Read Across America in the Upper Grades!

Saturday, February 21, 2015
READ Across America is coming soon!  I love to start the week out by giving the student's a reader's oath.  They love designing the bookmarks below by identifying their FAVORITE book!
Next, we delve into a close reading passage to learn about 
the life of the creator himself, Theodor Geisel! 
Read Across America, Theodor Geisel, Close Reading, Theodor Geisel Informational Passage, Dr. Seuss Activities
 The kids learn so many new tidbits of information (seen in the passage above) like "Dr. Seuss was just his PEN NAME!"  They are intrigued by many of the different aspects of his life and they are able to express this in the following writing assignment.  

Now, my students have made plenty of Cat in the Hats throughout their elementary school career, but have they designed and written their own?  Recently, I had the students draw their own cat in the hat sketch (NO template) and within the white sections, they wrote about:
#1.) Geisel's Accomplishments
#2.) An Inference About Theodor Geisel
#3.)Other Important Facts

Now, to help the students along regarding the #2 section, making inferences, I had them use the template below that we have been using (from my new TEXT EVIDENCE unit!)
Here is an example below of a student that is working on Making Inferences. The tricky part with students using text evidence (I have found) is the students making the connection between their thinking and the text...This is something we are working on!! That is almost an inference in itself!!!
Here are some more examples of how the hats turned out.  I love their unique styles!


I also tied some art into our READ ACROSS AMERICA activities by taking a photo of Geisel and cutting it into sections.  On the back of each section, I wrote a number and passed them out to the students.  They were to recreate the square EXACTLY (size, width, and design) so that when we brought it back together a work of art was born!  See how some of them turned out below!


This is all a work in progress, and I can not wait to see how all of these components will look on our door for READ Across America!  (Of course, I will post an updated photo when it is all said and done.)  Also, feel free to download the Theodor Geisel Close 
Reading Article by clicking on the pic below! 
Do you have any unique or special projects for the big kids concerning Dr. Seuss? 
What do you do for "READ Across America" in the upper grades?



2 comments:

  1. Hi, I am so glad to see these ideas before Read Across America Day is here. I am trying to access your reading passage, but am having no luck. Would you be able to send it to me? Thank you for sharing your great ideas.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Mandy, I fixed the link! Let me know if you still are unable to access it. :)

      Delete

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