Preparing Students to Read

1. It was a good first day of school in 2006. All my plans were in place, allowing for some flexibility should there be unexpected interruptions. For today, at least, the day went as planned, all students were present, and all classes followed the established routine. I felt completely rested and rejuvenated from the week of slack, and I think the kids noticed it, too.

2. Even they were in an agreeable frame of mind, getting along with those who usually annoy them. There seemed to be an extra dose of patience among them all.

3. I had planned to introduce a biography of Dr. Seuss during the fifth grade reading class to teach the reading concept of distinguishing between fact and opinion. I wanted to really grab their interest, make them want to learn more about this famous children's author as they practiced their reading skills.

4. Anticipating that two or three of the students would have critical comments in regard to what they feel is a little kids book writer, I had made up 20 questions about the author. One on each of an index card. I told them to select two cards from the stack, face down. After everyone had a card, I called on each one of them to read out loud one of their questions. Then, if they could answer it, or someone else could, that was great, and if not, well, they had a reason to read the book to find the answer.

5. A couple of questions piqued the kids' curiosity. Why would Dr. Seuss join the army during the war when his advertisement/cartoon career was already successful? How did he get the idea for the story of an elephant sitting in a tree, Horton Hatches an Egg? Which was his first published book? Why would it take him months to write one little children's book? Where did he get his ideas for the characters and settings of his books? ... and so on.

6. Prior to school starting, between 7:30 and 7:45 a.m., I visited our school library, asked the media specialist to direct me to the Dr. Seuss books, then checked out 8 different books for the students to view while they looked for common elements among his books. I included what I knew to be his first published book, the last book he wrote, and the book with the shortest number of different words (50).

7. Their participation was animated, their answers reasonable, and by the time all 20 questions had been asked, several had even raised their own questions. One girl wanted to know why he changed his name, and another wanted to know if his first publishers were still alive, and which war did he fight in, anyway? The few who had reservations about reading How the Cat Got His Hat were so intrigued by all the questions raised, for which they didn't know most of the answers, and for which did make them ask their own, that they were indeed ready to read more about the author of Green Eggs and Ham.

8. Being able to discern fact from opinion is a practical, real world skill. Reading a biography, certainly one written with children in mind, is always a good choice for teaching it. And that, my friend, is my opinion!

Bonus Question: Can you provide names of the books mentioned in the last sentence of paragraph 6?