Phonics Fun with Dr.

Seuss

Annie Hollett and Lindsay

Shelton
Learning Phonics through Read
Alouds
Reading aloud of children appears to be the
single most important factor for building
critical concepts about reading. (Dorn &
Jones, 2012, Kindle edition p. 1004)
In primary grades, read alouds provide
students with demonstrations of hearing
beginning, middle, and ending sounds
Read alouds help students recognize
language patterns that can help them decode
words to read and write on their own.
Why to use Dr. Seuss books for
read alouds
Dr. Seuss books are great for primary grades
because they contain rhyming and word families.
The books show great examples of CVC words,
both real and nonsense.
The books help model fluent and expressive
reading. (Dorn & Jones, 2012, Kindle Edition p.
1018)
Books promote an enjoyable experience
Dr. Seuss wrote many of his early books as a
playful way to help children learn phonics Dr.
Seuss books offer a wealth of joyful and effective
ways to learn sounds (Roberts & Scully, 2002,
p.96).
 How phonics can be taught
through Dr. Seuss books read
alouds
Students can listen for word families. When they hear
words within a word family, they can give the teacher a
thumbs up.
Example from Hop on Pop- Cup on pup.
Students can listen for words with a specific sound.
When the students hear the specific type of word, the
kids can touch their tummy.
Example from Cat in the Hat (listening for short e sound in
CVC words)- It was too wet to play.
Students can listen for rhyming words. Teacher will
stop after a page or two and ask what rhyming words
the students heard.
Example from Oh, The Places Youll Go!- Today is your
day! Youre off to Great Places! Youre off and away!
 Learning Phonics through
Shared Reading
Shared reading should take place in a whole group
or small group setting and with an enlarged print
book
Provides students with opportunities to problem-
solve on word decoding
Teacher will have the time to coach the students to
the right pronunciation.
Shared reading is an important part of whole to
parts phonics instruction. It both demonstrates the
reading process to children and establishes a
basis for the phonics lessons to come, making the
phonics lessons more memorable and, hence,
more effective (Moustafa, 1997, p.451)*.
* Taken from Brenda Parkes article
 Why to use Dr. Seuss books
when Shared Reading
Repeating the story provides a result of shared
reading, students will improve their abilities to choose
appropriate, interesting texts for independent reading,
and developing literacy skills in the essential areas of
phonological awareness, phonics, vocabulary,
comprehension, and fluency (Dorn & Jones, 2012,
Kindle Edition p. 1074).
The books used in shared reading are designed to
enable the teacher to give explicit attention to words,
parts of words, letter clusters, and individual letters as
the opportunity arises in the authentic reading
experience (Parkes, 2002, n.p.)
Dr. Seuss books are known for nonsense words. These
words are ones that need to be sounded out and can be
through explicit attention from a teacher and/or reader
How phonics can be taught through Dr.
Seuss books during Shared Reading
Students can learn about:
Letter and letter sound relationships
Through teacher helping students sound out words
Example from Green Eggs and Ham- Help guide students to sounding
out words in word families such as, Sam, am, ham
Break down any of Dr. Seuss nonsense words to help the
students sound out
Words
Matching printed words and spoken words
Spelling of words
Word configuration in sentences
Phonemes
Give the students the sounds of a word and see if they can figure
the word out.
Example from Theres a Wocket in my Pocket!- Guide the students to
figure out the word pocket by using context clues. Then give students a
hint that this word rhymes with pocket but it starts with the same sound
that water starts with
 Learning Phonics through
Guided Reading
Guided reading should take place in a small group setting
the teacher will work with students with similar instructional
needs (Dorn and Jones p.49).
Teacher prompts students to use reading strategies and only
intervenes when a child is unable to problem solve on their
own.
The goal of guided reading is: to provide students with a
toolbox of resources they can use to read a wide range of
text with full comprehension (Dorn and Jones, 2012, p.49).
The teacher uses this teaching strategy when students
need guided support to practice and apply new phonics
skills and concepts.*
*Taken from the Literary Development Article
Why to use Dr. Seuss Books
in Guided Reading
For a child to be able to read a book
effectively, the book needs to contain
more supportive features than
challenging ones (Dorn and Jones,
2012, p.51).
Dr. Seuss books typically are repetitive
rhyming books. The rhymes (coupled with
the illustrations) and the use of short CVC
words are examples of supportive features.
How phonics can be taught through Dr.
Seuss books during Guided Reading
The teacher will sit down with the students and talk about the book prior
to the students beginning to read
If reading Hop on Pop the teacher would ask What do you think
this book will be about? or What do you notice in the illustrations?
The teacher will discuss frequently encountered words, have the
students predict the beginning or ending of words, and have the
students make rhymes.
The students will read Hop on Pop aloud. Throughout the reading
the teacher will help the children apply problem solving strategies
they will look at the rhymes (at, cat, sat or mother, other, brother,
etc.), they will practice chunking words, look at sound sequences,
etc.
The students will then have a discussion about the book after
finishing their reading. The teacher can even use some of the
rhyming words from the book (up, cup, pup) and have the children
create their own sentences using these words.
 Learning Phonics through
Independent Reading
Beginning readers should have many opportunities to
read books at their independent level. Volume reading of a
wide variety of texts builds childrens background
knowledge, increases their vocabulary, and allows them to
practice strategies on texts within their control (Dorn and
Jones, 2012, p.36).
Part of our instructional day should be devoted to
students reading independently. This time offers students
the valuable practice we know all learners need.
Independent reading allows students to have the time to
apply all they know about reading to books of their
choosing (Morgan et al p.16).
We need to allow our students the time to work on their phonics
skills, to practice independently.
 Why to use Dr. Seuss Books
in Independent Reading
reading familiar texts can play a supportive role in promoting
early reading behavior. Familiar texts gives [the students]
opportunities to integrate cues and apply strategies in a known
context (Dorn and Jones, 2012, p.35).
Dr. Seuss books are widely known among children. Many
children are familiar with these books before coming to
school. Using these books during independent reading time
will allow the students to work on their cues and strategies on
their own.
According to Dorn and Jones (2012) the only selection
material for choosing books for independent reading are that:
the children be familiar with the texts and that they enjoy
reading them (p.36). Dr. Seuss books are extremely popular
with young children. The children will be familiar with them
and definitely will enjoy reading them.
How phonics can be taught through Dr.
Seuss books during Independent
Reading
The teacher will preselect the Dr. Seuss books for the students
(to match with their reading level). Some of the best books for
teaching phonics would be Hop on Pop, The Cat in the Hat, One
Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish, Fox in Sox, and Theres a
Wocket in my Pocket. These books will help to develop the
childrens phonics skillsthey have many decodable CVC
words, rhyming words, etc.
The teacher can do a minilesson with the students (and discuss
some of the words that will be encountered and the phonics
strategies that will be used) and then allow each of the
students to select their Dr. Seuss books and read
independently. After the students have finished their
independent reading time, they will each get a chance to share
about their readingthey can talk about their book and the
strategies that they used to help them during reading.
 References
Dorn, L. J., & Jones, T. (2012). Apprenticeship in literacy: Transitions
across reading and writing, K-4 (2nd ed). Portland, ME: Stenhouse.
Moustafa, M. (1997). Beyond Traditional Phonics: Research Discoveries
and Reading Instruction. Portsmouth, N.H.: Heinemann.
Parkes, B. (2002). Using Shared Reading for Implicit and Explicit
Instruction. HEC, Early Literacy Course, Part 4. Retrieved May 27, 2015,
from
http://www-tc.pbs.org/teacherline/courses/rdla145/docs/elp4sharedread.pdf
Literary Teaching Guide: Phonics NSW Department of Education and
Training Learning and Development (2009)
https://my.vanderbilt.edu/specialeducationinduction/files/2011/09/1-Literacy
-teaching-guide-phonics.pdf
Denise N. Morgan, Maryann Mraz, Nancy D. Padak, and
Timothy Rasinski. (2009). Independent Reading: Practical
Strategies for Grades K-3 Guilford Publications.
 Dr. Seuss books that were
referenced
Hop on Pop
Oh, The Places Youll Go!
Green Eggs and Ham
Cat in the Hat
Theres a Wocket in my Pocket!
One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish
Fox in Sox