Doctor De Soto

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DOCTOR DE SOTO By William Steig (Farrar, Straus) Themes: Dentists, Humor, Problem-Solving Grade Level : K - 4 Running Time: 10 minutes SUMMARY Ahungry fox with a toothache begs a mouse dentist to relieve his pain in this modern-day fable. The dentist and his wife come up with a plan to protect themselves from the sly fox. OBJECTIVES " Children will explore the responsibilities of a dentist.

" Children will investigate problem-solving techniques. " Children will appreciate the value of creative thinking. BEFORE VIEWING ACTIVITIES Share the book DOCTOR DE SOTO with children.

Then ask: " How does the fox feel at the end of the story? " How do Doctor De Soto and his wife feel? " Does the bigger animal do better in this story?

Why? Why not? Talk with children about their own visits to the dentist.

Ask: " Why do you go to the dentist? " What does the dentist do for you? " How do you feel when the dentist checks your teeth?

" What do you like most/least about going to the dentist? " Would you like to do the kind of work a dentist does? Why?

Why not? Discuss with children some of the most interesting problems they have ... more. less.

experienced. After describing their problems ask: " How did this problem make you feel? " How did you solve your problem? " Who helped you solve your problem? " How did you feel when the problem was finally solved? AFTER VIEWING ACTIVITIES Talk with children about the way Doctor De Soto and his wife solved their problem with the fox. Then ask: " What other things could Doctor De Soto have done to solve his problem? Have children draw pictures to show alterna- tive ways that could have helped Doctor De Soto overcome his fear of the fox. Remind children of the different kinds of seat- ing Doctor De Soto provided for his animal patients of different sizes. Then ask: " What kind of seat might Doctor De Soto make for an elephant? a giraffe? a flea? a spider? a rhinoceros? Encourage children to be as creative as possi- ble with their responses. Later you might want to have children illustrate their responses and display them on a bulletin board under the heading: Dental Care of the Large and Small! DOCTOR DE SOTO is an example of a fable, a story that illustrates a theme using animals that speak and act like human beings. In this case, the theme is that smaller animals can be just as clever as larger animals. Have chil- dren write their own simple fables. One example is: One good turn deserves another. Other videos and films about problem-solving available from Weston Woods: " THE AMAZING BONE by William Steig " MONTY by James Stevenson " OWEN by Kevin Henkes " STONE SOUP by Marcia Brown " AWEEKEND WITH WENDELL by Kevin Henkes DOCTOR DE SOTO CALL1-800-243-5020 TO ORDER THESE AND OTHER WESTON WOODS VIDEOS! This guide may be photocopied for free distribution without restriction

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