Geography Ideas to use in the Classroom.

Young people need to know about the world in which they live. Here are some activities you may find of value to use with your students.

My students enjoyed doing these short map safaris to solve a secret message:

SECRET MESSAGE:
Find the answer to the following geographic puzzler. Then, place the first letter of the word in the proper space below to solve the geographic message.

A. The world's largest desert is 3.5 million sq. miles in size and is found in Morocco, Egypt, Libya, Tunisia , Algeria and other nations of Africa: ____________(5)
B. The world's largest waterfall is found in Venezuela and is 3212 ft. high:____________________ (1)
C. The world's longest mountain range is found in South America. It is about 5000 miles long:______________(4)
D. This is a famous cave in southwestern France where wonderful cave paintings have been found: _____________ (3)
E. The world's highest navigable lake is found in the South American country of Peru. It is about 12,500 ft. above sea level:______________(2)
ANSWER: 1._____________2.______________3._______________4._____________5.__________

Try my geographic secret messages(PART 1). Students find the answers to geographic questions and then use the first letter of the answer to arrive at a secret message. When the questions are answered, the "secret" term(a geography term) will be revealed! There are 5 geographic messages to solve. Grades 5 and up. Great end of year activity! $3.00
1. http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Geography-Geographic-Secret-Messages-709102

2. http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Geography-Geographic-Secret-Messages-Continuepart-2-709110




Additionally, here are some other activities to use with your students to foster geography which I developed for Scholastic's Instructor Magazine: http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/article/quick-ideas-grades-6-8-0

 Education World has another activity: Where in the World is Mrs. Waffenschmidt? http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/waffenschmidt/waffenschmidt009.shtml

 Education World has also published another of my activities: Geography Safaris A-Z :http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/geography_az/geography_az013.shtml


Gail


Illustration from: http://www.freeclipartnow.com

Self Contained or Departmentalized Classrooms for 5th and 6th Grade?

For those veteran teachers, you know that the old is often "new" again when it comes to teaching!

When I first started teaching back in(yikes...1973), I started in 5th grade. As a self contained classroom of upper elementary students, I taught science, math, language arts, social studies, reading and even a daily penmanship lesson!  The following year, my team "moved up" with our classes and I taught 6th grade. Looping was the term for this a few years back. The team of 5th grader teachers and 6th grade teachers decided we liked the grades we were in and stopped the two year program and I stayed in 6th grade. For seventeen years, I was a self contained classroom teacher. Then, the winds of change took me, like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz  and Toto, transplanting my classroom into a new educational program...I was now a middle school teacher.   With a love of social studies and a masters in the teaching of social studies, I became the social studies teacher in a departmentalized format.

Emotionally and physically the 11-12 year olds I have taught have certainly changed greatly since I first entered the classroom back in 1973. Sixth graders once had much in common with the 4-5th graders, bringing dolls or matchbox cars to school. They attended and enjoyed assemblies for  puppet shows, magic shows, bango playing sing-a-longs and  visits from “Laura Ingalls Wilder” presenters. Now,  the age has become an ever increasing unsettling time of life where the students seem to have more in common with 7th graders and we as educators changed the assembly themes as well. Sixth graders attended drug awareness programs with canine sniffing dog demonstrations, character education and abstinence programs. The latter I personal questioned as too “mature” for my students until I heard the sexually explicit questions that they asked of the speaker! 

Teaching 6th graders isn't for the tame at heart! It's a grade that my student teachers often came into with much trepidation(but loved it at the end of the 8 weeks).  Dealing with their changing  emotional  and physical development  AND trying to teach the age group about the Ancient Egyptians or the Ancient Greeks....can be really challenging! Sixth graders aren’t really elementary children and certainly don’t want to be treated as such but they aren’t teens either.  It’s certainly an awkward time as some have growth spans and others don’t.  An emotional time as well with one day two students being best friends and the next, they are upset and crying about the friendship that has ended. It’s a time where this age level is between a child and a teen(hence the moniker “tweens”) and they are seeking out their identity and independence sometimes stumbling along the way.  

For these reasons, I think a middle school configuration has so much more to offer this age level.  In addition to having teachers teaching a subject that they are most skilled and interested in , students participate in so many additional activities and programs to address this age group than if they would in an elementary configuration Students participated in sports,career awareness, home and career classes, computer and journalism classes,peer mediation, homecoming activities(including the dreaded “6th grade float"-I was the class adviser and supervised my 6th graders participation each year), guidance programs such as tobacco, tolerance and drug awareness.  Additionally, without having to have a reading series as was mandated in a 6th grade elementary program,  my team created  a very unique  program we dubbed STARS(Specific topics to advance reading and other skills).  During this 40 minute non graded class, students read and discussed literature, did character education building, computer activities, geography and writing projects, and shared issues of the day.

With budget cuts and smaller numbers of students, I am wondering if schools will be moving back to a modified self-contained class for 5th and 6th graders. What is the format for 5th and 6th grade is like in your school. Are you departmentalized? Is there a move back to being self-contained?Which do you think is best for students in these grades? I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Gail

Gail Hennessey

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Gail-Hennessey

Lots of fun/informative resources for end of the activities to use in social studies and language arts.See all my products and write ups on one page:http://pinterest.com/gailhennessey/gails-tpt-store-see-my-resources/

Starting May 14th:Order any of my resources and receive a FREE webquest on Leopards (with extension activities)as a THANK YOU!(just send me an email with your email).Great end of year activity!Grades 4 and up.

I am having a sale at my TpT Store. ALL my products are 20% off for Teacher Appreciation Week from Monday, May 6th- Wednesday May 8th. On May 7th and 8th, enter the code TAD13 for an added 8%! Check out my social studies resources, webquests, biographical plays and more.Grades 4 and up. THANKS for all your support!