Geography in our classrooms today

Geography can be difficult to teach and to learn. However, there are many ways we can help our students learn geography in fun and meaningful ways.

What are the themes of geography?

1. Location
2. Place
3. Relationships
4. Movements
5. Region

What are the elements?

1. The world in spatial terms
2. Places and regions
3. Physical systems
4. Human systems
5. Environment and societies
6. The uses of geography

As a child, I remember learning about the 50 states, the continents, the oceans and sometimes other countries. It was never an interesting lesson, so how can we make geography more inviting to students? Well using technology is one way. Using Google earth and Google maps is a great resource. You can travel the world, see streets, cities and landmarks without ever leaving the classroom! Creating fun activities using interactive technology, such as Google earth, can help students learn geography better. 

Also, here is a presentation listing 101 to teach geography!

Geography bees were also something I had as a child. The teacher would one day (randomly), hand us a test on geography. Whoever got a high enough grade, would participate in our schools geography bee the following week. I always thought it was somewhat unfair, because many of the questions we were never taught, and we were always given the test at random, so we really could not prepare for this. In my own class, I would hold a private geography bee, so that everyone could participate. I would make it a fun, engaging and meaningful for my students. I would also invite parents and administrators to come watch and support the students. I think it will give more students an opportunity to learn geography this way, then just randomly be selected using a test that they were not familiar with. 

What's Happening Now?

I think that TweenTribune would be a good source for younger students, who are just beginning to explore the news and current events. I think it would be good as an introduction to current events, but I think I would add some sort of project to go along with it. Instead of just commenting on articles, I think The TweenTribune did not update their news stories enough for my liking. I think using a local newspaper for students to read would be a more effective way of teaching current events. For young students, I think it is hard to relate to world news or even national news. A lot of the articles were on the election, I know as a child I never cared about the presidential election, it just was not something that interested me or that I could relate to. By having students use local newspapers, they can learn more about where they live, the events that go on in their towns and what is happening around them. I think students would be more interested in that because it would be meaningful to them. 

Overall, I think TweenTribune could be better. I like how the comments had to be approved, many regular online newspapers do not have this option and many of the comments have foul language. I did like that aspect. However, some of the news stories I did not think students could relate to, or were very meaningful. For my own classroom, instead of TweenTribune, New York Times has an education section, for older students where they could write opinions and read stories that they can relate to. I would have students read assigned articles once a week and then write an opinion. I would also encourage students to share their opinions and have debates from time to time. I like the New York Times better than the TweenTribune because it posts a lot of new articles everyday, and it includes not just articles. There are puzzles, quizzes and blogs students could read as well. For younger students, I would use local newspapers so that they can learn about things that are more familiar with. I also looked through the current events article about different ways to teach current events. I liked the news mapping one where students can map out stories  based on their location. Also, the A-Z adjective. Students can practice English and grammar while still learning about the news.

Click Here to look at the education blog by The New York Times, and I also liked the list of ideas posted here as well!!

Assessing Your Students

Types of Assessments:

• Diagnostic Test- A diagnosis of what the student already knows about a specific topic. A pre-assessment.
• Formative Test-  On-going assessment. Checking the students for understanding constantly. Are the students following your lesson?
• Summative Test- A summary of what has been learned throughout the unit. Using rubrics to grade essays, having students create a portfolio of their work, a unit test, a project,  etc. 

What can be assessed about students?

• Readiness - Skills, content knowledge, concepts.
• Interest- Interest surveys, interest centers, self-selection.
• Learning Profile - Students areas of strengths & weaknesses, work preferences and self awareness.

Here is an example of an assessment I made:

Example Assessment

Power, Authority & Governance

My topic for the research article was power, authority & governance. I thought this assignment was really useful because the article guided me and helped me create a good lesson for students. The article explained that using documents was a good way for students to learn more about government so I focused on document analysis in the activity.  

***Learning Activity***

To go along with the activity I have picked out some websites students can visit, along with books that can be utilized for the lesson. Also a charlie brown episode that explains the beginnings of the United States government! 
The book I chose to go along with the lesson is pictured to the left. It is called "How the U.S Government Works" by Syl Sobel. Here is a review of the book from senate.gov:
"Explains why government is necessary ("Can you imagine what your school would be like if each class had rules that were different from the rules in other classes? . . . And what if the school had no principal?"). Then goes on to describe what the three branches of government do. Readers learn how officials are elected or appointed and how government agencies work for the benefit of the people."

Constitution Game

Charlie Brown: The Constitutional Convention

Columbus Day!

Today is Columbus Day, a day that we recognize Christopher Columbus' achievements. Here is a lesson plan I would use to teach students about Columbus day:

Christopher Columbus Lesson Plan

I would use this lesson because it uses both literature and technology to teach about Columbus day.I also like their use of "K-W-L" charts. K stands for "Know", as in what students already know about Christopher Columbus. W stands for "Want to Know", which is the questions students are asked and need to answer during the lesson. L stands for "Learn". The learn part is where students will reflect and reinforce what they have just been taught. 

Teaching History

Some questions teachers should ask...

• What are the big ideas and concepts that I need to teach?
• What is freedom? Liberty? Use the common core standards, they give the big ideas that need to be taught. 
• How can we pique students interests in history?
• Projects such as biz world that can make learning fun and interesting. Use manipulative's to engage students (artifact bag). Using technology and the internet such as kid-friendly videos, interactive games, etc. that can help students learn. 

What are the benefits of studying history?

Personally I think studying history makes you a smart and knowledgeable person. If you know the past and you know mistakes people have made in the past, you will be less likely to make these mistakes. It will make you more conscience of the people around you and more culturally aware. 

How to engage students:

1. Using timelines to develop chronology
2. Locating and using historical resources
3. Visual literacy and history
4. Reenactments and drama
5. Biographies and historical literature

Artifact Bags

Artifact Bag Lesson Plan