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Booking Across New Hampshire

This blog post tells about the book A River Ran Wild by Lynne Cherry, and has a craft to go along with it. It's part of the Booking Across the USA series.

Happy Booking Across the USA!  There are over 50 bloggers representing 50 states who are posting about their states today! What are we posting about? Books, of course!

Everyone has found a book that represents their state.

I'm so excited about the book I chose!
This blog post tells about the book A River Ran Wild by Lynne Cherry, and has a craft to go along with it. It's part of the Booking Across the USA series.
Click the image for an affiliate link to Amazon.

A River Ran Wild by Lynne Cherry is a piece of history and a lesson about respect for the environment.  Plus, it is a beautiful taste of the state of New Hampshire!

When I first picked up this book, I thought I had a nice picture book about a river that runs through Massachusetts and New Hampshire, but it turned out to be so much more!

This blog post tells about the book A River Ran Wild by Lynne Cherry, and has a craft to go along with it. It's part of the Booking Across the USA series.
This map from the end pages shows how the Nashua River runs through parts of Massachusetts and empties into the Merrimack River by Nashua, New Hampshire.
The story begins 7000 years ago when Native Americans first settled on the banks of what is now the Nashua River.  (They originally called it Nash-a-way, which meant "River with the Pebbled Bottom.")  When I read this story to my students, they had an unmistakable vision of the clear water and the shiny pebbles. For hundreds of years, the Native Americans lived by the banks of the river, taking only what they needed and respecting the river and the surrounding forests.

Then came the English settlers. The story explains in detail how the settlers cleared the land of the forests, building farms, villagers, then sawmills. 

Then came the industrial revolution.  The Nashua River became a dumping ground for factory waste and was no longer the beautiful clear water with the pebbles shining from the bottom.

The story continues to tell the story of the efforts to clean the Nashua River.  It is a true story that tells a valuable lesson.

As I read the story to my students, I was struck by their passion for what happened to the river, and how strongly they felt about the need for a clean-up! They commented on the beauty of the water and Lynne Cherry's beautiful illustrations that are so similar to what we see in many parts of New Hampshire. They loved the borders around the text, which told the story of that error of history. (First, the wildlife that lived undisturbed in the river valley, then the tools of the Native Americans, then the tools of the English traders, and onward until the clean-up efforts and clean waters of today.)  You could spend days learning about New England's history from this book without even reading the text!  (But please, read the text, too!)

This book would be a great book to read when learning about Native Americans or when learning about the environment. It's a great choice to read on Earth Day because of the environmental lesson.  It's also a great book for teaching history as well as the beauty of New England.  

This blog post tells about the book A River Ran Wild by Lynne Cherry, and has a craft to go along with it. It's part of the Booking Across the USA series.

I had many thoughts about activities connected to this book, but settled on one that celebrates the beauty of the clean waters of the Nashua River.

The above picture from the book reminded me of a technique of artwork called pointillism as done by some impressionist artists such as George Seurat and  Vincent Van Gogh. (See THIS LINK for examples.) It's simply artwork made by lots of tiny dots.

Although this little project hardly captures the complexity of Starry Night by Van Gogh or A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grand Jatte by George Seurat, the kids get a kick out of it.

For this activity, you'll need crayons, watercolor paints, and my favorite:  blue glitter glue!


This blog post tells about the book A River Ran Wild by Lynne Cherry, and has a craft to go along with it. It's part of the Booking Across the USA series.
This blog post tells about the book A River Ran Wild by Lynne Cherry, and has a craft to go along with it. It's part of the Booking Across the USA series.
This blog post tells about the book A River Ran Wild by Lynne Cherry, and has a craft to go along with it. It's part of the Booking Across the USA series.

First, start by drawing lots of little brown, black, and gray pebbles in a "river shape".
This blog post tells about the book A River Ran Wild by Lynne Cherry, and has a craft to go along with it. It's part of the Booking Across the USA series.
Second, make a green wash, with loads of green dots beside the pebble river.(This is the beginning of the forest by the river.)
This blog post tells about the book A River Ran Wild by Lynne Cherry, and has a craft to go along with it. It's part of the Booking Across the USA series.
That will need to dry before the next step: add yellow, orange, and red dots. (These dots will be the beautiful New Hampshire trees in the autumn.)
This blog post tells about the book A River Ran Wild by Lynne Cherry, and has a craft to go along with it. It's part of the Booking Across the USA series.
Here's my favorite part: cover the pebble river with the blue glitter glue. Can you see the pebbles sparkling from the bottom of the river?  
This blog post tells about the book A River Ran Wild by Lynne Cherry, and has a craft to go along with it. It's part of the Booking Across the USA series.
Reading this book, and knowing more of her work makes me want to read some of these other books by Lynne Cherry!  (Click the images for links to Amazon.com)
                          

Here are a few more books with a New Hampshire theme:

                                        

Please check out these other reviews as part of the Booking Across America celebration.  And if you like what you see, please pin them and tell your friends!
Alabama: Everyday Snapshots Alaska: Little Wonders’ Days Arizona: Simply Kinder and Think, Wonder, & Teach Arkansas: Homeschooling in Arkansas California: Juggling with Kids and The Outlaw Mom Colorado: Learners in Bloom and Living Montessori Now Connecticut: The Teacher Park Delaware: Mama Miss Florida: Teaching Stars Georgia: Fabulously First Hawaii: Teaching With Style Idaho: True Aim Education Illinois: Growing Book by Book Indiana: Teach Preschool Iowa: Surviving a Teacher's Salary Kansas: KCEdventures Kentucky: Chicken Babies Louisiana: New Orleans Moms Blog Maine: Maine Adventure Mom and Country Fun Child Care Maryland: Picture Books and Piourettes Massachusetts: Mama Smiles Michigan: Play DrMom Minnesota: The Wise Owl Factory Mississippi: Hey Mommy, Chocolate Milk Missouri- Ready. Set. Read! Montana: The Honey Bunch Nebraska: The Good Long Road Nevada: Boy Oh Boy Crafts New Hampshire: Elementary Matters New Jersey: The Pleasantest Thing New Mexico: Enchanted Homeschooling Mom New York: What Do We Do All Day North Carolina: Realistic Teacher Blog North Dakota: ND HealthWorks Ohio: Smart Chick Teacher’s Blog Oklahoma: Herding Kats in Kindergarten Oregon: Journey of a Substitute Teacher Pennsylvania: Land of Once Upon a Time Rhode Island: Smiling in Second Grade South Carolina: Cookies and Kiddos and JDaniel4’s Mom South Dakota: The Wise Owl Factory Tennessee: No Monkey Business Texas: Curls and a Smile and Kid World Citizen Utah: Teach Beside Me Vermont: Burlington Vt Moms Blog Virgina: Once Upon a Story, and The Freckled Homeschooler Washington: Home Learning Journey and Boy Mama Teacher Mama West Virginia: This Week @ Great Peace Academy and Mamas Like Me Wisconsin: Reading Confetti Wyoming: No Twiddle Twaddle USA: The Corner on Character

Celebrate the King of Nonsense

Read Across America Day is coming up!  

Happy Birthday to Dr. Seuss on March 2nd!

Celebrate the King of Nonsense! Ideas, books, and resources to celebrate Dr. Seuss in the classroom.

We'll be celebrating the whole week of his birthday!

Dr. Seuss was the master of rhyme and nonsense.  In his books, if he didn't have a word that rhymed that fit, he made one up!  And he did it well! Just look at this list of some of my favorite Dr. Seuss books! (Each title is an affiliate link to Amazon.)

So, how do I celebrate Dr. Seuss?  With Nonsense words, of course!  Click the image to read more about this resource!

This resource has 30 short vowel words, 18 long vowel words, and 18 vowel pairs, and R-controlled vowels. Explore the image for the link to this resource.

Nonsense Word Sort and Game Board

Explore this image for a link to this nonsense word game
  
Looking for a little more about Dr. Seuss? Try these activities in this Science and Social Studies resource! (This has 2 activities related to Dr. Seuss, plus several other March-themed Science and Social Studies activities!)



Explore this image for a link to this popular resource.

How do you celebrate the King of Nonsense?

Celebrate the King of Nonsense! Ideas, books, and resources to celebrate Dr. Seuss in the classroom.

Myers-Briggs Part 5: How Do You Live Your Outer Life?

The fourth and final scale that's part of the Myers-Briggs Personality Types deals with how people live their "outer life".   

Myers-Briggs Part 5: How do you live your outer life? The 5th in a series, this post explores personality types, and how people live their outer lives - spontaneous or organized, or somewhere in between.


There are two sides to this scale:

  • Judging types prefer organization and planning.  
  • Perceiving types like to improvise and explore options.
  • Judging types value punctuality and completeness of tasks. 
  • Perceiving types value spontaneity and flexibility.
  • Judging types prefer decisions made. They are task oriented and love to make lists.
  • Perceiving types prefer to multitask. They mix work with play, and love variety.
  • Judging types can be accused of being "too structured".
  • Perceiving types can be accused of being "too loosey goosey."

As I've mentioned in previous posts about Myers-Briggs, there is no right or wrong preference. We need both types in our world.  

Please don't confuse Judging types with the term "judgmental". They are not related.  

I'm a Judging type. I keep all my school supplies organized by the month I use them. I have tubs of activities for each month of the year.  All the clothes in my closet are in order by color. I have all the tops in hanging in one section, facing the same way, of course, starting with red, and going through the rainbow. Black and brown come at the end. The bottoms are on the other side of the closet. In color order, of course. All the money in my wallet is in order of denomination, all facing the same way.

I realized very early that my daughter was also a judging type when she lined up all her dolls around her by height. (She did this all the time, it was scary!)

Once a friend of mine told me I needed to be more spontaneous. I told him I'd put it in my plans.  

Of all four scales of the Myers-Briggs, this is one scale where I'm nowhere near the middle. I'm a strong "J".  

However, understanding personality types has helped me from becoming too extreme. I no longer panic if I don't know what's coming up. I'm ok if plans have to be changed.  

One of the things I appreciate most about understanding the different personality types is that I've learned to be tolerant and appreciative of the other types.  

I know and enjoy people who are Perceiving types. I admire spontaneity. I appreciate those who are good at improvising.  

For more information on the Myers-Briggs Personality Type Indicator, click the links below.



Have you figured out your own type?


Myers-Briggs Part 5: How do you live your outer life? The 5th in a series, this post explores personality types, and how people live their outer lives - spontaneous or organized, or somewhere in between.

Happy Presidents Day!

Wow, I just survived Day 100 and Valentine's Day on the same day. (We had a blast, but boy, am I run down!)

Happy Presidents Day! Here are several resources and ideas for primary classrooms to learn about our presidents.


Monday is Presidents Day! I plan on spending most of next week celebrating our presidents as well as our country! 


If you've been following my blog, you know I have a strong sense of patriotism, and feel children should take pride in their country. I also LOVE teaching social studies and mapping skills.

Here's a fun resource that I made that includes 3 fact mini-books. One is on George Washington, another is on Abraham Lincoln. Plus, it's been updated to include President Joe Biden! It also has a mapping activity, finding places related to these presidents. Click the image for the resource.

Explore this image for a link to these fun mini-books.

Here's another resource to review the difference between most of the patriotic holidays we have throughout the year: Presidents Day, Memorial Day, Flag Day, Independence Day, Constitution Day, and Veterans Day.  I don't know about you, but my little second-graders struggle to remember which one is which! 

Explore this image for a link to this helpful resource!


Of course, you'll be needing brain breaks! Here's one more fun resource!

Explore this image for a link to this fun (free) resource!

 
Looking for some books to read?  Here are some fun ones! (These are Amazon affiliate links, which means you'll help me earn credit at Amazon, but at no cost to you!)










Here's a fun collection of Presidents Day Activities. It includes a compare and contrast activity comparing the 2 different presidents. There is also a game to practice syllables, a graphing activity, a mapping activity, and an opinion writing activity. Click the image or click here for the link!

 




If you're looking for more, I do have a whole USA Bundle that includes the above items and several others here (at a HUGE discount, of course!

 
Here are a couple of related blog posts that might interest you:

If you have the day off, have a great one!  (Be sure to thank George, Abe, and the rest for the day off!)


Happy Presidents Day! Here are several resources and ideas for primary classrooms to learn about our presidents.

Myers-Briggs Part 4: How Do You Make Decisions?

It's time for another installment of my series on the Myers-Briggs Personality Types. Today we'll discuss how people make their decisions.

Myers-Briggs Part 4: How do you make decisions? The 4th in a series, this post discusses personality types and how people make decisions.

According to Myers-Briggs, there are two ways people make their decisions:

Thinking people make decisions based on fact. They are logical, objective, and driven by thought. They do the "right thing" whether or not it is liked. They have been known to enjoy a debate. Thinking types are sometimes seen as uncaring or indifferent.

Feeling people make decisions based on their hearts. They care about how people feel, and want to keep people happy. They are passionate and driven by emotion. They avoid conflict. Feeling types are sometimes seen as too idealistic or too sensitive.

As I've mentioned on discussion of previous scales, all people have parts of both sides. Most decisions are made with a combination of both Thinking and Feeling characteristics. However, we all have a preference.

Here are some interesting statistics:

  • Of the Thinkers, about 65% are men.
  • Of the Feelers, 75% are women.

Be sure to check out these other posts on the Myers Briggs Personality Types:


 Myers-Briggs Part 4: How do you make decisions? The 4th in a series, this post discusses personality types and how people make decisions.
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