Dr. Seuss's Homeschool Language Lessons

At the beginning of the school year I wrote about how I make up my own first grade language lessons using a short sentence or two from a children's book that illustrates a particular language-related concept. For instance, if we want to study plurals, I might select a sentence(s) that has a singular and a plural noun in it. I would have Joely copy the sentence down from the book, then we would discuss what plurals are and how they are made. Then, as we read through the book, Joely would point out other plurals that she sees in the text. To stress the concept even more, I would also have Joely rewrite the sentence throughout the week, finally rewriting it from dictation at the end of the week.

This method not only introduces language concepts in a non-workbook method, but it also helps with spelling since Joely is writing the same sentence over and over again, then writing it completely from dictation at the end of the week.

Dr. Seuss is a favorite children's author of mine, and Dr. Seuss's books are so engaging that I thought it'd be fun to make up a list of language lessons using his wonderful stories. This list is by no means exhaustive since it only takes into account the Seuss books I have in our personal library, but it does give you at least one example of a book to use for each of the concepts listed.

I've tried to select books in which the particular concept is illustrated in more than one place so your child can find them all as you read together. Hopefully this list will inspire you to create your own unique language lessons for your little ones in your homeschool.

You can download a PDF of the homeschool language lessons with Dr. Seuss for your personal use.

Dr. Seuss's Homeschool Language Lessons

BY CONCEPT

• Periods & Capital Letters: Would You Rather Be a Bullfrog?,There’s a Wocket in My Pocket!
• Capitalizing “I”: There’s a Wocket in My Pocket!
• Quotation Marks: Horton Hears A Who!, The Cat in the Hat
• Question Marks: Would You Rather Be a Bullfrog? , Are You My Mother?, Who Are You, Sue Snue?
• Exclamation Marks: The Cat in the Hat
• A & An: Who Are You, Sue Snue?
• Plurals: Bears on Wheels
• Conjunctions (and): The Cat in the Hat, In a People House
• Conjunctions (or): Would You Rather Be a Bullfrog?
• Rhyming Words: There’s a Wocket in My Pocket!, Hop on Pop
• Contractions: There’s a Wocket in My Pocket!
• Would/Should/Could: Green Eggs and Ham
• Color Words: I’ll Teach My Dog 100 Words
• Number Words: One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish; Bears on Wheels
• Opposites: One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish; The Foot Book
• Abbreviations (Mr., Mrs.): Hop on Pop
• Proper Nouns (names): Who Are You, Sue Snue?, Hop on Pop
• Verbs: I’ll Teach My Dog 100 Words
• Adjectives: The B Book
• Pronouns: The Cat in the Hat Comes Back
• Prepositions: Green Eggs and Ham
• Onomatopoeia: Mr. Brown Can Moo! Can You?
• Alliteration: The B Book, Fox in Sox, Berenstains’ A Book, Dr. Seuss’s ABC
• Italics for Emphasis: Horton Hears A Who!, Who Are You, Sue Snue?
• Capitalization for Emphasis: Horton Hears A Who!
• Parentheses: Would You Rather Be a Bullfrog?

BY BOOK TITLE

• Are You My Mother?: Question Marks
• B Book, The: Adjectives, Alliteration
• Berenstains’ A Book: Alliteration
• Bears on Wheels: Plurals, Number Words
• Cat in the Hat, The: Quotation Marks, Exclamation Marks, Conjunctions (and)
• Cat in the Hat Comes Back, The: Pronouns
• Dr. Seuss’s ABC: Alliteration
• Foot Book, The: Opposites
• Fox in Sox: Alliteration
• Green Eggs and Ham: Would/Should/Could, Prepositions
• Hop on Pop: Rhymings Words, Abbreviations (Mr., Mrs.), Proper Nouns (names)
• Horton Hears A Who!: Quotations Marks, Italics for Emphasis, Capitalization for Emphasis
• I’ll Teach My Dog 100 Words: Color Words, Verbs
• In a People House: Conjunctions (and)
• Mr. Brown Can Moo! Can You?: Onomatopoeia
• One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish: Number Words, Opposites
• There’s a Wocket in My Pocket!: Periods & Capital Letters, Capitalizing “I”, Rhyming Words, Contractions
• Who Are You, Sue Snue?: Question Marks, A & An, Proper Nouns (names), Italics for Emphasis
• Would You Rather Be a Bullfrog?: Periods & Capital Letters, Question Marks, Conjunctions (or), Parentheses