Welcome To Seussville!

*All Screenshots taken on my computer from Seussville Website*

If you love Dr. Seuss as much as I do, then this website is perfect for you and your students! It contains books, information about Dr. Seuss himself, videos, games and activities, information about characters, oh and great resources for educators!

To begin, visit

www.seussville.com 

By clicking on the “Educators” link on the navigation bar at the top of the page, you will arrive on a page that contains links to printables and activities, lesson plans, author studies, books, and so much more. There are tons of lesson plans available that accompany the Dr. Seuss books we all love and know, as well as activities you could use alongside the lesson plans. The lesson plans engage students in discussions about various topics that are present in his many books, including racism, greed, perseverance, and conservation. Often times, the messages are hidden in Dr. Seuss’ books, but they offer perfect opportunities to engage in group discussions with your students and discover the true meaning behind Dr. Seuss’ work.

Standards & Assessment

The standards and assessments you choose will be determined by the way you wish to use the resources available on this site. Each of Dr. Seuss’ books covers a variety of topics you could discuss with your students. As an example, we can look at Dr. Seuss’ famous book “The Lorax”. This website has a whole section dedicated to this book, called “The Lorax Project”.  Go to www. seussville.com/loraxproject to learn more about it. It gives tons of information about conservation and helping endangered animals on Earth. This alone offers endless opportunities for discussions with your students about how we could conserve energy right in our own classroom, and how we can become more environmentally friendly. You could tie this into the 3 R’s (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle) as well. This part of the website does have a whole section dedicated to what you can do to help the planet, which is definitely something to look at with your students. If you wanted to discuss Earth’s resources, extinction,  and conservation with your students, some standards that address this include:

• Grade 2: Life Science- Some kinds of individuals that once lived on Earth have completely disappeared, although they were something like others that are alive today.
• Grade 3: Earth and Space Science- Some of Earth’s resources are limited.

Again, the assessments are determined by the activities you choose to do with your students and the way you wish to utilize the resources this site has to offer.

Reference:

Dr. Seuss | Seussville.com. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.seussville.com

*All Screenshots taken on my computer from the National Geographic Kids website*

www.kids.nationalgeographic.com

What Is It?

Another great resource I’ve used with students is the National Geographic Kids website. The website offers tons of information about the Earth, animals, weather, and so much more. It is full of photographs, videos, games and more for students to engage with. It is packed full of information on many different topics, making it the perfect research tool to use with your students in the classroom.

How Would I Use It In The Classroom?

During my student teaching placement, I thought a large unit on animals to the students. We learned all about their habitats, life cycles, groups they belong to, etc. We tied what we learned in science into the language arts curriculum by creating animal writing reports. Everyone chose an animal that interested them, and along with our science textbooks, mentor texts and trade books, we found a lot of information. In addition, we also used this wonderful website. 

When clicking on the “Animal &Pets” link on the navigation bar at the top of the screen, you will be taken a page containing animals and habitats. The number of animals represented is incredible, enabling each student to choose a different animal if your project were to begin here. What’s great about the way the animals are organized, is that the website categorizes them by group (Amphibians, birds, mammals, etc), and also includes a whole section on different habitats (Antarctic, Freshwater, Grassland, etc). We spent a lot of time discussing the different habitats that exist on our planet, and this website is a perfect resource for learning more about these habitats beyond the textbook. The set-up of the website makes it very easy for both students and teachers to use and navigate easily. This could either be the beginning of an animal research project by allowing students to choose from the vast number of animals available for research, or it could be an extension to a writing report or science unit about animals.

Standards & Assessment

If you choose to have your students research an animal of their choice, then your assessment would be the students’ work samples containing the information they have gathered about their animals. You could also review and discuss which groups certain animals belong to, which serves as an informal assessment. The assessment you choose will be determined by the way you wish to use the information available from this resource. The website obviously goes beyond only animals, but this is a great way to use the information in your classroom for one example. The standards addressed when discussing habitats would include:

• Kindergarten: Life Science- Living things have physical traits and behaviors, which influence their survival. 
• Grade 1: Life Science– Living things have basic needs, which are met by obtaining materials from the physical environment.
• Grade 1: Life Science- Living things survive only in environments that meet their needs.

Standards that would address a writing project through researching a specific animal would include:

• Grade 2: English Language Arts- Participate in shared research and writing projects
• Grade 2: English Language Arts- Recall Information from experiences or gather information from provided sources to answer a question
• Grade 3: English Language Arts- Conduct short research projects that build knowledge about a topic
• Grade 3: English Language Arts- Recall Information from experiences or gather information from print and digital sources; take brief notes on sources and sort evidence into provided categories. 

Reference:

Kids’ Games, Animals, Photos, Stories, and More — National Geographic Kids. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://kids.nationalgeographic.com

*All Screenshots taken on my computer from the Discovery Kids website*

I’m sure most of you are aware of the “Discovery Channel”, and the vast amount of topics it discusses both on TV and online. The Discovery Channel offers a website just for children, making it safe to use:

www.kids.discovery.com

It is full of games, puzzles, activities, quizzes, and information about different topics, all geared toward young readers. It features popular shows such as “Myth Busters” and “Dirty Jobs”. Readers can engage with these different topics through various activities, such as learning about the messiest jobs and determining fact from fiction.

How Would I Use It In The Classroom?

The top of the website features a navigation bar with multiple links. By clicking on the “Tell Me” button, you will arrive on a page that has more information on a wide variety of topics, including “Curiosity Center”, “MythBusters Lab”, “Animals”, “Earth”, “Health”, “Machines”, and so much more. As teachers, we can use this information as an extension to the lessons we teach in our classroom. For example, if we were discussing the Earth and the importance of trees in a science unit, we could find more information on this topic right on this website. There is a link titled “Why Do We Need Trees?” in the “Tell Me” section of the website. Together, you could read about this with your students to find out more about why trees are so important to our planet. In addition, if you are researching certain topics with your students, this website is a great resource to use, and that your students can also have access to.

Standards & Assessment

 The content standards met by this website are determined by which topic(s) you choose to learn more about with your students. For example, when reading more about the sun with your students and the importance it has in our lives, we could associate the 1st Grade Common Core Standard for Earth and Space Science: The sun is the principal source of energy. 

The standard met will be determined by the activities you choose and the information you wish to learn more about with your students. The same goes for assessment. You could use the information in the readings in the “Tell Me” section to create comprehension questions for assessment. These readings could also lead to group discussions and informal assessment as you listen to the students’ responses to the questions you pose.

Reference:

Discovery Kids : Home. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://kids.discovery.com