Lesson: Dr.

Seuss Inspired Create Your Own Characters

Grade: Third

Big Idea: Creative problem solving is a part of coming up with something new
Key Concept: Using many tools to help you problem solve a creative piece of work is
a good strategy for everyday life, including art work.

Summary of Lesson: The students will learn about Dr. Seuss and learn his style of
creating his literature and illustrations. The important Seuss facts will be given in a
variety of ways. These ways include, PowerPoint, video segments, Seuss books read
and morals of the books discussed. Each class will begin with new Seuss
information that they will learn. The class will sketch out their own ideas for Dr.
Seuss characters and use provided ideas as inspiration. After the sketches and ideas
are complete, they will draw their character on large paper and color it in using
colored pencils or crayons. The character will be given a name of their creative
choice and the background will be created as well. Those will be drawn on the final
paper as well. After the art and character is complete, a lesson on how to come up
with poem or story ideas will be given. They will learn the different ways that Seuss
wrote his stories and poems. They will know that some can rhyme and some do not.
We will talk about words that rhyme and how to write down ideas on to sketch
paper. Once many ideas are thought up and written, we go into the computer lab.
The students will use their previous knowledge on operating a Word document on
the computer. They will use their typing skills and write their poem/story into a
saved word document. The students will take both the scanned picture of their
completed character and word document of their story and put them into a program
called Comic Life. That will give them the ability to

Objectives: The students will be able to:
Understand the importance of craftsmanship
Create a character with the inspiration of Dr. Seuss style.
Know how to work the materials provided and manipulate them into their
artwork.
Creatively problem solve their artwork and writings
Create a written poem or story to accompany their characters
Know how to create a word document and successfully type their poem or story
into the program.
Create a word document with their poem or story draft.
Understand how to operate the program ComicLife on the computers and make
their character into a comic page with the story attached.

Key Questions:
1. What does it mean to have good craftsmanship?
a. To make your work look nice and neat
b. To take the time necessary to create something that you are proud of
in the end
2. What are they key things that are important about Dr.Seuss style that are
important to learn?
a. He was whimsical and creatively brilliant
b. He wanted to help children learn how to read better so he wrote
books
c. He was fired from his news writing job but still continued his passion
d. He has written and published over 60 books
e. He is also the illustrator as well as the author
f. A lot of his characters and words are creatively made up from his
imagination.
3. Why is it important to take art into the computer lab and use technology?
a. Technology is a tool we can use to further enhance our artistic
experience
b. Technology can be used to express our ideas on a different level
c. Technology is an important tool to have knowledge of, especially
when you are using it to help create a piece of artwork
d. This can increase childrens writing and communication abilities
when used properly

Materials: Pencils, sharpies, computers, crayons, colored pencils, sketch paper

Vocabulary:


Day One:
1. Open the class with Dr. Seuss video or PowerPoint with key information on
him. Ask the children what they already know about Dr. Seuss.
2. Explain the objectives for the overall Seuss character and the end result that
they will achieve
3. Talk about sketches and the objectives for the sketches on the first day.
a. The students must create at least four Seuss characters
b. Add a creative back ground to their favorite character and color
everything in
c. Use the given idea and inspiration sheets and books at the table to
draw
Assessment: Students will verbally talk about what they learned about Dr. Seuss
that they didnt already know

Day Two/Three:
1. The students will review and be formally assessed about what we had
learned last time
2. The class will be given more videos and/or PowerPoint on more key
information on Seuss
3. Students will be shown how to look at the sketch they have made of their
character and draw a large, good copy of their character, background and
name in pencil.
4. The students will go over their pencil marks with Sharpie marker

Assessment: the students will group pair share about what they have learned about
Dr Seuss this time around. One will share at their table what the group had learned.

Day Four/Five: Coloring
1. The students will be shown how to color the character in with either colored
pencil or crayon.
2. The book The Sneeches will be read to the students
a. What is the moral to the story of The Sneeches?
b. Why is it important for people to read this book?
3. We will discuss what it means to have good craftsmanship.
a. Creating something that you have taken the time and put in the effort
that makes you proud of your work
b. Discussing how Artwork isnt always put on a grade scale, but it can
raise the final score of an art project after the assessment has taken
place.
c. It shows how much care and value you put on your work.
d. Craftsmanship applies to all areas of work, not just art, understanding
that is important in work development
4. The students will color in their characters and backgrounds with good
craftsmanship.
Day Six/seven: Poems/stories
1. The students will be shown different short poems from various Seuss books
to show how his style of writing is
a. Does it always rhyme?
b. Are some words made up from his imagination?
2. The students will be shown how to start their own poems or short stories
about their characters.
a. What ways can you start the poem? Think about words that rhyme or
make a pattern with the words to give it rhythm.
3. The students will begin creating many written ideas of their poems on sketch
paper. The students will understand the objectives of having three or more
written poem or story ideas.
Day Eight/Nine: Computer Lab
1. The students will be formally assessed about their poem ideas and how to
construct a good and creative poem.
2. The students will use their previous knowledge to understand Word
document program and I will gain knowledge on how well they understand
3. Review the program and the tools within the program.
a. The students will understand that the word program is a tool to help
our artwork in a new way
b. You must teach technology as a tool to assist you in learning rather
than just a program on the computer
Day ten-eleven: Computer Lab- ComicLife
1. The students will review what all needs to be done before we start the Comic
Life program
a. The good craftsmanship on the project
b. The poem typed out with no mistakes-grammar, punctuation with a
title and author
2. The students will have their images of the artwork entered into the computer
and both the image and the artwork uploaded to the program ComicLife
3. The students will be given instruction on how to use the program
a. How to move the image around, make bigger or smaller, rotate
b. Change colors of font, background, borders
c. How to change font style, size, and orientation.
4. The students will be shown examples of ones that have been done by the
teacher and printed out
5. The students will be encouraged to be creative and try out all the tools
provided in the program until something is found that they like.
Day Twelve: Assessment, printing, loading online
1. The students will finish their projects on ComicLife, save the image in the
computer.
2. The students will have their images printed and assessments will be given
out to each student. We need to understand what the creative process was
within the students minds and the only way, is to assess.
a. How the students have handled the project, behaviorally and
creatively
b. Have the students had good craftsmanship?
c. What elements of art did they use?
d. What would they do differently? Why and how?
e. How was the students behavior during the project?
f. How did the student handle the technology part of the project?
3. The students will have the images loaded to Artsonia for online viewing for
parents and other family involved.