C-A-T (in the Hat)

The Cat in the Hat

When I first read books to my classes by my favorite children's author - Dr. Seuss - I wondered if they would ever really be able to understand them. I read the two Cat in the Hat books when we studied the letter C in October. It took very creative reading/acting to get through such long books with these little English language learners. I decided it was better not to tackle Green Eggs and Ham just yet... I was excited to see them point out "Miss Rebecca, Cat in the Hat!!!" every time we read a Beginner Book (which has the Cat as the logo). In January we read them again when H was our letter of the week. This time the kids were excited to read them. I'm not sure if it was the familiarity or not, but it was cool to have them ask me to read it again after school while we were waiting for parents to come. Then in March Miss Mary from K3 brought us a special treat - a Cat in the Hat puppet she found in the resource room. The kids LOVED having the Cat read to them!

Green Eggs & Ham

In May our theme was TRANSPORTATION, so I borrowed Green Eggs & Ham from the library. The kids by this time were speaking enough English to understand the story and they LOVED it. A week later we watched the animated version that someone had given me on video. A few days after that my two giggling queens were riling up the class after school as we waited for moms and drivers. The kids have free play at this time which sometimes needs to be corraled into guided playtime :) I cornered the two rascals and asked them if they wanted me to read them a story. One of the girls asked me "Miss Rebecca, where is Green Eggs and Ham?" So I told her it was in the library. The library was still open, and these girls have moms that never come until they are in aftercare, so I decided my assistants would have a much quieter classroom if I whisked away the ringleaders of mischief. We went up to the library and found three copies of the book. So I gave each girl a copy and I had one myself. They learned how to follow along turning the pages appropriately and were so proud of themselves to be reading in the library like the big kids. They even helped me out with the words...