Tammy Botts CHDV 150 Professor Cole 16 April 2014 Well done!

10/10 Why I Chose This Theme: I chose Dr. Suess as my thematic unit theme because of its sense of wonder, fun and familiarity. Dr. Suess has written 60 childrens books over his lifetime and kids of several generations grew up listening to their parents read to them and learning how to read by them. His books are filled with: make believe, rhymes, fun and strange characters, and funny, clever words. My Goal: My goal is to bring fun and wonder into a preschool setting while exposing the children to various activities to enrich their learning experience. For example, in my math small group activity I have prepared a lesson that is based on the book, How Many Feet. The children are to cut out a tracing of their feet and go about measuring different things in the classroom. While this is a fun activity, they are learning how to measure, count up to ten, and be able to classify different sizes and shapes. Developmentally Appropriate: Dr. Suess is a developmentally, age-appropriate theme because most kids have been exposed to his books and enjoy them. Most families have several of his books at home and are familiar with them. There are many, fun and interesting activities that are targeted for preschoolage group to go with this theme. Because of the various activities that are available, it can be

easily modified to differing abilities. For instance, in my previous activity, if a child is not comfortable tracing and cutting out their foot print, a teacher or aide can do this with them and then they are free to go about measuring things in their classroom. Dr. Suess is relevant because most kids are interested in his crazy, make-believe world where fun and silliness occur. Dr. Gardners Eight Learning Intelligences: I have integrated Howard Gardners eight learning intelligences into my thematic unit. Some examples are in the mathematical area, the students will be able to measure different things around the room using feet that they have traced and cut out after reading Dr. Suess The Foot Book. Children that are more advanced in spatial intelligence, I will give the opportunity to estimate how many feet things are. Children can walk around the room measuring various things while singing and listening to I Can Count song. The children will also create hand art by making Thing 1, Thing 2 and Thing 3 from Cat in The Hat out of their hands and paint. For science they will make green eggs and ham by measuring out the correct amount of green food coloring and watching their eggs and ham turn green. They will have the opportunity to eat it for snackjust like in the book, Green Eggs and Ham. For children that excel at logicalmathematical intelligence I will offer additional colors for mixing to learn about what colors are made from mixing colors. For blocks the children will create a zoo using zoo animal foam shapes and animal counters to go along with the book, If I Ran a Zoo. They will also use various blocks: wood, foam, brick, and ABC blocks to stack to see how high they can build while balancing the blocks, which will provide a hands-on, physical, cooperative activity. Children that excel in linguistic intelligence I will offer the opportunity to retell the story to the class and act it out.

In choosing Dr. Suess as my thematic unit, my goal is to integrate learning with fun. Its important that children enjoy learning so that they will have a hunger for it as they grow.