Dr. Seuss on the Loose in Writing Class

Dr. Seuss has long been known for his inventive use of language; indeed, even employing his own creative nonsense words to tell his universally loved stories. Recently, in conjunction with Seuss’s birthday, Mrs. Ashley Levesque at Seneca Middle School, embraced that creative spirit as she worked with her English/Language Arts students to identify and appreciate the writing styles of a variety of different poets starting with Seuss himself. Her students worked in groups to read, identify and label various poetic writing conventions such as repetition, internal rhyme (rhythm), alliteration, end rhyme, uplifting theme, nonsense words and other literary devices such as tone, mood and intense characters. The students enthusiastically dug into the assignment; for everyone loves Seuss, no matter their age. As they move forward to other authors, the students will now have a most memorable foundation for evaluating differing writing styles and conventions. According to Levesque, “The best lessons begin when students have some background knowledge on the content. My students enjoyed the blast from the past while reading some of their favorite Dr. Seuss books. More importantly, they were able to participate in meaningful discussion of characteristics of an author’s style. I’ve been able to refer back to this experience when talking about more complex styles such as those of Langston Hughes and William Shakespeare. I hope this is a lesson students will reflect back on each time they study a new author!”