Hop on Pop

 Hop on Pop

Written and Illustrated by Dr. Seuss (Theodor Geisel)

Published in 1963

Grade Level: Kindergarten-1st grade

Synopsis: Dr. Seuss's Hop on Pop is subtitled, "The Simplest Seuss for Youngest Use" for the simple fact that it is a book for beginning readers.  The story does not have an overall plot, rather it is a series of short poems about characters, objects, and actions compiled together to form this children's book.  A set of rhyming words, such as ball and wall are written in large font on the page.  Those words are then used in a sentence to form a rhyme.  For instance, "HOP, POP.  We like to hop.  We like to hop on top of Pop.  STOP You must not hop on Pop." 

Theme/Skill: This book was designed to introduce beginning readers to the basics of phonics (teaching readers how to connect the sounds of spoken English with letters or groups of letters in written form).  Reading aloud to children will familiarize them with the way words sound and how they flow together to form sentences and meaning.  Have children read aloud to you as well because it is good practice.

Pre-reading activities: The teacher can write words that will appear in Hop on Pop on index cards and do a sight reading activity with the students.  By this point, students should have done some activities with rhyming.  The teacher can have the students sort the words or place words together than sound the same.  This will show the teacher what the students are capable of while also acting as a preview to the contents in the book.

Post-reading activities: The teacher will take note on what the student did well on and what they struggled with.  This will determine the post-reading activity.  The teacher may have the student do a Words Their Way spelling inventory and go from there. 

Assessment: The ability of the child to read the  book with fluency and accuracy will be a solid indicator of how they are progressing with rhyming words, initial vowel sounds, and ending sounds.  The teacher must take into consideration how whether the book is a familiar or unfamiliar reading. 

Reflection: We didn't have a video camera when I was growing up, but members of my family did.  When I graduated from college, my aunt and uncle who had always had the camera on hand at family functions compiled all the home movies that had me in it.  They called it "The Hannah Project."  The videos were a walk down memory lane and the first time I had ever heard my own voice or seen the way I moved as a child (videos show so much more than a picture).  One of the video clips shows the four and a half year old me sitting on the couch at my grandparent's house reading to my aunts.  Can you believe that I am reading Dr. Seuss's Hop on Pop?  The scene is something that I was teased about during the first viewing because of the way my New York accent sounded to my family from Maine.  The book is an ingenious way to introduce beginning readers to rhyming words and small sentences.  Repetition in the way that it is written made it easy for me to identify the words whether or not I memorized them or sounded them out.  Hop on Pop is a fun and silly book for parents to read with their kids to introduce them to literature at an early age.