The Butter Battle Book - Dr Seuss

This book is a blast from the past, but I had never read it!  I have just recently purchased this after several teachers asked if we had it in the library.  After reading it, I can understand why teachers want this book at hand.

Amazon states that 'this book's message is far from obsolete'.  I have to whole heartedly agree.

I don't normally enjoy Seuss books.  The are a bit too far from the ordinary for me, but I appreciate their popularity.  I had a few Seuss books growing up and I share them with young students often. This book is one of Dr. Seuss's cautionary tales.  Who would have thought that an author with such a silly sense of humour would also leave us with timeless messages of humanity?

This is a book for all ages.  Young students can be introduced to the age old question of why groups of people can never get along.  Older students can discuss allegory after reading.  This is an allegory of the Cold War but it can easily be an allegory of many global conflicts that are presently happening in the world today.

Remember!  An allegory is a story, poem or picture that can be interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning, typically a moral or politcial one

All ages, however can learn an important lesson about respecting differences.  The Yooks and the Zooks do not respect each other and the reason is ridiculous.  The reasons for many global conflicts may seem strange to us in the West, but just like the Zooks and Zoinks, their way of life is deemed to be under attack.  Another discussion point would be to discuss the intolerance of each group and how they should have shown mutual respect.  The small issues in the story quickly escalate into some very serious retaliation that gets out of hand.   

Beyond discussion, this book could be a starting point to study groups of people in the world that are in conflict and why.  Also, The Butter Battle Book does not have an ending.  A writing activity could be for students to write their own ending.  Or students could discuss the significance of Dr. Seuss not writing an ending.  What was the author trying to tell us?  An inferencing opportunity.

Procedural Writing & Inference - together, it can be done!

Yawn.  Teaching writing forms in isolation can be such a bore.  This month reports, next procedures, after that you review recounts. Blah, blah, blah.  I think writers become better writers by reading lots and writing lots.  What if a student doesn't want to write a procedure?  What if another is only excited by poetry? Yes, exposure to all forms of writing is important.  They should be taught at some point, reviewed and revisited throughout elementary school.  But if you want kids to be excited about writing, let them have some power when it comes to what they write!

     When you NEED to teach a writing form, it's best to 'look in a book'.  I enjoy reading a book to get students thinking about the form of writing we are studying.  Call it an icebreaker.  Students may use parts of the book in their writing or it may trigger an idea for their writing.

     I love the book How to -  by Julie Morstad.  It is beautifully simple and the illustrations are hauntingly poignant (how's that for flowery description?).  Each of the illustrations show a vulnerability of the characters and an innocence of youth.  At it's simplest level, this is a book that kids will relate to and adults will enjoy sharing.

     How would Mrs. D use this book?
Every one of the pictures in this book can be used to teach inference.  Such a hard reading strategy to teach and learn!  When using pictures to teach inferring I use WCB? and WCA?  What came before the picture? and What came after the picture?  There can be no right or wrong answer but there can be great inferences made with the beautiful illustrations in this book.

     For writing instruction, this is a great book to introduce Procedural Writing.  As I mentioned before, this can be a dry form of writing to teach and produce.  With this book you will leave the recipes and game instructions behind - wahoooo!  These are not your run-of-the-mill procedures.  Students may choose to write the procedures that are introduced in the book.  By doing this, they will be given the opportunity to make a much more creative procedure than if they were to write about how to make a ham sandwich!  Here are some of my favs: 'How to go slow' or 'How to see the wind'.  Then there's 'How to be a mermaid', which made me instantly think of my daughter who is famous for lengthy, luxurious baths.  Again, the pictures are what truly makes this book shine.  You must see for yourself, the pictures for 'How to make new friends', 'How to wash your face' AND 'How to wash your socks'. so.great. This is a lovely book to share.  Almost a shame to use it for introducing procedures!  You won't be sorry though and I bet the procedures your student produce will be creative and heart felt!