The Lorax by Dr. Seuss is a favorite in the house. I am lucky enough to have all of my books from when I was a little girl. This means we read a lot of Dr. Seuss books, the well known and the not so well known. Our print of the Lorax has a copyright from 1977. I tell you all of this, just to explain just how much we love all Dr. Seuss books. So, it was no surprise that my boys jumped on board the minute I mentioned using The Lorax as a book study. I have created this guide to activities and lessons as a compilation of all things Lorax.
If you are a regular here, you know how much I love to involve the children in their learning and decision making. This book study on The Lorax, was no different.
To begin, I did a lot of research on activities we might want to do so that I could be prepared (I have linked these resources at the bottom).
Next, I went to the children and asked them to help me come up with some ideas to connect to The Lorax. It was so fun to see the ideas they had and to follow their lead. My hope is you will find some inspiration, gain some resources, and follow your learners lead wherever this study might take them. The possibilities are endless.
Since this is a family book, my boys were familiar. However, we reread the book again, this time studying the details and having a deep discussion about the concepts, characters, and big ideas.
Lessons We Did:
Story Maps, Character Traits of Each Character
Compare/ Contrast Characters
Character Maps
Text Clues
Inferences, Compare/ Contrast the Book to the Movie
While we made our own graphic organizers on scrap paper, I love This Reading Mama’s Fiction Text Structure FREE PRINTABLE packet that would be great for any fictional book.
My boys came up with the following Creative Writing Prompts , but you can find more from Minds In Bloom.
The possibilities are endless when it comes to what you can do with The Lorax with science. In our home, we like to do a lot of small projects. As a teacher, I used the project approach method which taught me that students interest for a full project can come from the smallest
The boys designed and engineered their own “Truffula Tree Cutters” with Legos or you can build your own truffala trees. Both are great for developing Stem skills.
We planted seeds in eggshells using seeds that resemble Truffula seeds. We are currently doing an experiment to see if the seeds will grow better with the egg carton open or closed. We can’t wait to see the results.
Other Science Projects The Lorax Can Inspire
Plant a Garden
Study Worms
Keep a Plant Journal
Start a Worm Compost
Study Recycling
Compare seeds Nature Walks
Truffula Sorting
Truffula Story Problems
Truffula Addition
More Math Ideas
Set up a Thneed Store (money)
Thneed Multiplication (Each Truffula Tuft makes x Thneeds, etc)
Sponge painting Truffula trees
Create Your Favorite Character with Pastels in a Forest of Truffula Trees
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Finger Knit a Thneed
Crafting with Recycled Materials
Truffula Collecting
Thneed Factory
Possible Field Trips with The Lorax
Metal Yard
A Factory
Garden/ Nursery
These are only some of the things you could do with The Lorax. I can tell you that my boys didn’t want to stop there. We visited the industrial area in our city and the boys became fascinated in the working of the machines, the workers, the process and the way everything worked. We have decided that our next project will involve factories of some sort.
In case you are still looking for more resources to help you plan your lesson, unit or projects… I have listed some of my favorite resources for All Things Lorax.
Lorax Printables ~Apples 4 the Teacher
Do you like The Lorax? What is your favorite activity to do with the book? I can’t wait to hear! First, be sure to pin this post so you don’t forget where to find all the great resources. Then be sure to hop over to iHomeschool Network to checkout and bookmark all of the other great spring book ideas. I will be pinning all of the ideas on my Books Pinterest Board as well.
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