Thinking Outside a Box: Being Wendy

I stumbled upon a great find at the bookstore, Being Wendy, written by Fran Drescher.  In this delightful picture book, the main character lives in a town called Boxville.  Everyone in Boxville follows the rule of wearing a box with the name of their career on the front of it.  Police Officer Miranda Wrights has "police officer" written on her box.  Her teacher Mrs. Reedenwright has "teacher" written on her box.  But Wendy doesn't want to be labeled as just one thing, she wants to think outside the box and be many things...

This was a great book to read aloud during our college & career month in May.  Many students think they need to know now what they want to be when they grow up, and my goal was to dispel this, among other, myths.  You do not need to know who you want to be in the future because the possibilities are endless!  You can change your mind, explore new careers, and find what interests you.  It is important to have a plan of action once you decide on a career and everyone chooses their own path.

We then played "Career Charades!"  Students drew a career card from the stack I made and had to silently act out the career they chose.

Examples of Careers & Actions:

• Dentist: pretend to look at teeth
• Astronomer: pretend to look through a telescope
• Doctor: pretend to check a heartbeat
• Photographer: pretend to take a picture
• Painter: pretend to paint a wall 
• Truck Driver: pretend to drive and honk your horn
• Musician: pretend to play a guitar
• Builder: pretend to hammer a nail
• Librarian: pretend to read books aloud
• Mover: pretend to lift a heavy box 
• Teacher: pretend to teach the class
• Singer: pretend to sing into a microphone 
• Hairdresser: pretend to do someone's hair
• Dancer: pretend to dance around the room