Dr Seuss Door Decoration

I love this photo. It's Accelerated Reader Day. It was the first time our school had taken part in this event and it was a success! Students competed to see who could get in the most AR tests on this day. There were prizes for the classroom, the grade level, and the individual students. Our PTO helped with it and our lab support person headed it up and made it wonderful! The students loved it. It also fell on Dr Seuss' birthday, so the younger students that come to visit my class made sure they had read as many Dr Seuss books as possible, and taken the ARs.

A while back, we'd had a door decoration contest for Dr Seuss on his birthday, sponsored by our library.  My students and I had chosen which book cover we wanted to draw and Marvin K Mooney, Will You Please Go Now? won. We took bulletin board paper and laid it out on a table with paper under it so the Sharpie wouldn't bleed through onto the table.

We drew with posterboard-sized Sharpies so that we would be able to use watercolor "Biggie Cakes" without the black lines smearing. I'm glad I hadn't thrown it away because it was the perfect time to put it back up on the door again.

When we'd had the door contest, I'd had students design their own "Dr Suess-like character and illustrate him or her, and write about it. These had been displayed all around the doorway. They were so creative!

Perimeter and Area Dogs

Since I have a Dog-Themed Classroom, I had the students review their knowledge of perimeter and area by creating dogs on graph paper. They could also choose to do other themes and we had a creative assortment of robots, clowns, fashionable girls, and one plumber with a plunger!

Students wrote the perimeter and area of each individual shape they drew as they went along. A few had time to also work on the perimeter and area of the entire drawing!

What's your classroom theme? You could make this a project for your class, too. Children can be so creative when given a chance!

Cat in the Hat Testing Poem, Part D

This is the last section of my poem for the testing pep rally. Let me know how you might use it to motivate your students. Don't you just love The Cat in the Hat? We do!

 THE NIGHT BEFORE TESTING, Part D   by Dinah Pike Houston

They broke the clock that mom likes best
 And made ALL MANNER OF FUN of our TEST.
Well, I do not like it,  not one little bit...
I knew Ms Houston would have a fit!

MAKE THE RIGHT CHOICES, YOU LEARNED ABOUT THAT
DO NOT LISTEN TO THE CAT IN THE HAT!
MAKE THE RIGHT CHOICES, YOU KNOW WHAT TO DO!
DO NOT LISTEN TO THING 1 AND THING 2!

Mr Cat, think of something to do!
We have got to get rid of Thing 1 and Thing 2!

"Oh, dear, you did not like our little game?
Fine, then, we'll go, what a shame, what a shame!"

And so, my brother slept through all the mess
But, I knew I would do my BEST on the TEST!!!!!
                                             -copyright 2007, Dinah Pike Houston

Feel free to insert your teacher or principal's name where I have "Ms. Houston."
Also, the capitalized chant parts are for all the students at the testing pep rally to say together. They will love being part of the action!

Cat in the Hat Testing Poem, Part C

Plans are moving along for our school's "Testing Pep Rally." It's always the Friday before our state testing week. We are going to be doing my The Night Before Testing and probably do a completely Dr Seuss theme for the entire event. (We are Seussed up from our shoebox float parade yesterday - we had 92 entrants and they were so creative!)

THE NIGHT BEFORE TESTING, PART C by Dinah Pike Houston

He jumped around and said he didn't want to go,
I'll show you another good game I know!"
Then he ran our and then, fast as a fox,
The Cat came back in with a big wooden box....

He picked up the hook and I saw something new - 
Two Things. (He called them Thing 1 and Thing 2.)

Once again I heard the voices that were saying NO,
Saying that I should really make them GO!

MAKE THE RIGHT CHOICES. YOU KNOW WHAT TO DO!
DO NOT LISTEN TO THING 1 AND THING 2!!!

They grabbed some kites to fly in the house.
They ran all around like a cat after a mouse.
They TRIED to get me to play video games ALL night!
And, when I wouldn't, they wound me up tight!

One more section to go. 

Dinah's Cat in the Hat Testing Poem, Part B

Good morning and happy birthday to Dr. Seuss! This pic is from a national conference session where we performed my poem. I think this is the one we did in San Antonio.

Here's the B section of the poem. There's one section where the audience takes part, reading the words of the voice of reason, in my head. When we do it with schools, it's the students who say this part. You could throw the words up on a SmartBoard, or make a poster someone could hold up, or prep the students beforehand.

THE NIGHT BEFORE TESTING, PART B  by Dinah Pike Houston

B.) I got up from my desk and walked across the floor.
Suddenly The Cat in the Hat burst through the door!
"Why, oh why do you sit there like that?
The test doesn't matter!" said The Cat in the Hat. (gasp!)
"Let's go upstairs and jump on your bed!
We'll jump so high you'll bump your head!"

But I remembered what I learned at school And I heard a voice that was really, really cool:
MAKE THE RIGHT CHOICES, YOU LEARNED ABOUT THAT.
DO NOT LISTEN TO THE CAT IN THE HAT!

I told him quite politely I was trying to score a four
And I would not be swayed even if I were a bore!
"Let's play, don't study! Let's eat some junk food!"
You know Mr Cat, I don't like your attitude.....

Dinah's Cat in the Hat Testing Poem, Part A

In honor of Dr Seuss' birthday tomorrow, I will be posting my Testing Poem, a little at a time.  It's been performed at our school during a "testing pep rally" which kicked off the start of our state testing. This photo is from when my principal, 2 colleagues, and I shared it at a National Reading Styles Conference a few years ago.

Does your school do testing kick-offs? Do you pay big buck for people to come in and do them, or do you do them yourselves? We have done so many things, all fun and motivating.

So, if your school wants to do my poem, with teachers, or students, feel free. Let me know how it goes!  We had a blast with it and will be doing it this year. Check back often - I will be blogging it in chunks - a couple of stanzas at a time.

THE NIGHT BEFORE TESTING by Dinah Pike Houston

A.) The sun did not shine, It was too wet to play,
So I sat and studied on that cold, wet day.
My brother was napping; how could he sleep?
Tomorrow starts our TESTING and it gives me the creeps!

I planned to turn in early, and wasn't hardly nervous...
But I was really wishing someone would turn down the furnace.
I'd been getting "test ready" and was proud of my work
When all of a sudden, I felt a big JERK!!

( All 4 sections of Dinah's Cat in the Hat Testing Poem are on this blog now.  I hope you enjoy it and read through it with your students.)