America Day. I have been lucky to help with the Dr. Seuss reading weeks for the last 3 years.

Students track their reading minutes for two weeks.  The top grade and the top student in each grade receive prizes.  All the students are rewarded with a Dr. Seuss Carnival Celebration at the end of the two weeks. The Cat in the Hat from our local PBS station (KBYU) attends our carnival.

FREE PRINTABLE DR. SEUSS STYLE READING LOG

Here is a sample of the reading log with details specific for our readathon.


I made a blank sheet that you can add to or use it like it is. There is also a version with 4 post card sized hats on one page.


I drew this hat inspired by the Cat in the Hat. This is available as a Free Printable to be used for educational purposes only in homes or classrooms. Please do not repost this image (or any others on this site) without permission.  See this printable and more Dr. Seuss printables here.

Accelerated Reader Challenge

This year we held an assembly read-a-thon for 45 minutes for all students in the gym.
They could take Accelerated Reading (A.R.) tests on laptops on the stage to correlate with the 'Read the Most Coast to Coast' National A.R. Challenge the same day. We showed the number of words being tracked nationally up on a screen. We had 20 laptop stations set up and kids lined up to take tests for an hour.

Nearly 600 students sat on the floor trying to quietly read. We handed out large Tootsie Pop suckers as they came in the door to help them stay quiet and enjoy a treat at the same time. I've blurred some faces to protect privacy.

I spotted one child reading Dr. Seuss and holding The Cat in the Hat.

Dr. Seuss Style Flash Mob

At the end of the read-a-thon one teacher stood in the middle of the room as I turned on the music and she started to dance.  10 seconds later, more teachers and a few PTA moms joined in the middle of the room and started dancing with a few coordinated moves ('Can Can" kicks and "The Wave" with books + more). Quickly, the students jumped to their feet and started dancing along too.  The entire room was a dance party dancing to the tune of Black Eyed Peas "I've Got a Feeling" song. The words were changed to "Gotta Keep Reading, cause this book's gonna be a good book!"  See a sample of this song on YouTube.

Click here to see a short video on Instagram. The sound is not good. I will post a better clip soon.

When watching the video back I spotted several kids who just sat on the floor and kept reading in the middle of the dance party. They were so into their books. I love that! I'm not even sure they realized the Grinch was up by the stage.

School Dr. Seuss Decorations

Our PTA created Dr. Seuss character cutouts with Dr. Seuss quotes and hung them throughout the hallways.  The large truffula trees each represent a grade to track reading minutes. At the end of the first and second week of the read-a-thon, a small Dr. Seuss character will climb the tree representing the minutes read. The first tree says ‘Whoville’ and represents our preschool and special needs classroom.

I made a few Truffula Trees too out of tissue paper and foam pool noodles or black plumbing foam. 

Principal Stuck on Reading
Our principal is a good sport. He got ‘Stuck on Reading’ for our school read-a-thon. These photos are from 2014 but we will be doing it again with our new principal on March 12.
 In the middle of the two week read-a-thon we asked students to bring their reading logs back to check in. If they have been reading, they got a piece of duct tape and got to tape the principal to the wall during lunch time.

He read several Dr. Seuss books while the kids added tape.

We used a white painters outfit so his clothes wouldn’t get ruined. He also wore the red and white stove pipe hat like The Cat in the Hat.

See how he is standing on a stack of books?  Once he was taped well, we took the books out and let him hang there. Truly ‘Stuck on Reading.’

VOTE FOR YOUR FAVORITE DR. SEUSS BOOK
We had five posters for popular Dr. Seuss books and asked the kids to sign their name and vote for their favorite.  I attached a cover of the books (from a bulletin board set) and a marker hooked to yarn so they could sign.  The kids had fun doing this while only 2-4 could be trying to tape the principal at a time.  It was also Fox in Socks Crazy Sock Day so there was a lot of energy buzzing around the read-a-thon for the day.  (What is your favorite Dr. Seuss book? Leave a comment below.)

Does your school do a read-a-thon? What kind of things do you do to motivate your students?  Have you ever had a read-a-thon at home?

The Top 10 Dr. Seuss Apps + Review, Giveaway and Sale

There are more than 50 Dr. Seuss digital book apps, all of them created by Oceanhouse Media. Just search the app store (available on iOS and Android) for SEUSS and you’ll see them all.  Oceanhouse uses the official Dr. Seuss illustrations staying true to his work and keeping that classic Dr. Seuss feeling as you read.  I still don’t think they’ll ever completely take the place of real paper books –at least I hope not- but apps bring a whole new interactive element to a child’s reading experience.
I was curious what the top 10 downloaded Dr. Seuss apps are, so I asked Oceanhouse. Here is the line-up:
Top 10 downloaded Dr. Seuss apps on iOS are… 

1. Cat in the Hat
2. ABCs
3. Green Eggs and Ham
4. The Lorax
5. One Fish Two Fish
6. How the Grinch Stole Christmas!
7. Dr. Seuss Treasury
8. Hop On Pop
9. Dr. Seuss Bookshelf
10. Fox In Socks

GIVEAWAY

To get you started with these book apps, we've got a giveaway for 5 classics (3 Winners will be selected).  Giveaway has ended. Winners have been notified.

Oceanhouse Media has offered to give away the Dr. Seuss Beginner Book Collection #1 (see my previous review of these apps here.) to three of my readers. It includes 5 classic Dr. Seuss books for iOS: The Cat in the Hat, One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish, The FOOT Book, Mr. Brown Can MOO! Can You?, and Fox in Socks, all in one convenient place.
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Regular price value of $14.99. This giveaway runs Feb. 26 – March 1, 2015. 3 winners will be randomly chosen at midnight MST on March 1, 2015.  I will email the code to the winner after confirmation. The code is for iOS apps.

Disclosure: I received a free copy of 3 Dr. Seuss omBooks and the Dr. Seuss Senders app for review. I’ve previously purchased many on my own too (because I love them). All opinions and experiences are my own.

I will also be giving a few Dr. Seuss ‘Happy Birthday’ book apps away on my Instagram feed this week so follow along (@victoria_obSEUSSed) to try to win a code.


Dr. Seuss Apps Review:
As I mentioned I have quite a few of the digital Dr. Seuss books already but I was happy to try out a few new ones. You can see my review of Oh the Thinks You Can Think app here.
We tried I Can Read with My Eyes Shut and Oh the Places You’ll Go.  They are the classic story, taken straight from the book. You can read it yourself, have it read to you and you decide when to turn the page or have it auto play where it turns the pages for you.
The ability to tap on the words or illustrations and have it say the word helps developing readers associate the words and pictures with word sounds.  All the sound effects are fun for kids too.


A great feature I’ve seen on most of the books (possibly all of them) is the ability to record your own voice and you become the narrator.  I like to record my voice so my kids can hear me reading the books to them as they play. My older kids like to take turns recording their voices every other page and adding sound effects at the end of their sentence.


Both of those apps are just like the books so you know what you’re getting.

I was able to try Inside Your Outside from The Cat in the Hat’s Learning Library. My kids spent the most time with this app and were fascinated by all the fun facts about bodies, like having 206 bones in our body. I really appreciate this book because I have Ankylosing Spondylitis (a form of arthritis that fuses my joints together) and I have a difficult time explaining it to my kids. The section on bones and joints was really helpful to have a better discussion with my kids about my bones.



I also tried the Dr. Seuss Senders app.  It offers pre-created graphics with cute Seussisms that you can share through email or save on your device and share on social media. I did suggest to Oceanhouse that it would be nice to see some square graphics that would work better to share on Instagram. They could also have more sharing options right in the app so you don’t have to save them on your device then share.  But I did like the cute graphics and sayings. I think they would be cute to print a few out and send in your child’s lunch box.


Dr. Seuss App Sale
Now is the time to grab your Dr. Seuss apps.  Oceanhouse media has a huge sale going on this week to celebrate Dr. Seuss’ birthday and Read Across America day.






 
 








This is a great time to get the Dr. Seuss Treasury (giving you access to all the Dr. Seuss book apps).  I already have a huge list of the books individually, but if you are starting out this is a great option to have access to 50+ Dr. Seuss book apps.  It is free to try for a week then the next time you access it, it will ask you to upgrade to the subscription.  Try it FREE for 7 days, then subscribe for unlimited access to a library of 55 digital books you can take with you anywhere.
This is really great for teachers to have in the classroom to reuse year after year. 
If you download the Dr. Seuss Treasury (iOS) app now you can choose..

• Free Book of the Month, available without a subscription
• 1 month: $4.99 (NEW!)
• 3 month: $10.99
• 1 year: $34.99 (regular price $49.99)
• Unlimited: $69.99 (regular price $99.99)

5 Best-Selling Titles - Just $0.99 each (Normally $3.99 - $4.99)

• The Cat in the Hat
• Green Eggs and Ham
• One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish
• Dr. Seuss’s ABC
• Oh, the Places You'll Go!

All Classic Dr. Seuss titles - $1 OFF
All Learning Library titles - $2 OFF
Collections

• Beginner Book Collection #1 - $9.99 (regular price $14.99)
• Beginner Book Collection #2 - $9.99 (regular price $14.99)
• Dr. Seuss Short Story Collection - $6.99 (regular price $9.99)

App Bundles (iOS only)

• Dr. Seuss Beginner Book Apps - $19.99 (regular price $29.99)
• What’s in the Water? - The Cat in the Hat’s Learning Library (Dr. Seuss) - $13.99 (regular price $17.99)

Dr. Seuss Book Apps available here:
iOS App Store: http://bit.ly/iosDrSeuss
Google Play: http://bit.ly/googlePlayDrSeuss
Amazon: http://bit.ly/amazonAppsDrSeuss
Nook: http://bit.ly/nookAppsDrSeuss

Dr. Seuss Costume Accessories Giveaway and Photo Booth Ideas

Get ready to celebrate Dr. Seuss’ birthday with some fun photo prop costumes.

We got to check out some fun Dr. Seuss accessories from Pure Costumes.  They sent us the Lorax Truffula Tree Boppers headband, the Cat in the Hat headband and the Lorax Accessory Kit (includes hat, sun glasses and mustache).  We also have a set to giveaway (see how to enter below). Here are my kids photo booth style.
Costume Review:
All three products are very professionally made.  They are not indestructible though, so I had to warn my kids to be soft with them so they didn’t break the first day. 
The Cat in the Hat, tiny hat, was squished when it arrived.  I tried to fluff it but it wouldn’t budge.  I finally grabbed an empty toilet paper roll and cut about 1 inch off the end then used the remaining part of the tube to stuff in the tiny hat and it fit perfectly and helped it keep its form.
As with all photo booth props, you probably want a grown-up monitoring the use of props or kids will get out of hand with them. The mustache is held on with a plastic thread that hooks around your head. It may not be great to have multi-users with this one if kids lick it or stretch the cords. 
Over all, I’m excited to use these photo booth props at our upcoming school Dr. Seuss carnival next month.
Pure Costumes offered an extra set of these Dr. Seuss costume photo props to give away to one of my readers.

GIVEAWAY ENDED 2/25/15.
GIVEAWAY RULES:  This contest is open to U.S. residents with a U.S. postal address. Must be age 18 or older to enter.  Pure Costumes is responsible for the prize package and will ship it to the winner. Contest ends Wednesday, Feb. 25 at midnight CST.
a Rafflecopter giveaway

DISCOUNT:
Pure Costumes has also offered a discount code for any of my readers.  Use code: OBSEUSSED to receive 10% off your subtotal. It cannot be combined with other coupon codes and it expires 10/31/15. Take a look at all their fun costumes, perfect for celebrating Read Across America and Dr. Seuss’ birthday.

Disclosure: I received the 3 Dr. Seuss accessories to review for the purposes of this post.  All opinions are 100% my own.

Pure Costumes also has a fun free Dr. Seuss Printable.

They also have a simple Dr. Seuss Pinterest Contest happening. See more details on their site.

Dr. Seuss Pinterest Contest from Pure Costumes

Dr. Seuss Photo Booth:
I created a Dr. Seuss photo booth corner at our school Dr. Seuss carnival.
I used fabric (from Wal-mart) for the background and to cover the bench.
I’ve been collecting a variety of items and creating my own as props over the years.


At the carnival we had a station to make your own photo booth props.  My son made this headband and attached a Lorax mustache with popsicle sticks.
Another way to make a Lorax mustache is to get a yellow feather boa (can be found at craft stores).  I cut it into strips (it gets messy). Then I hot glued two craft sticks (popsicle sticks) together at an angle. Then I glued the feathers on.

I found this blank wooden had prop at Michael’s Crafts Store. My son helped paint red and white stripes on it. Then we drew black sharpie marker on the lines and added extra lines to help it look like the illustrated hat from The Cat in the Hat book.

For the Truffula Tree we found a craft feather boa at Joann’s Crafts and cut a circle from a strong poster board. I hot glued the feather boa into a circle to cover the poster board.  We found a piece of scrap wood in our garage and painted it yellow and again added the black lines with a sharpie marker to add illustration details.

I cut out a white piece of felt and used a black sharpie marker to write THING 1. Then I used a safety pin to attach it to my son’s red shirt.  The turquoise hair is actually an old pillow cover that got ruined so I kept part of the fabric to use as hair.
I found similar fabric on Amazon (search faux fur turquoise) you could make a bunch of little wigs or cut into strips to glue to headbands.
Pure Costumes has Thing 1 Thing 2 wigs and headbands too. I really want some of the headbands for our photo booth but they are out of stock right now.  Keep checking because these will be perfect for dressing up.

I got the READ banner from Oriental Trading and the tall Cat in the Hat display from a bulletin board set. (Amazon affiliate link.)

I made the Truffula Trees using a pool noodle (again drawing black lines with a sharpie marker), a plunger from the dollar store and a spiky poof ball made out of purple and green tissue paper.  You could make so many different colors.

We were lucky to have our local PBS station, KBYU, bring their Cat in the Hat character to our Dr. Seuss carnival.  This year I plan to set the photo booth props right next to his station so kids can dress up and take photos with the cat.

Costumes are a great way to celebrate Dr. Seuss’ birthday and Read Across America day. Don’t forget to enter the giveaway above.