Many teachers and librarians celebrate Dr. Seuss’s birthday in March by reading his books and having Dr. Seuss themed activities. Dr. Seuss is famous for writing children’s books that rhymes. So for music, I created a rhythmic rhyming game for students to work on their language skills and motor skills. I played a steady beat on the drum and rhythmically spoke: “It rhymes with hall. It rhymes with hall. It’s round and it bounces, it’s a….” And students excitedly yelled “ball!”
With the preschool classes: All-Stars, Kangaroos, and Dragonflies, I worked on the beginning literacy of rhyming words. They listened to the rhyming word and clues to determine the answer. Playing the beat kept them tuned into the clue. It also increased the volume and confidence of their voice when they spoke and played the answer word.
For elementary classes: Busy-Bees, Fireflies, Wranglers, Ants, Owls, Labs, Mustangs, and Heroes, we also worked on rhyming words and opposite words (ex. up/down, big/small). Students were given the opportunity to create their own rhymes with descriptive clues. Some students needed assistance to create a descriptive clue for their rhyming words, while other students needed assistance to find rhyming words. Given a few minutes to think of their own clues, many of the students did independently create ones for their classmates to guess. They loved being the leader and were so excited when their peers correctly guessed. Watch the video below of students playing “Rhythm and Rhyme: Dr. Seuss” and listen to the rhymes they created. Some will surprise you!
T. Labs: “It rhymes with house. It rhymes with house. It is small, it’s a… (mouse).”
M. Heroes: “It rhymes with bat. It rhymes with bat. I ate a burger, now I’m….(fat).”