A geography teacher’s task isn’t an easy one as it requires piquing the classroom’s interest in countries and cultures that they cannot see or touch. At the same time, it’s also very rewarding as once you’ve managed to spark interest in your student’s minds, it could very well last a long time.
To help you make your classes interesting, we decided to look around for activities that you and your classroom could join. Hope you enjoy trying them out.
1. Firstly, join Geography Awareness Week happening from Nov 15th -21st ’09 http://mywonderfulworld.org/gaw.html. This event aims to explore the world through mapping.
2. Get your classroom to join programs like ePals – http://www.epals.com/ This site connects classrooms from across the world and helps to connect the students in those classrooms to provide an exchange of cultures. Your class can even join ongoing projects on topics that range from climate to global warming to people and culture. Read more at this link: http://www.epals.com/projects/info.aspx?DivID=index
3. PBS.org has a wealth of knowledge to offer your students. Based on a tv series called AFRICA, the website helps teachers come up with lesson plans as well as provides good content for discussion with elementary students http://www.pbs.org/wnet/africa/about/index.html. There’s even a site that kids themselves can log on to, to watch videos taken from various parts of Africa on this page: http://pbskids.org/africa/
4. National Geographic too tries to get educators and classrooms more involved by providing action plans to teachers on their Geography Action! section http://www.nationalgeographic.com/geography-action/
5. On a lighter note, National Geographic also site where elementary students would enjoy playing interactive games http://games.nationalgeographic.com/
6. The site MyWonderfulWorld.com offers great lesson plans that makes teaching geography fun http://mywonderfulworld.org/toolsforadventure/educators/index.html
Do leave comments if you have more ideas to make geography a fun subject to learn about.
We’re just starting a new, creative program called the Global Encounter Experience! Check it out at http://www.ge-experience.com.
Thank you for offering a great informational directory for geography resources. Being connected globally is a valuable tool for our students today as the internet has changed how we connect with the world. Finding more ways for students to utilize technology and shrink the gap between themselves and others will be essential in the future.