K-1: Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss

Summary: 
A persistent Sam-I-Am tries to convince an unnamed (and stubborn) character to try a plate of green eggs and ham. Hoping that Sam will leave him alone, Mr. No-Name relents to discover that he actually likes the dish.

Strengths:  
Written with only 50 words (the upshot of a bet between Dr. Seuss and his publisher), this text is highly accessible to children who are just beginning to decode. The story is entertaining enough to motivate repeated readings for fluency practice. Sam-I-Am also uses persuasive techniques that 5-year-olds try on their parents and teachers, and with similar results!

Big Ideas, Themes, & Concepts:  
Change, Persistence, Risk-Taking, Persuasion, Rhyme, Repetition

Related Essential Questions (Curricular): 
Thematic  

• How do people convince others to do something? 
• Why are people sometimes afraid to try new things?
• When/why do people change their minds?

Skill-Based

• How do a writer's techniques (e.g., rhyme and repetition) impact how readers tell and understand a story?
• What does how a character speak reveal about who he/she is or what he/she wants?

Example Text-Dependent Questions (Instructional): 

Key Ideas & Details

• Who are the characters in this story? How are they connected? (What is their relationship?)
• How does the unnamed friend feel about Sam-I-Am? How do you know? 
• Where does this story take place? Why is that important to the story? (How is the setting connected to what happens in the story?)
• Based on what he says and does, what words describe Sam-I-Am? The unnamed friend?
• How does Sam-I-Am try to convince his unnamed friend to try green eggs and ham?
• Why does the unnamed friend finally decide to try the green eggs and ham? 
• What does the unnamed friend learn in this story? How do you know? (What can other people--and YOU--learn from this story?)

Craft & Structure

• The author of this book (Dr. Seuss) tells the story with only 50 different words. Many of these words rhyme and are repeated throughout the story. How does that help a reader read and understand the story? 
• How/why might rhyming and using the same words over and over help Sam-I-Am convince his friend to eat the green eggs and ham?
  

Integration of Key Knowledge & Ideas

• Look at the pictures of the unnamed friend throughout the story. How does his face change? Why do you think so? How does his body change? Why do you think so?
• Think about the ways that Sam-I-Am tries to convince the unnamed friend to eat green eggs and ham. How is it similar to the way Chicken tries to convince Pigeon to share his hot dog (i.e., in The Pigeon Finds a Hot Dog)? How is it different? 
• Both Sam-I-Am and Chicken "succeed" in convincing someone else to do something. Specifically, how did they succeed? Why did they succeed?