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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.

Organizing Literacy Centers

I work with 2 of my 3 reading groups daily. What do I do with my other students?

How do you organize your Literacy Centers? This post gives you ideas for organizing what the children do when you're teaching a group.


Many teachers use the Daily 5, and have some great ways to organize the 5 choices.

My district has some specific guidelines on how we spend our reading time, but we can be flexible within those guidelines.

Every child must have Independent Reading daily.  That's easy! Reading groups need to meet so many times per week, with the lowest group meeting daily.

I use little cards with magnets on the back. At the beginning of the year, I teach the children the meaning of each card, and introduce them one at a time. We start with Independent Reading, then move on to the others.

Some people call these Centers, or Learning Centers. I call them Stations. I don't know why!

I have a section of my whiteboard in the front of the room that's always about literacy stations. On some days, it might look like this:

How do you organize your Literacy Centers? This post gives you ideas for organizing what the children do when you're teaching a group.


The children know that the first row of cards tells where the children go for the first station. In my classroom, instead of "Group 1, Group 2, and Group 3", I have the children's individual names on magnets. I do change my groups often, depending on the needs of my students.  

I also have one child starred per group, per day. The starred child is in charge of handing out pillows for Independent Reading.  (I try to make this time as special as possible... who doesn't love curling up with a comfy pillow and a good book?)
In the above picture, for the first station, I'm working with Group 1, while Group 2 does word work, and Group 3 has Independent Reading. After a while, I switch the groups, and I'll have 2 groups at Independent Reading while I work with the third group.

Or it might look something like this.

How do you organize your Literacy Centers? This post gives you ideas for organizing what the children do when you're teaching a group.

In the next example, I work with Group 1, while Group 2 has Independent Reading. Group 3 has their reading time at the Library. Later, I work with Group 3, while Group 2 has Independent Reading and Group 2 works at assigned computer activities.

On a day where I have to work with individuals, it might look like this, where I only teach one reading group.

How do you organize your Literacy Centers? This post gives you ideas for organizing what the children do when you're teaching a group.

For the first station, I work with Group 2 while Group 1 has Partner Reading and Group 3 has Independent Reading.  Later, I have 2 groups at Independent Reading and Group 3 has a written reading assignment. This is the time I would pull individuals for reading or writing conferences.

Here's a Dollar Deal with some of the cards I use:
Literacy Center Cards for Centers

How do you organize your Literacy Centers? This post gives you ideas for organizing what the children do when you're teaching a group.


If you like this resource, you might enjoy this full set of Guided Reading Management

How do you organize your Literacy Centers? This post gives you ideas for organizing what the children do when you're teaching a group.
 

How do you organize your students for reading?

How do you organize your Literacy Centers? This post gives you ideas for organizing what the children do when you're teaching a group.

How Do I Squeeze in Mardi Gras?

I really like to find ways to celebrate all those special days, but it's not easy to squeeze everything in. 

How Do I Squeeze in Mardi Gras? There is so much going on, how do we find time to enjoy those "fun" holidays? Here are a few suggestions!

Mardi Gras is just about fun, and it's at a time of the year when the children really need something to lift their spirits, so I find a way to squeeze it in... by having the Mardi Gras theme overlap what I need to teach anyway!  Like Math!

Well, for one, I thought I'd squeeze a little Mardi Gras and Valentine's Day into math time with these math problems:
 


Explore this image for a link to this fun resource!


Here's another fun way to "squeeze in" Mardi Gras without losing time developing important skills: Mardi Gras No Prep Printables! These practice important skills, but have a Mardi Gras theme. These are great if you are going to be out for the day or are so busy you don't have time to plan! 



Explore this image for a link to this popular resource!

But first, I'll read them a book on Mardi Gras and let them make some masks on Monday. (That way, the math problems will make a whole lot more sense on Tuesday!)

Each title is an affiliate link to Amazon.





How do you manage to squeeze in the fun stuff this busy time of year?


How Do I Squeeze in Mardi Gras? There is so much going on, how do we find time to enjoy those "fun" holidays? Here are a few suggestions!


Myers-Briggs Part 3 : How Do You Process Information?

I hope you have been enjoying my series on the Myers-Briggs Personality Types as much as I have!  

If you haven't seen the other posts yet, you can read Part I: the Introduction HERE. You can read Part 2:  How do you find your energy HERE.

Myers-Briggs Part 3: How do you process information? This, the 3rd in a series, discusses the two ways in which people take in information. Some take in details, others are "whole picture" people.


A couple of very important points to remember about Myers-Briggs:
  1. Each preference is a scale. People tend to lean toward one side or the other, the place where they are naturally more comfortable. We do, however, have parts of both sides within us.  
  2. Both sides of each scale are essential in our society. No one preference is better than the other. Both sides keep each other in balance. Since I learned to recognize the qualities of each side of each scale, I have learned to cherish the differences in people, and appreciate those who don't have the same preferences as myself. 
Today I wanted to share one of the aspects of Myers-Briggs that's very important to teachers: How do we take in information?  

There are two ends to this scale.

Sensing Types (S) take information through their senses.
  • They are about the "here and now" and are concerned with facts.  
  • They are very aware of things in their immediate environment. 
  • They organize,  categorize, and focus on reality.  
  • These people are practical and all about the details.  
  • Sensing types prefer to learn in a sequenced, step by step progression. 
  • Interestingly, Sensing types make up about 75% of the population.
 

Intuitive Types (N) are about the future and possibilities.
  • They are imaginative, inventive, and idealistic. 
  • They see the big picture before the facts and details.
  • Intuitive types often jump from topic to topic.
  • About 25% of our learners are Intuitives.  
  • The Intuitive Types are the forest, and the Sensing Types are the trees. Sensing types would see the trees, but not the forest, Intuitive Types see the forest, but not the trees. 

I still remember an experiment we did in my master's program where we studied the different types. All the Sensing types sat on one side of the room, while the Intuitives sat on the other side. We were shown a poster and directed to write down what we see while we looked at the poster.

The poster had something to do with music.

 After some time, we shared what we had. We Sensing types proudly shared all the details about the poster we had scribbled.  We did most of the sharing for a while. Then one of the Intuitives spoke up about something we never noticed: the poster was in the shape of a grand piano. All the sensing types stopped and looked at each other: none of us had noticed that! We all had to see the poster again, and sure enough, it was in the shape of a grand piano. We were so focused on the details, we missed the big picture!  (Literally!)


Have you been thinking about your own type? How about your students?


Here are a few more books if you'd like to learn more!  The first one (People Types and Tiger Stripes) is one of the first books I've read on the Myers-Briggs personality types, and it's still one of my favorites.  This is the revised version.


Myers-Briggs Part 3: How do you process information? This, the 3rd in a series, discusses the two ways in which people take in information. Some take in details, others are "whole picture" people.Myers-Briggs Part 3: How do you process information? This, the 3rd in a series, discusses the two ways in which people take in information. Some take in details, others are "whole picture" people. Myers-Briggs Part 3: How do you process information? This, the 3rd in a series, discusses the two ways in which people take in information. Some take in details, others are "whole picture" people.             
Here are links to the other posts about the Myers-Briggs Personality Type Indicator



 Myers-Briggs Part 3: How do you process information? This, the 3rd in a series, discusses the two ways in which people take in information. Some take in details, others are "whole picture" people.



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