Using Dr. Seuss to teach tolerance: A Dr. King lesson

“Some of the Sneetches had bellies with stars, while some of the Sneetches had none upon thars.”  The poor star-less Sneetches were ridiculed, segregated, and denied privileges simply because they looked differently.  Sound familiar?  Dr. Seuss’ story The Sneetches is a perfect book to teach tolerance to kindergarten students.  It leads right into a discussion about treating others with respect no matter how they look, and that it is wrong to judge others by outward appearances.  If you haven’t read the book; a man with a star machine comes to the Sneetches Beach and preys on the intolerance.  The Sneetches without stars are able to receive stars on their bellies if they pay the man.  Since the original star-bellied Sneetches want to remain segregated from the ‘lesser’ Sneetches, they then pay to have their stars removed and claim that a plain belly is now better.  The Sneetches then keep going into the machine receiving and removing stars on their bellies until no one can remember who was originally a star-bellied Sneetch and who wasn’t.  The Sneetches then realize that having or not having stars on their bellies is not an adequate way to measure the value of a Sneetch; though not before making the man with the machine very rich.

After we read The Sneetches, we discuss appropriate ways to judge the value of a person (all inward characteristics such as integrity, responsibility, courage, caring, perseverance, etc).  I use the courage trait to segway into Dr. King and his courage.  We talk about how he saw something unjust and unfair in his community and he decided to change it peacefully.  We talk about how they can show courage and make changes in their community if they see something that is unjust or unfair going on around them.

We then have a writing project where they write about a way they would stand up for others if they see something unfair.

I absolutely love using this book to teach about civil rights and tolerance.  I would love to hear about books or concepts you use to teach about Dr. King and his message in your kindergarten classroom.