Dr. Seuss’ beloved Hop on Pop [Random House, 1963] is a fun read aloud that has been teaching and entertaining children for decades. Elementary teachers can use the innovative, rhyming story to teach students common word chunks. Hop on Pop activities can be taught during shared reading on as a part of small group instruction.
Hop on Pop Reading Lesson Plan
Hop on Pop is a fun, easy-to-read for kids of all ages. The teacher should begin the reading lesson by previewing the book with the students. She shows them the title and author and the class discusses how some of Dr. Seuss’ stories have silly plot lines. The kids look at the illustrations and then make predictions about the things that will happen in Hop on Pop.
The teacher reads the story to the students. During the first reading she doesn’t stop to ask questions or modify predictions, just models how to read with proper inflection and rhythm. At the end of the story the kids discuss the antics of the silly characters in the book and check their predictions for accuracy. The teacher re-reads the story to the class calling the students’ attention to the words in large print at the top of the story. She invites the students to read those words with her as she reads.
Teach Kids Common Word Chunks
The teacher points out the common word chunks found in the story. She talks about how words that end with the same word chunk rhyme. She writes one of the word chunks such as “up” on the front board and the kids read the word. She shows the students how to add and subtract letter to up to form the words cup and pup from the book. If the students are already very familiar with short vowel word chunks the teacher can perform the same activity with a more complicated word chunk such as “ing” or “ouse.”
The class looks through Hop on Pop to find sets of rhyming words with common word chunks. They group the words together on a chart. The teacher guides the students through a word sort of word chunks from the story based on their ability level. After the students have completed the word sort they can play Hop on Pop Hopscotch for further practice. The Hop on Pop words can also be added to the classroom word wall for future reference.
Elementary teachers who are looking for more Dr. Seuss lesson plans will be interested in reading The Cat in the Hat Language Arts Lesson Plan, Green Eggs and Ham Language Arts Lesson Plan, and One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish Lesson Plan.
Megan Sheakoski - Megan Sheakoski is a teacher, mom and writer whose ideas have been featured in college text books, graduate courses, on websites and on ...
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