Happy Birthday, Dr. Seuss!

I've had so much fun celebrating Dr. Seuss's Birthday over the past few days.  On Saturday, Dr. Seuss's actual birthday, I presented at the PCPO conference where I taught parents and preschool teachers about the early literacy and behavior management benefits of sign language and tips and techniques for enriching story times at home and in the classroom. On Sunday I attended the baby shower for one of my nieces (and I of course showered her with books, including some of my favorite Dr. Seuss books!).

To top that off, today and yesterday I had the pleasure of participating in Dr. Seuss celebrations at two different schools. Am I lucky or what?

Here are some photos from the Dr. Seuss Birthday Bash at a local preschool:

Here I am with "The Cat in the Hat" on the left and then with "Thing 1" on the right.

And here is another "Cat in the Hat" and "Thing 1" on the left, and on the right, "Pale green pants with nobody inside them."  How clever is that?

Speaking of clever . . . this particular preschool is located inside of a high school. The high school students learn about early childhood development by working with and learning alongside the preschoolers. For the Dr. Seuss Birthday Bash, the high school students dressed up as Dr. Seuss characters, just like the kids . . .  The most creative costumes, in my opinion, were Horton and one of the characters from "Ten Apples Up On Top." 

During this event I got to read from several of my rhyming picture books, and I got to share (and wear) some of my favorite hats! I decided to open with "Wear a Silly Hat," since so many of the kids were dressed up, and since Dr. Seuss was a hat lover himself.

As usual, I opened with a song to teach the signs for some of the words in the story, in this case, the sign for hat, and the signs for different articles of clothing. My favorite kid comment of the day occurred after I'd been through a few verses of my opening song. A child piped up and said something along the lines of, "Why do you keep on singing? I thought we were here to listen to you read?" Touche'. We learned a couple more signs, and then dove into the book!

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Next up was a visit with a classroom of 3rd graders at a local elementary school. I got to share my love of reading with the kids, and read one of my books. I showed them tattered copies of some of my beloved books from childhood (including "The Eye Book" by Theo. LeSieg) and my treasured "Pleasure Reading Award," from Mr. Snook's fifth grade class, then I read my book, "The Nest Where I Like to Rest."

As usual, I taught the kids some signs before I read them the story, and told them their job was to listen for those words in the story, and to sign along while I was reading so I could tell they were listening. Just before we started reading, one of the kids asked how he could possibly remember all of those signs. I reassured him that the signs would be easy to remember, and sure enough, he (and the entire class) enthusiastically (and capably) signed along with the story. At the end of the story I pointed out that someone had been worried that they wouldn't remember all of the signs. The little boy raised his hand and said, "That was me!" I told him I saw him signing the whole time, and I wish I could have captured his proud grin on camera!

Speaking of capturing things on camera, I waived my usual author visit fee for the preschool visit because the school participated in my "Capture that Story" campaign by filming my story time program at their school.  Once I get a chance to do the necessary uploading, I will add these video clips to the blog and my YouTube channel.  If you would like to host me for a "Capture that Story" story time at your school, get in touch.  Happy Signing!