Carriage Crest Celebrates
Dr. Seuss's 'Read Across America'

By Susan Fish, Carriage Crest Elementary Instructional Coach

“Oh, the Places You’ll Go” to celebrate Dr. Seuss’s birthday! One of the places to go was Carriage Crest Elementary!

On Thursday March 5, second grade students at Carriage Crest elementary celebrated Dr. Seuss’s Read across America with a variety of activities, including a visit with Cat in the Hat.

'Cats' Prepare for Event
The Second Graders started working towards this celebration the last week of January and all through the month of February. They set reading goals and had four weeks to complete them. Dr. Seuss books were included in their studies, used as mentor texts where they styles were emulated into their own writing.

At the end of the four weeks, 100 percent of the students met their reading goals. Some examples of student goals were: to read over one thousand minutes, to complete reading four chapter books in four weeks, to read higher level, just-right books. They all worked very hard to complete their goals.

Cat In the Hat Pre-Event
The Carriage Crest PTSA sponsored a fundraiser breakfast, and the monies were used to purchase the materials for the Dr. Seuss hats and to pay the fee for one of the speakers. One of our dedicated PTSA members, Mrs. Dabelstein, stood in line for four hours the day after Thanksgiving,= to purchase the red felt for all the hats. Many of our talented sewers from the Carriage Crest community helped to make ninety hats. It took the whole village to create the celebration!

The Celebration
At the celebration, students, teachers, and parents, all wore the traditional red and white striped stovepipe hats. The students were treated to a breakfast of “green eggs and ham” coordinated by PTSA member, Mimi Chan, and cooked and served by the PTSA chefs! Teachers, Sandy Molnar, Joy Salle, and Rita Lenes planned this Dr. Seuss gala, creating lasting memories for their students and parents.

After breakfast, the children were treated to Dr. Seuss stories read aloud by both special guests, Mr. David Staight, Kent School District Executive Director-School Improvement, K-6, and Anna Mickelson Cummins, Olympic Gold Medalist. The children thoroughly enjoyed each of the stories and the special moment of touching the gold medal.

The festivities continued throughout the day with a wonderfully interactive game of “Dr. Seuss Jeopardy,” hosted by our friend and retired Carriage Crest teacher, Mr. Rich Allsworth! The children enjoyed sharing their knowledge of Dr Seuss stories and his books in this rousing game of trivia and facts. The students ended the day with the showing of Horton Hears a Who!, where the teachers integrated into a comprehension literacy lesson on text-to-text connections.

The day ended with student reflection and a wonderful snack of a Dr. Seuss cake and drinks.

Part of a National Event

Carriage Crest's Celebration is a part of the National Education Association's 11th annual Read Across America Day, aimed at raising awareness about the importance of reading in addition to helping children master basic skills.

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Carriage Crest Celebrates Dr. Seuss's 'Read Across America'