The Joy of Dr. Seuss in Kindergarten

Several weeks ago, a note was sent home from school informing us that the school would be celebrating "Dr. Seuss Week" in March.  My daughter was excited that she would have the opportunity to share some of our beloved books from home with her classmates, such as Don't Hop on Pop, and Cat in the Hat, and she was eager to expand her Dr. Seuss repertoire.  During Dr. Seuss Week, I had the chance to volunteer in the classroom during the literacy block, and I, too, got caught up in the magic of this beloved children's author.  During the Read Aloud circle, my Darling Daughter 1 (DD1)'s teacher led us through the story of the Bartholomew and the Oobleck, and as she turned the pages more and more oobleck fell from the sky, and more and more characters were immobilized.  My DD1 and her classmates were captivated, and they listened intently up to the last page wherein the King utters two simple and profound words:  "I'm sorry."  With the utterance of this phrase, the oobleck stops raining and the kingdom is restored.  Following the Read Aloud, students experimented with making their own oobleck from cornstarch, water, and food coloring.  My DD1 insisted on bringing her oobleck home to show her younger sister what she had made at school that day.

As our school district is one of the largest and most well-resourced  school districts in the country, the Board and the Superintendent of my local school district have set their sights on "The Seven Keys to College Readiness," which start with the goal of having all 2nd graders meet or exceed the target performance benchmarks in reading.  In the county curriculum framework, the standards for PreK-12 Reading/Language Arts delineate the four components of literacy: listening, speaking, reading, and writing.  This framework characterizes good readers as those who can "use strategies before, during, and after reading or listening to construct and extend meaning according to the text and purpose. They access background knowledge, survey structure, predict, question, summarize, clarify, visualize, draw conclusions, validate perceptions, analyze, synthesize, and evaluate."  Moreover, skilled readers can "examine how authors use language, literary elements, and genres to provide their audiences with new insights and perspectives."   In my DD1's kindergarten class, for example, the primary level reading program appears to be focused on helping students to develop the skills of decoding, gaining fluency with sight words, and deciphering the context clues that are provided.  However, what is not so clear to me is whether or not all of this time and effort spent on ensuring that students acquire a foundational skill set as readers, may or may not ensure that they become "hooked" as readers.  After spending an hour in the company of Dr. Seuss, however, I was reminded of just how easy it may be to hook young readers with great literature.

I have been visiting my daughter's classroom regularly since October, and as a volunteer during the literacy block I have observed at least a dozen Read Aloud circles.  Yet only with Dr. Seuss' story of the oobleck have I witnessed the students being mesmerized by what the teacher was reading to them.  The story of the oobleck features a young protagonist, probably not much older than the students in my daughter's kindergarten class, the plot is well-paced and builds terrific suspense, and the language through which the story is conveyed is lyrical.  After all, what's not to love about this story as a kindergartener?


My recent reacquaintance with Dr. Seuss has left me wondering:  How much opportunity do kindergarteners have to fall 'in love' with books at school?  Does a heavy emphasis on ensuring that all students become skilled readers detract from enticing children to become engaged readers?