TP-Issue14.5

Part 5 - Words to keep close Oh, The Places You’ll Go! is often given to people starting a new chapter in their lives. Do you think people who are moving house or leaving school would enjoy this book? Why? Could adults enjoy it as much as children? Activity 4 - Special words “So be sure when you step. Step with care and great tact and remember that Life’s a Great Balancing Act…” What do you think this quotation means? Could it help you in real life? How? Many people like to remember quotations that offer good advice – and there are plenty to choose from in this book. Find passages that would make good quotations for this purpose. Which is your favourite, and why? Write your chosen quotation on our Downloadable Take-Home Sheet and put it where it will help or inspire you. Part 6 - Extending the lesson “Waiting around for a Yes or a No or waiting for their hair to grow…” Sometimes lots of things seem to be happening to us, and sometimes nothing much is going on. What are you able to affect or change in your life? Think about things you can do immediately, and things that take longer – or for which you must prepare. What do you have to accept? Some things can’t be changed, however much you try. Think of examples. Rather than waiting around doing nothing, the Traveller goes looking for “bright places where Boom Bands are playing…” What do you think Dr Seuss means by this? Look at the spread showing the people in The Waiting Place. What are they doing? What could they be thinking and feeling? Copy some of their postures and expressions to help you find out. Why do you think they haven’t gone looking for “bright places where Boom Bands are playing”, like the Traveller? The text might give you some ideas. What does Dr Seuss mean when he talks about The Waiting Place? Do you agree? Why/why not? Can there be advantages to waiting? When might you need time to reflect, or gather evidence? Will your first idea or solution to a problem always be the best? Allocate a Waiting Place character to each child. Can they explore how their character moves as they do different tasks? What expressions do their characters have? What gestures do they use? Working in pairs, interview your characters to find out more about them. Name them and introduce your characters to everyone. As a class, recreate The Waiting Place illustration as a freezeframe, with USEFUL QUEST I ONS l Can a funny book say something serious? l Where would you like your life to take you? What qualities and skills will you need to get you there? l Does being successful always mean winning? What else could it mean? l What’s the most effective way of dealing with challenges and setbacks? l What advice does this book give? How could it help you? children playing the parts of the characters they’ve been exploring. Use ‘touch and tell’ to cue each character to say what they’re thinking at that ‘frozen moment’. Then give an agreed signal to bring your freezeframe to life. What will happen as conversations get going and characters start moving? Now tell the story of one or more of these characters. How did they come to be in The Waiting Room? How do they get out? What happens when they leave? Write your story and illustrate it. Together with HarperCollins, we’ve created a beautiful resource pack, complete with lesson plans, certificates and activity sheets, which you can use to teach all the ideas in this article. Download it now at plazoom.com/seuss FREE RESOURCES Carey Fluker Hunt is a freelance writer, creative learning consultant and founder of Cast of Thousands. Illustrations © copyright Dr. Seuss Enterprises, L.P. 1990 48 | www.teachwire.net castofthousands.co.uk