IN THE CLASSROOM -- Dr. Seuss says ...

Danette Goulet

* IN THE CLASSROOM is a weekly feature in which Daily Pilot education

reporter Danette Goulet visits a school within the Newport-Mesa district

and writes about her experience.

Wearing tall, colorfully striped hats and clutching teddy bears, bunnies

and blankets, the fourth-graders listened attentively as their classmates

read aloud.

Abandoning their desks, the students in Laurie Schilling’s class pulled

their chairs toward the front of the room, huddling close to catch every

word.

The Davis Elementary School students in Costa Mesa are always concerned

with reading and writing. But last week, they were consumed with books as

they celebrated what would have been the late Dr. Seuss’ 96th birthday,

the theme for this year’s Read Across America Day -- a nationwide

literacy drive.

Each child made a hat, like one you might see a mischievouscat wear in

your favorite Dr. Seuss book. There were white hats with blue and red

stripes. There were blue hats with yellow and white stripes. There were

purple hats with yellow streamers and pink paper chains flowing off the

back.

There were even a few white pillbox-style hats, with grandiose flowers

flopping this way and that.

It was a day devoted to reading.

Students brought books from home to exchange with each other. They

brought pillows and blankets to snuggle up with in the reading corner.

And they toted their favorite books to read out loud.

As the end of the day approached, the students grew nervous and excited

-- it was finally time for the storytelling contest.

The blackboard was covered with words and phrases that the kids came up

with to describe a good storyteller. It read: “Knows the words, props,

proper pronunciation, clear voice.”

The excited chatter subsided as the first student boldly took the chair

facing the eager classmates and laid his large construction paper hat

aside.

As he read “Hop on Pop,” I realized you are never too old for books by

Dr. Seuss, also known as Theodore Geisel.

They are the first books many of us learn to read and the rhythmical,

often tongue-twisting, rhymes remain favorites, even if we don’t realize

it.

Other students tackled “Green Eggs and Ham” and “Oh, the Things You Can

Think” aloud.

Didn’t every child wonder why the eggs and ham were green? And then, did

they say to themselves, I wouldn’t eat them either?

As students voiced the words, they imitated the way adults had read to

them, turning the book toward the audience to let their classmates see

the pictures. One child even tried that patented librarian move --

holding the book facing the audience and read upside-down the entire

time.

Because participating in the storytelling contest was optional, Schilling

was proud and a bit stunned as 15 of her 30 students chose to read out

loud.

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FYI

* Who: Laurie Schilling’s fourth-grade students

* What: Storytelling contest marking Read Across America Day

* Where: Davis Elementary School in Costa Mesa

* Materials: All your favorite Dr. Seuss books

* Lesson: Inspiring children to read and work on oral presentation skills