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Born in 1904, Theodor Seuss Geisel, better known as Dr. Seuss, is perhaps one of the most beloved children’s authors of the twentieth century. Although he is most famous as an author of children’s books, Geisel was also a political cartoonist, advertisement designer, and film director. He used the power of imagination to produce unforgettable children’s books and helped solve the problem of illiteracy among America’s children. By using his experiences in life as a foundation for most of his books, Theodor Geisel was able to shape the character of many of his readers, as well as teach children subliminal messages through a unique writing style that incorporated various elements and techniques.

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Dr. Seuss
Oh, the Places you'll go!
Random House Children's Books, 1990.

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Dr. Seuss
Mr. Brown can Moo! Can you?
Random House Children Books, 1970.

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Big Bright & Early_ Mr Brown Can Moo Can You (Board Book)

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Dr. Seuss
Oh, the Thinks You Can Think!
Random House Children Books, 1975.

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Bright & Early Board Books(tm)_ Oh, the Thinks You Can Think! (Board book)

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Dr. Seuss
Green Eggs and Ham
Random House Children Books, 1960.

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Dr. Seuss
One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish
Random House Children Books, 1960.

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1.8.C- The student is expected to describe plot elements, including the main events, the problem, and the resolution, for text read aloud and independently; and
1.6.B- The student uses metacognitive skills to both develop and deepen comprehension of increasingly complex texts. The student is expected to: generate questions about text before, during, and after reading to deepen understanding and gain information.

1.6.E-The students are expected to make connections to personal experiences, ideas in other texts, and society with adult assistance.
1.10.A-The student is expected to discuss the author purpose for writing text.
1.7.B-The student is expected to write before comments on literary or informational texts.

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Students will create a lapbook within class time. The cover will be the students Perseptive of a good picture that represents the book of choice as a whole. The sections within the lap book will be labeled with elements from the book such as characters, setting. problem etc. Students will also use creative abilities to personalize their books.
Students will be able to look black on this lapbook if they ever need help and will also be able to take home and show their families!

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Theodor Seuss Geisel, known to the world as Dr. Seuss was born on 2nd of March 1904 in Howard Street, Springfield, Massachusetts. He is widely recognized for his contribution as a writer, poet and cartoonist. He wrote 46 books for children mainly based on imaginative characters and rhymes. His work has also been adopted into many television specials, feature films and television series.

Geisel credited his mother to be his first inspiration. She often chanted rhymes to her children in order to sooth them to sleep which developed the desire and affection in Geisel to create rhymes. His early life in Springfield and the memories of his childhood had an influence on his writings which can be observed in his work.

In 1925 Geisel left Springfield to attend his college education from Dartmouth College. There he became member of college's humor magazine "Jack-O-Lantern". Later he was raised to the rank of editor in chief of the magazine. His tenure as editor was short lived though because he was forced to resign from all extracurricular activities on being caught throwing a drinking party in his dorm. This however did not stop Geisel from making contributions to the magazine, in order to continue his publications he started signing his work using "Seuss" as his pen name.

Upon his passing out from Dartmouth College, Geisel went on to Oxford for fulfilling his father's dream, who wanted him to become a college professor. He entered Lincoln College to earn a Doctorate degree in English Literature, a task he never accomplished.

After his return to United States, Geisel became associated with different magazines which include The Judge, Liberty and Vanity Fair. He started submitting humorous articles to these magazines. His advertisement for a common insecticide company called Flit, won him national recognition. Seuss made his first publication as cartoonist on 16th July 1927 in The Saturday Evening Post.

During the World War II era, Geisel turned his focus towards political cartoons. He drew more than 400 cartoons for New York's daily newspaper, PM. With the aim to extend his contributions to the war efforts, Geisel got enrolled in US army as commander of the Animation Department. There he made a series of adult army training films. His work with First Motion Picture Unit of US Army introduced him to the art of animation.

As the war ended, Geisel moved to California and resumed his work on children's books. He wrote many famous books which won him wide recognition and appreciation. In 1954 Geisel was approached by William Ellsworth Spaulding, the director of the education division at Houghton Mifflin, to write a book using only 250 out of preselected 348 words which William thought were important for first grade students to learn. The idea was inspired by the report published in Life magazine on illiteracy among school children. The report said that children were unable to learn reading because their books were boring. The result was "The Cat in the Hat"; a perfect blend of Geisel's verse rhythms, drawing skills and imaginative power. This book along with others written for your young children, were huge success both at national and international level.

On 24th September, 1991, Dr. Seuss died of throat cancer in San Diego, California. His honors included two Academy awards, two Emmy awards, a Peabody award and the Pulitzer Prize.

Buy Books by Dr. Seuss

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Theodor Seuss Geisel, known to the world as Dr. Seuss was born on 2nd of March 1904 in Howard Street, Springfield, Massachusetts. He is widely recognized for his contribution as a writer, poet and cartoonist. He wrote 46 books for children mainly based on imaginative characters and rhymes.

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Lapbooks: The Ultimate Guide Here at Homeschool Share, we've been asked quite a few lapbook questions over the past fifteen years: What is a lapbook? Why should my students make them? What supplies do I need for lapbooking? Where can I find pre-made lapbooks? Can I make my

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Teaching theme can be a lot of fun in first grade. I like to explain theme or central message to firsties this way, "What do you think the author wants you to learn from this story that you can use in your life?" It can be tricky and takes LOTS of practice!

Usually, the students will say something very literal from the story at first. For example, in the story The Little Red Hen they might at first say something like "How to grow wheat!" But sometimes a student will say something so insightful it makes your heart flutter! So...how do we get them to that point!

Teaching Theme Through Teacher Think Alouds

A good place to start is telling students what the theme of a story is, and then modeling finding evidence in the story to support the theme. Here is an example from The Little Red Hen.

After reading aloud the story, I would display a graphic organizer like the one above, that already has the theme listed. I would read the story again and stop along the way listing some events from the story that support this theme. At the end of the lesson the chart would look like this:

Use Guided Practice

The next day, I would start with a similar graphic organizer (with the theme listed) for a new story. This time, students would help me find the evidence to support the listed theme.

I think folk tales are a great place to start. Here are some ideas of folktales and themes:
The Three Little Pigs- Take the time to do things the right way
Chicken Little/Henny Penny- Don't believe everything someone says, or Think things through before jumping to conclusions
City Mouse, Country Mouse - Home is the best place to be

Students Practice Finding Theme Independently

After we have practiced together several times, then I would have students complete a graphic organizer on their own (with the theme already listed). Over time, with lots of modeling and guided practice, I will have students begin to determine the theme on their own. This is a skill that takes lots of time to develop, and we will revisit it over and over again throughout the year. Also, I think it is important to recognize that there can be more than one theme in a book, there isn't necessarily one "right" answer.

Teaching Theme with Picture Books

Another fun way to teach this skill is to choose a variety of books centered around one theme.

The books above all center around the theme of "Being different is good" or "Just be yourself".

Here are some additional books that I think are great for teaching theme:

Charlie the Caterpillar- like The Ugly Duckling, theme of not judging someone by how the look
Sylvester and the Magic Pebble- theme of being happy with what you already have
Hooway for Wodney Wat- theme of even though you are small, you can do great things
The Principal's New Clothes- theme of don't follow the crowd if you know it isn't right
Officer Buckle and Gloria - theme of the importance of working together

I've also included some graphic organizers for your students to use.
Need more reading comprehension ideas? Check out my Paired Text Sets that are FULL of reading comprehension strategies.

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Teaching Theme in First Grade - First Grade Centers and More

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Teaching theme can be a lot of fun in first grade. I like to explain theme or central message to firsties this way, "What do you think the author wants you to learn from this story that you can use in your life?" It can be tricky and takes LOTS of practice!

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Picture Books for Making Connections When Reading

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Making connections when reading these suggested picture books will help your students use their prior experiences to make sense of the text.

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Green Eggs and Ham and other Servings of Dr. Seuss

Reading Level: Beginning Reader

Nine books by the tongue-tangling master of comedy come alive through animated readings, punctuated with music. Seuss' language is engaging to hear, even without his distinctive illustrations, in these adept and lively rhyming stories.

Hooray for Diffendoofer Day!

By: Dr. Seuss, Jack Prelutsky

Illustrated by: Lane Smith

Reading Level: Independent Reader

Rough sketches and ideas by the original Dr. Seuss were completed after his death by a jubilant collaboration between poet Jack Prelutsky and illustrator Lane Smith. Not only will readers glimpse Theodor Geisel's process of creation, they will delight in meeting Miss Bonkers and the Diffendoofer School presented in Seussian text and illustrations that integrate Smith's signature style with familiar Geisel.

Oh, The Places You'll Go

Reading Level: Independent Reader

Inspirational yet honest, and always rhythmically rollicking, this book is a perfect send-off for any reader from 1 to 100 years old who is entering a new phase of life. Kindergartners, graduating students, newlyweds, and those newly employed – all will glean shiny pearls of wisdom about the big, bountiful future.

On Beyond Zebra

Reading Level: Beginning Reader

Readers will delight in the playfulness of this word romp as they venture beyond the letter Z. Inventive letters and creatures are introduced in this funny, rhyming, alphabetic adventure in typical Seussian style.

One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish

Reading Level: Pre-Reader

While many rhymes in this collection of couplets resemble sphinx-worthy riddles, Seuss's intention is clear: teach children to read in a way that is fun. It matters little that each wonderful vignette has nothing to do with the one that precedes it or follows.

The Lorax

Reading Level: Independent Reader

This powerful, classic fable from Dr. Seuss deftly sums up the cost of human progress to the natural environment, including the destruction of animals, trees, and fresh water and air. A glimmer of hope is left at the end, however: "Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not." Related lesson plans and limited Spanish copies available.

There's a Wocket in My Pocket!

Reading Level: Pre-Reader

What kind of house do you live in? In this classic beginner book from Dr. Seuss, the simple, bouncy rhymes show all kinds of strange creatures living in the different rooms of a house. Some are rather nice and some not at all. The amusing, silly tale will keep a youngster's attention to the very end.

What Was I Scared Of?

Reading Level: Beginning Reader

The narrator is terrified of a pair of green pants he chances upon. What could they be? Well, those pants might just have their own concerns! Told and illustrated (with a glowing new touch) in characteristic Seussian fashion, this tale of misunderstanding first appeared in the The Sneetches and Other Stories (1961).

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Reading Level: Beginning Reader Nine books by the tongue-tangling master of comedy come alive through animated readings, punctuated with music. Seuss' language is engaging to hear, even without his distinctive illustrations, in these adept and lively rhyming stories.

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There are tons of strategies for analyzing texts. This post will focus on teaching students to annotate important parts of the text, which is called text annotation. Teaching text annotation is a great way to support your 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade students because it's an effective reading comprehension strategy that will help them now and in the future. As a teacher, you probably find yourself taking notes (or making annotations) when you are working on professional development readings or remember doing so when you were in undergrad or graduate school. It's a great strategy to help readers better understand the text.

This blog post will share information about my favorite resource for teaching text annotation, interactive bookmarks. In addition, it will answer the following questions about teaching text annotation at the elementary level:

What is annotating?

How does annotating while reading relate to close reading?

Why is the importance of teaching text annotation to students?

What is the purpose of annotating?

How do I model annotating in reading for students?

Can you give some examples of practice activities for annotating?

What is general annotation?

What is specific annotation?

Can you share some ideas for teaching annotation?

What Does "Annotating a Text" Mean?

Annotating text sounds complicated, doesn't it? Honestly, it's just a fancy word for noting your thoughts about a text. These could be pictures, comments, or general thinking, or wonderings as you read. In elementary grade levels, we introduce annotating text to teach and model for students how to break apart text and think deeply about what they are reading. For complex texts, students could read through it several times, adjusting their thinking each time. By annotating texts and thinking critically, students will comprehend texts far more deeply than before.

How Does Annotating a Text Relate to Close Reading?

Annotating a text and close reading are related and can be easily confused. When students note their thinking or observations while reading, it's called annotating. When students read for a specific purpose, such as finding the main idea, it's called close reading. Students can annotate the text while close reading for a purpose too! Both are great ways to get students thinking about their reading!

Why is it Beneficial for Elementary Students to Understand Annotating?

Teaching text annotation is important because annotating texts helps readers to:

Slow down. Elementary students tend to rush. This teaches them how to read for deeper understanding.

Focus on what they are reading

Think critically about a text

Understand all the details in the text

Process details that are complex and harder to understand

Track their thoughts. This way, they can easily find the answers to questions by looking at their notations.

Prepare for discussions and writing about the text.

What is the Purpose of Annotating?

Thinking about texts and annotating predictions, connections, thoughts, and wonderings while reading helps the reader understand the text. Readers interpret the purpose of the author's writing and can pose questions as they read. That's why teaching text annotation is so important!

How do I Model Annotating to Students?

Modeling is one of the best ways teachers can show students HOW to break apart texts to search for deeper meanings. By reading a book, article, passage, or poem aloud while showing students the text, the teacher can tell students their thinking out loud as they read.

Here are some easy steps to help you get started with teaching text annotation:

1. Pick a text that is on or slightly above students' reading level

2. Begin by making predictions about what the text will be about. Use text features to help you. Think aloud with students here. "I noticed the title says "Dolphin Habitats" and there is a photograph of a dolphin in the ocean. I think we'll be LEARNING about dolphins today. What do you think?" Offer an opportunity for students to respond with their predictions and reasons for them.

3. Have students help you continue to explore the text as you read paragraph by paragraph. You should be looking for and modeling unknown words and context clues, main ideas, inferences, anything confusing or surprising, or anything else that you have wonderings or thoughts about. Students need to hear what you think!

4. Be sure to think aloud with every text you read together. This helps students understand that we don't just look at the words on the page; we try to really understand everything about it. Then, when it is time for students to annotate for themselves, it's just a matter of writing their thinking down because they are so used to thinking about texts!

Activities for Practicing Annotating

After teaching text annotation by modeling how to properly annotate, allow students to practice for themselves. They could practice with their guided reading or literature circle books, or you could provide a short reading passage, especially when just starting. It's less overwhelming to start small!

Here's a list of ideas that students can annotate (which are perfect for posting in the classroom for students to reference):

Words they don't know and context clues

Predictions

Connections to self, another text, or the world

Main ideas

Important facts or details

Character changes

Surprising parts

Confusing parts

Numbers of paragraphs or stanzas

Inferences and evidence

Author's purpose and evidence

Anything else students have to say about the text

Remember to keep it simple as students are starting to learn annotating text strategies! Less is more when it comes to annotation for kids at the elementary level!

What is General Annotating?

General annotating is mainly used when students read a text for the first time or when there is not enough time to read a text several times. This is probably the most common type of annotating because it is so broad and can be applied to any text for any reason. When generally annotating, students are taking notes about a variety of things. They could notice anything from a connection they had to the author's purpose for writing the text.

What is Specific Annotating?

Specific annotating is, well, specific! This is also called close reading. Students are reading a text for a particular purpose, like finding the meaning of unknown words or the main ideas of each section. Whatever skill you are learning in class at the time can be practiced through this type of annotating and is easily implemented for any comprehension skill!

4 Ideas for Teaching Annotations

Here are 4 ideas for teaching text annotation to kids:

1. Use sticky notes! They are great for keeping alongside books and other texts as students read. Students can even move them to a journal to write more in-depth notes later!

2. Use highlighters! Students can color-code different categories and add notes alongside the text if possible (or use sticky notes).

3. Gist statements! Students briefly summarize each paragraph in the text's margins if it is consumable or on sticky notes if not. This helps them to remember what happened as they reflect on the text later.

4. Use symbols! There's lots of different ways to annotate a text. You could create a code for your class like this one:

Star = important

Underline = main idea

Exclamation point = something surprising

Question mark = something confusing

Circles = new words

Checkmarks = parts they understand

How to Teach Text Annotation

Are you looking for a way to turn your students into deep-thinking readers and collect documentation of their thoughts without the mess of Post-it Sticky notes everywhere?

It is beneficial for students to track their thinking as they read. Taking the time to generate questions, note confusions, make connections, and document their thoughts helps them to become active, reflective readers. This requires students to be metacognitive and think about the text. It also brings awareness about what they do when they read successfully so they have a collection of tools to draw on in the future.

Often teachers have students use sticky notes to record their thoughts and place them into the book on the related page. While this method can be useful, I often found the students were distracted by the notes and frequently demonstrated confusion when asked to talk about the notes they had taken.

Since the notes students take when reading can be so useful to a teacher's instruction it is important that they be organized in an organized and effective manner. Interactive bookmarks are the perfect solution.

Learn about using interactive bookmarks to teach text annotation below!

What are Interactive Bookmarks?

An interactive bookmark provides students with a neat and organized way to track their thinking as they engage with a text. It reminds students of the various manners of engagement and makes conferencing with the teacher productive and efficient. The bookmark helps to streamline student thinking so they are recording important thoughts and not just getting caught up in the "fun of the sticky note." Best of all, when the book is finished, the interactive bookmark can be used as a piece of data to document progress and learning.

My teaching partner and I have been using these with our 3rd graders since the beginning of school last year with great success. The added accountability really helped our students stay on task during independent reading in the classroom and we found these bookmarks to be so much more beneficial than a nightly reading log. Each Monday we sent home an interactive bookmark as the students were required to write at least 2 entries each night as part of their homework in conjunction with the nightly reading. We both got really positive feedback from the families.

Why Do I Need Interactive Bookmarks?

It is beneficial for students to track their thinking as they read. Taking the time to generate questions, note confusions, make connections, and document their thoughts helps them to become active, reflective readers. This requires students to be metacognitive and think about the text. It also brings awareness about what they do when they read successfully so they have a collection of tools to draw on in the future.

Often, teachers have students use sticky notes to record their thoughts and place them into the book on the related page. While this method can be useful, I often found the students were distracted by the notes and frequently demonstrated confusion when asked to talk about the notes they had taken. Since the notes students take when reading can be so useful to a teacher's instruction, it is important that they be organized in an organized and effective manner. Interactive bookmarks are the perfect solution.

What Does the Interactive Bookmark Resource Include?

This interactive bookmark resource contains 4 interactive bookmarks (also known as think marks) that will help your students to become deep thinkers as they read both fiction and non-fiction texts. There are 2 bookmarks for informational texts (with and without lines) and 2 for literature texts (with and without lines). You can choose what works best for you! I've also included an editable PowerPoint file that you can use to adjust the reading codes however you need! These are great to use for informal assessments, RTI progress monitoring, literature circles, book buddies, homework, at home reading accountability, and more. Turn your students into deep-thinking readers without the mess of Post-it Sticky notes everywhere, for less than the cost of a pack of sticky notes!

Why You'll Love the Interactive Bookmarks

You'll love these interactive bookmarks for many reasons including the ones listed below.

An interactive bookmark provides students with a neat & organized way to track their thinking as they engage with a text. There will be no more messy sticky notes sticking out of books or on the ground in your classroom. Plus it's a cheaper option than sticky notes!

The bookmark helps to streamline student thinking so they are recording important thoughts and not just getting caught up in the "fun of the sticky note." Further, students won't be distracted by their think marks like they are with sticky notes.

It contributes to productive and meaningful one-on-one reading conferences between the teacher and student.

When the book is finished the interactive bookmark can be used as a piece of data to document progress and learning.

Students practice and build both metacognition and reading comprehension skills in a fun and engaging way.

How to Implement the Interactive Bookmarks in Your Classroom

Provide each student with an interactive bookmark and an independent book. They use the bookmark to record their thinking as they read and to mark their place in the text when they are finished. Review the bookmarks during reading conferences to assess student progress and guide instruction. Save the completed bookmarks to document student learning and as pieces of data for grading and conferences.

In closing, we hope you found this information about teaching text annotation to elementary students helpful! These interactive bookmarks are a great resource for teaching text annotation so your students will confidently and independently annotate passages and texts in no time! If you found this post helpful, you may also be interested in these:

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Teaching Text Annotation to Elementary Students in 2023 - Clutter-Free Classroom | by Jodi Durgin

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Learn tips and strategies for teaching text annotation to your elementary students. They'll be annotating texts independently in no time!