MADISON – The Grinch. That dastardly, dire and dreadful antithesis of the Christmas spirit crawled his green self into the halls of Columbia Elementary School before the holiday.

However, the Columbia students reversed the Grinch’s negativity to teach him (and themselves) a lesson about caring for others during Grinch Day on Dec. 14.

“Students read the book, ‘How the Grinch Stole Christmas’ by Dr. Seuss; found figurative language in the book and song; and made Grinch crafts,” third-grade teacher Karen Jump said.

The book is a fun one for all to read aloud because of numerous figurative phrases and words (https://jacksgr8englishpage):

* Onomatopoeia — Examples are “Screeching of the brakes” and “Get ready for the boom!”

* Personification — “Is your freezer running?” and “Where are you, Christmas?”

* Repetition — Dr. Seuss often repeats words and phrases, such as “Maybe, maybe, just maybe.”

* Alliteration — “Bubbalicious, bubby pie” repeats the letter ‘b.’

* Understatement — “Mr. Grinch, you’re looking a little green today.”

To incorporate a math exercise, Jump’s students measured the length, width and height of Christmas presents that the Grinch stole from Whoville.

In Alyson Durrett’s reading class, the fourth-graders completed character editing and writing about the Grinch’s antics. On the whiteboard, Durrett wrote, “Sometimes, it’s easy to be a Grinch. What makes your heart grow three sizes?”

In response, Durrett’s students placed sticky notes on the whiteboard with comments like “Giving happiness and not being lonely,” “Being with friends and family,” and one single thought, “FOOD.”

For crafts to reinforce their reading about the Grinch, third-graders in Kylie Dunkerley and Colleen Johnson’s classes made masquerade masks of the ‘mean one’s’ face and sketched and colored drawings of his ugly head.

Students dressed up in green and Grinch-themed clothes. Several teachers showed their ‘Grinchy’ spirit by wearing green jerseys with an outline of his face and the saying “I’ll just wait until it’s quiet.”  

Columbia student Jeremiah Small said he thoroughly enjoyed all of activities during Grinch Day. “My favorite activity was watching the movie,” Jeremiah said.

“One of my favorite things about Grinch Day was having Grinch punch,” Leah Jump said. Maribeth Williams was enthusiastic about creating crafts.

Brooklyn Colquett liked “finding the main idea and sequencing of the Grinch story and then talking about what Christmas was really about.”