Jessica poses a question about teaching geography

 

 

This week we read Chapter 11 on geography, specifically discussing the five themes: location, place, interaction, movement, and region.  Much of the reading covered different approaches to teaching about maps to children.  It gave examples of all types of maps a teacher could incorporate and suggested some activities.  One of my favorite examples was the aerial photographs/maps along with a bird’s-eye view.  I like how in explaining what that map might look like the author suggested showing your class a picture of a bird in flight and then asking them what the bird would see from its vantage point.  This approach gets the student thinking and using their imagination.

            Currently, in the school in which I am observing,  the students have been learning about maps.  My cooperating teacher taught a neat lesson on longitude and latitude that involved a treasure hunt game on the SmartBoard.  The students loved the game and it got them using map skills while also having fun. Also, I got a chance to teach the students about map scale.  To do so I decided to create a map of their classroom.   I created the map so that that it was to scale.   It took some time to measure everything correctly and then come up with a proper key, but it was well worth it.  It worked so well because it gave the students a better understanding of map scale.  After I asked the students a question about finding the difference between two points using the scale, I could then visually show them by whipping out my measuring tape and showing them its accuracy.

            What kind of map activities have you observed being used in a classroom?  What did you like about it?  Did it work well?  What changes would you have made?  Have any of your former teachers in elementary school used creative ideas for teaching geography?  What ideas have you come up with for teaching about maps after reading Chapter 11?  What kinds of maps can you see yourself incorporating into your lessons?

How do we get students to "connect" with the past? Alexandra poses another interesting question.

The article “Bringing Ancient Rome to the Classroom” discussed the effect of making ancient history come to life. Ryan Wollberg is a teacher who showed his students how awesome learning about the Ancient Romans could be by introducing his students to the actual shields, swords and helmets used by the ancient people.    I was impressed with the creative way in which this teacher taught this unit of study  and how much thought he put into improving the learning of his students. As a result,  students will remember what they saw  and what they encountered in their readings.   They now have a real live picture to go hand in hand with the facts they have been reading about ancient Rome.  

Nothing is more important than getting students to make connections with their readings because the greater the connection they make the greater the chance that they will remember what we teach them.   Last year I did a “Text to Self” lesson in Ms. De Bel’s fourth grade class, helping the students to make connections to the story entitled,  “My Rotten Redheaded Older Brother” by Partricia Polacco.  I asked the students if, indeed, they ever felt like a character in the story. The students  really liked the lesson because I gave them the opportunity to answer in whatever way best suited them.   They were given an opportunity draw  a scene that they connected to, write about it, act it out, or even sing about it. I strongly believe that in  my future classroom,  I will definitely incorporate the ideas of Ryan Wollberg.   I want to get my students actively involved in what they are learning.

 

What are some ways you can get your students excited about social studies?  Have you observed any teachers like Ryan? Do you think demonstrations like his could help your students?

 

Stepahnie asks about class discussions? Why don't we just lecture?

Chapter 7 is all about the use of successful strategies for social studies teaching and learning. One of the strategies mentioned is classroom discussion. The four components of classroom discussion, according to the author,  are: information base, central focus, effective questions, and a supportive environment.

In order to have a successful discussion, the teacher must have organization and good classroom management. When teachers  are aware of what the topic is and  then use the right questions in order to prompt interesting, throught provoking, challenging answers, discussions can  help benefit students because, in my estimation,  the knowledge discussed will stick with them.  Do you agree with this assumption on my part?    How do you feel about classroom discussions? How often should they be used? Are they always effective, or does it depend on the topic and/or the teacher?  Can you think of teachers that you have had who conducted very topic-centered, productive classroom discussions?   What qualities did those teachers have?   

 

 

Burcu has a question about a new math approach to addition and subtraction

This semester I am observing in a 3rd grade classroom and,  according to my cooperating teacher, the students in this class all know how to add and subtract.   However, in the lesson that I recently observed, my cooperating teacher was required to teach a lesson that taught the students  addition and subtraction by breaking down the numbers and assigning them to place values. This concept is said to “benefit all students at all different levels” and give them a better understanding of number values.   However, I noticed that some of the brightest students were having trouble with this concept.  

 My cooperating teacher shared with me the fact that she does not agree with this new approach to the teaching of addition and subtraction.  She feels that if the students already understand something, like addition and subtraction, why do we have to reteach it a different way if it is just going to confuse them? I was wondering how my colleagues felt about this approach to addition and subtraction.   Quite honestly, I agreed with my teacher.  In addition, I found that I was even struggling with this new method at first because of the confusing way it broke everything down.

 I was also wondering if others in this class have observed any new approaches to teaching, approaches that were not in existences when you were “sitting in those seats?”   Do you think the new approach is a good one and do you feel it benefits the students?   Or did you think that this new approach to teaching tended to confuse the students?   Thank-you for your input.