Dr. Seuss: Tips for Teaching His Life Lessons to Kids of All Ages

Posted by Michelle Dempsey, Book Specialist on Feb 1st 2016

Oh, the places you’ll go… 

The age defying impact of  Dr. Seuss and his wonderful books, from Kindergarten to High School and beyond.

As schools across the country are preparing for Read Across America Day to celebrate Dr. Seuss’ 109th birthday in just a few weeks, our book specialists have been fixated on the influence that Dr. Seuss’ life lessons have had on the world and the classroom. After all, every Dr. Seuss book includes so many important thoughts and ideas that have inspired generations of children and adults alike.

As a teacher, I began each school year, from Kindergarten on up, with this quote that still holds true to all aspects of my life,

“You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose.”

Naturally, that’s a pretty easy quote to decipher and apply to almost anything. Students loved it, teachers felt inspired by it, and something about “steering yourself” always opened the floor for conversations like “What do you want to be when you grow up?” and “Why did you steer yourself in the direction of taking Johnny’s pencil again?”

All jokes aside, let’s look at our Top 3 Dr. Seuss’s Quotes for the Classroom and how to apply them to almost any part of the school day!

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3. Morning meeting, calendar time,– whatever your routines are to help guide your students into another productive day of learning, this one is sure to get them motivated and ready for whatever exciting school adventures lie ahead. Equate your daily schedule to the mountain – it suddenly makes “reading, writing, arithmetic,” sound a lot more enticing!

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2. For the students who need that extra push – or for the students struggling with a certain assignment, just let them know Ol’ Theo has their back! Our job as teachers is to give our students the confidence to take the first step, learn from their mistakes and grow from their efforts– and of course, THINK!


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1. We’ve saved the best for last, here. Naturally as book specialists, we KNOW there is nothing greater than the power of educating yourself through reading. Our favorite thing about this quote is that it holds true for readers ages 0-199 – and gives that extra oomph to the student who’d rather steal Johnny’s pencil than crack open a book. Try having your students get up out of their seats, do a little stretch, “shake the sillies out,” and repeat this quote at the beginning of EACH reading block…

And if that doesn’t work, Thing 1 and Thing 2 will get them, every single time.

Happy Birthday, Dr. Seuss!

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