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NEA's Read Across America

Join the Kansas NEA Reading Wranglers in celebrating Dr. Seuss' 100th Birthday!

Hats Off to Dr. Seuss!

Kansas NEA is asking eight outstanding high schools students to exchange their cowboy hats for stove pipe hats. Whatever hat you usually wear - or even if you've never worn one - the National Education Association's (NEA) Read Across America has plans for you on March 2, 2004. The day will mark what would have been the 100th birthday of Theodor Geisel, better known to millions as Dr. Seuss. The plan is to bring the entire nation under one hat - the familiar red and white stovepipe chapeau made famous by the good doctor himself.

Helping KNEA do that this year are the KNEA Reading Wranglers and the Kansas High School Rodeo Association. The Wranglers are eight Kansas rodeo champions.
National All Around Cowboy Joe Macoubrie, Blue Mound;
State All Around Cowgirl Ashley Amos, Colby;
State Pole Bending Champion Michelle Bartley, Emporia;
State Goat Tyer Champion Brooke Inlow, Oakley;
State Boy's Cutting Champion J.R. Williams, Lakin;
State Girl's Cutting Champion Amanda Gugelmeyer, Lakin;
State Break Away Champion Michelle Stueve, Olpe; and
State Saddle Bronc Champion Chance Harmon, Norcatur.

KNEA would like to thank Ty Inlow, teacher in Oakley, KHSRA and the Foto Cowboy, Kent Kerschner, for their help in making this event such a success!

Nationally, park rangers at Mt. Rushmore, coal miners in West Virginia, showgirls in Las Vegas, and sailors in Virginia - all will be swapping their usual headgear for The Hat on March 2. They will be joining teachers, librarians, education support professionals, kids, and parents to have fun reading. For a sampling of other happenings, keep an eye on NEA's Read Across America section of the NEA Web site.

"The Hat illustrates the value of reading…and we are honoring the author whose books have taught millions just how much fun it is to read," said KNEA President Christy Levings. "We're having a party with a purpose to show young and old alike not only the importance of the written word, but the joy of reading as well."

Since the first celebration of Read Across America in 1998, the event has become a national tradition that annually attracts young and old alike in communities across the nation. Last year more than 45 million adults and children participated in reading events that ranged from green eggs 'n ham breakfasts and pajama parties to reading extravaganzas featuring politicians, pundits, sports celebrities, and stars of television and movies.

KNEA's Reading Circle Catalog is being released in conjunction with Dr. Seuss' birthday and includes a poster featuring the KNEA Reading Wranglers.

About the Reading Wranglers

KNEA's Reading Wranglers are eight Kansas rodeo champions... and outstanding students!

KNEA Read Across America Poster

2004 KNEA Read Across America Poster

About Dr. Seuss

Ted Geisel wore so many hats!
In addition to his book illustrations, Ted Geisel often painted and was an accomplished artist. He often told young artists to "paint at least one picture a month that is just for fun."

Dr. Seuss believed gardening to be another form of art and enjoyed creating a relaxed, lush outdoor environment to share with his friends and family. He was concerned about the environment as a whole and wanted to make the world aware of the consequences of indifference to nature. The result of his concerns was The Lorax, published in 1971, a book that has inspired generations to practice conservation.

His mother, Henrietta Seuss Geisel, had worked in her father's bakery before marrying Ted's father, often memorizing the names of the pies that were on special each day and "chanting" them to her customers. If Ted had difficulty getting to sleep, she would often recall her "pie-selling chants." As an adult, Ted credited his mother "for the rhythms in which I write and the urgency with which I do it."

The American Heritage Dictionary credits Dr. Seuss as the originator of the word nerd, which made its first appearance in his 1950 book, If I Ran the Zoo. "And then just to show them, I'll sail to Ka-Troo And Bring Back an It-Kutch a Preep and a Proo a Nerkle a Nerd and a Seersucker, too!"

His books were originally considered too outlandish to appeal to children. His first, And to Think That I Saw it on Mulberry Street (1937), was reportedly rejected by 28 publishers before it finally found a home at Random House. It was one of the company's most prophetic decisions; former Random House President Bennett Cerf once remarked, "I've published any number of great writers, from William Faulkner to John O'Hara, but there's only one genius on my authors list. His name is Ted Geisel."

At the time of Theodor Seuss Geisel's death in 1991, his 46 children's books had sold more than 200 million copies, and his last, Oh, the Places You'll Go! (1990), was still on the best-seller lists.

Fun Fast Facts

Theodor Seuss Geisel, AKA: Theo LeSieg, Rosetta Stone

Date and Place of Birth: March 2, 1904 Springfield, Massachusetts

Date and Place of Death: September 4, 1991 La Jolla, California

Married to:
Helen Palmer Geisel, 1899-1967
Audrey Stone Geisel, 1921-

Education:
Spent one hour in a formal art class in high school in 1919.
B.A., Dartmouth College, 1925; Oxford University (no degree)

More on Dr. Seuss

Seussville.com

Reading Rodeo and other Event Ideas

Reading Rodeos
Lasso up a good book by cowboy authors such as Kansas native Don Coldsmith! Fold up your saddle blanket, cozy up around an imaginary fire and read ghost stories; hold rodeo events in different parts of the school; take your reading rodeo on the road; decorate your rodeo arena in the appropriate western style; and invite local rodeo stars of all ages to wrangle up a good book and read to a child.

Reading's On Parade
Dressing up is oh so fun, especially when the whole town turns out to see you! Parades for reading can be simple-children and adults dressed as favorite storybook characters-or elaborate-"Riders for Reading" with kids on bikes or unicycles or Shriners in their cars; book floats; a "Readers Court," complete with a Reading King and Queen; and the mayor and other dignitaries turned out to salute readers and reading.

Prescribe Reading
Just like eating green vegetables and getting plenty of exercise, reading is good for you. Help the doctors, nurses, nutritionists, and pharmacists in your community spread the word-host "reading clinics" at hospitals, clinics, and pharmacies to model good reading behaviors and provide resources for putting books into a balanced diet of healthy living.

Survivor Reader
Who are the ultimate readers in your school? And what are they willing to do to prove it? Will they eat fried worms (gummi candy) ala How to Eat Fried Worms (Rockwell)? Can they climb a beanstalk (rope ladder) like Jack? Will they drink Freckle Juice (Blume)? Search titles to create a challenge to tax even your boldest readers.

Proud to be an American Reader
The same ideas and ideals that make you proud to be an American also make you proud to be an American reader. But as an American reader, you can identify books and characters, real and fictional, which evoke feelings of pride in America. Create community booklist of titles recommended by local citizens-titles for the American reader by American readers. Or create a booklist of "survivor" titles such as Hatchet (Paulsen), A Girl Named Disaster (Farmer), My Side of the Mountain (George), and Homecoming (Voigt) along with a competition to see who survives reading all the survivor books.

A Fool for Books
There's nothing like the promise of an adult making a fool of him/her self to inspire readers to read to great lengths. Principals are popular targets for this activity, but librarians, custodians, bus drivers, coaches and other authority figures at school can join in. To make the reading challenge work, the challenge must be challenging, but doable, and the incentive, hilarious. It's helpful to recognize kids' incremental gains to meet the challenge and to be sure to celebrate their accomplishments.

Literacy Facts & Fun Tips

Bilingual Book List (pdf)
Cat-a-List - Teacher's Top 100 Books (pdf)
Kids' Top 100 Books (pdf)
Children and Literacy - Tips (pdf)
Facts about Children's Literacy (pdf)
More Children's Literacy Facts (pdf)
Goldilocks…A Little Game for Young Readers (pdf)
How Famous Authors Begin…a Quiz (pdf)
Read Across America Resource Kit (pdf)
How to Excite Soon-To-Be Readers (pdf)
Teens and Reading - Help for Parents (pdf)
Reading Matters!! (pdf)

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