Dr.+Seuss+Assignment

Do you know what famous author was born in Springfield, Massachusetts on March 2,1904? Here is a clue- he wrote the famous book "The Cat in the Hat". Yes, it was Dr. Theodor Seuss Geisel, otherwise known as Dr. Seuss! Click [|here to read a short biography about Dr. Seuss]. Do you have a favorite Dr. Seuss book? Perhaps the "Cat in the Hat", "The Grinch Who Stole Christmas" or "Horton Hears a Who? My favorite book written by Dr. Seuss is called "The Lorax". This book was first published in 1971 and shares a very important message. A message that reminds us how people need to take better care of the planet earth.

The story revolves around two main characters, the Once-ler, who is cutting down all of the Truffula Trees to make Thneeds, and the Lorax, who tries to stop him. The Once-ler is telling the story of his greed to a young boy. At the end of the story, in spite of the Lorax speaking up for the trees and the Brown Bar-ba-loots, we learn that the Once-ler had cut down all of the Truffala Trees and there is only but one Truffala Tree Seed left. The following is what Dr. Seuss writes when the Once-ler drops the last seed into the boy's hand--

"It's a Truffula Seed. It's the last one of all!  You're in charge of the last of the Truffula Seeds.  And Truffula Trees are what everyone needs.  Plant a new Truffula.Treat it with care.  Give it clean water. And feed it fresh air.  Grow a forest. Protect it from axes that hack.  Then the Lorax  and all of his friends  may come back."

This week's assignment is for you to read the book "The Lorax". If you do not have access to the hard copy of "The Lorax" [|here is a link to the story]. Just scroll down the page to read the story.

After you read "The Lorax" please write an essay (**minimum of five sentences**) to respond to the following questions:

We know that the Lorax never wanted the Truffala Trees cut down, but do you think the Once-ler changed his mind about cutting down the Truffala Trees? Do you think at the end the Once-ler thought it was the "right thing to do"? This book has a very important message about the need for all of us to take care of the earth. Please write about what we can do to help keep the earth safe and clean. *Tip- when you go to read "The Lorax" it might be helpful if you have a piece of paper and pencil to write down some of your ideas of how you will answer the questions. Remember to check your draft for correct spelling, capitalization and to write in complete sentences that are grammatically correct.

The second part of your assignment is to complete the survey below indicating your favorite Dr. Seuss book. I will post our results! (Here you would use google docs to create a survey to embed into the wiki)