St. Stanislaus Preschoolers Learn a Thing Or Two From Dr. Seuss
Preschoolers at St. Stanislaus School prepare for Read Across America Day. |
ADAMS, Mass. — In honor of Read Across America Day, St. Stanislaus preschoolers took a lesson from Dr. Seuss.
Lorry Delmolino's preschool class partook in many activities Monday morning. They heard from guest readers, but only after putting on their Thing 1 and Thing 2 hats and with a belly full of green eggs and ham.
"It's to celebrate the author Dr. Seuss and to bring awareness to kids of how important reading is," Delmolino said. "I think if we make a big deal about it now then they learn how important it is to read."
Delmolino set up multiple learning stations centered on Dr. Seuss and his imaginative world. Some preschoolers worked on their Thing 1 and Thing 2 costumes while the "Seuss Chefs" ate green eggs and ham.
Delmolino's students also celebrated the day with more educational projects. Some students worked on their A and B patterns by creating their own Cat in the Hat hats while others dug through a sand box looking for rhyming words.
"We are turning this center into a rhyming center, and Dr. Seuss is all about rhyming," she said. "They are not quite at the reading level yet but they can still see what words rhyme with each other."
Even snack time was bursting with Dr. Seuss-themed foods including candy fish in blue Jell-O, Cat In the Hat inspired fruit sticks, Yink's pink ink drink, and Thing 1 and Thing 2 cookies.
She said Dr. Seuss was an obvious choice because it is easily adapted to the curriculum.
"It adapts to anything and it makes reading fun and shows reading isn't just homework," she said. "It is teaching them about imagination and getting them excited about the reading aspect of it."
Delmolino said the class has been learning about Seuss, also known as Springfield native Theodor Geisel, all week and have been reading his books. Read Across America celebrates the famed author's birthday on March 2.
"We talked about how he lived so close to us, and how he used different names," Delmolino said. "We talk about picture reading here in preschool and how you get to be the author when you picture read so even if you don't know the words you can still read."
Delmolino said Read Across America Day has been a huge hit so far and the students have really engaged with the material.
"We have had a great time with it so far and some of them are even a little upset because we weren't able to finish all the stations yet before snack," she said. "They have been very excited about it."
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