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Showing posts with label geography. Show all posts
Showing posts with label geography. Show all posts

Doing the Tango! (Learning about Argentina!)


We had one of our Enrichment Days today! Our theme was Around the World in One Day, and it was fabulous!

All the teachers sponsored workshops about different countries, the children got tickets to different workshops, and everyone had a blast!

My country was Argentina!
The first thing I did was show where Argentina was on the map, and discussed what we knew about it from the map:
  1. Most of Argentina is the temperate zone, so it gets all 4 seasons. 
  2. Since Argentina is in the southern hemisphere, they are coming into their winter, like we are coming into our summer.
  3. There is a good deal of coastline. Argentinians probably enjoy their beaches as well as fishing.
  4. There are mountains along the border to Chili. They probably enjoy skiing and hiking.
Then we watched this video and found out we were right!


They loved the video, and all want to visit Argentina!

Then I showed this video of the Argentinian Tango from So You Think You Can Dance.

Then I showed this "How to Tango" video for kids. It was a little dorky, but they got it!

Of course, not everyone wanted to Tango, but they had THESE adorable little Argentina booklets to color, so everyone was happy. 
Sorry I didn't get a better picture of the booklets!
But many kids wanted to Tango. So I played this You Tube video with plenty of Tango music:

Of course, I had to give them roses to carry in their teeth while they danced! (Look closely, they've got them!)


Everyone had a great time! I ended with a quick "Triva Time" to see if they remembered what they learned about Argentina, and they did! I think they'll remember the Tango most of all!

Stop by Doodle Bugs Teaching for more Five for Friday!




Baseball Fun and Learning!

I'm so excited that baseball season is finally here! Baseball means spring! 

 After a tough winter, anything that means spring is OK by me! 

Baseball Fun! Books, activities, and resources to keep your sports fans engaged in learning!
 
I've been doing a lot of baseball reading this week, in honor of the opening of baseball season. Here are some favorites: 

Baseball and April bring another opportunity: It's National Poetry Month! What a great opportunity to write Diamantes!

Why Diamantes?  Because they are shaped like diamonds!(Get it? baseball diamonds?)

Or check out this resource, with plenty of examples and options!
Baseball Fun! Books, activities, and resources to keep your sports fans engaged in learning!


Speaking of shapes... a baseball diamond could be called a square or a rhombus, but did you realize home plate is shaped like a pentagon?

Have you noticed, when we connect learning to sports, all those little boys perk up?  (Many of the little girls do, too!)

I have a resource I'm VERY excited about called Baseball Geography
Baseball Fun! Books, activities, and resources to keep your sports fans engaged in learning!

These are all task cards based on the locations of major league baseball teams! I had such a blast putting this together, and so far my students can't get enough! Plus, they're really getting to know the locations on the US maps!

Here are a couple of other baseball-themed games I've got:

Baseball Fun! Books, activities, and resources to keep your sports fans engaged in learning!


Baseball Antonyms combines a couple of popular games with antonym practice. 

Plus, I have a couple of BINGO games with a baseball theme:

Baseball Fun! Books, activities, and resources to keep your sports fans engaged in learning!


Home Run Two Digit Addition gives the children practice adding 2 two-digit numbers, along with a little strategy. 
 
Baseball Fun! Books, activities, and resources to keep your sports fans engaged in learning!



Home Run Two Syllable Words is a similar BINGO game, but this one gives the children practice reading two-syllable words. 

The students LOVE these BINGO games! 

Come to think of it, they love any time I combine learning with sports!

And, of course, there's one more! A bundle of all of the baseball-themed activities:

Baseball Fun! Books, activities, and resources to keep your sports fans engaged in learning!

How do you integrate sports into the learning process?

Baseball Fun! Books, activities, and resources to keep your sports fans engaged in learning!

Music, the Brain, Memory, and the Seven Continents


Did you ever find yourself singing along to the radio to a song you've never really liked, yet somehow you know all the words? Or perhaps you caught yourself singing along to a commercial on TV? Doesn't that kind of point out the connection between music and the brain? Yep, without even trying, you've memorized the words to hundreds of songs, right? 
 
Music, the Brain, and the Seven Continents: This post makes the connection between music and memory, and has a song to help the children remember the names of the seven continents.
 
I use that often in the classroom. If there's something I want the children to know by heart, I'll whip up a little song for them. I typically pick a tune that is familiar to all, squeeze in some words in a similar rhythm, and there you go! Sometimes I'll even make it rhyme, but that's not all that important. Nor is it important for the words to fit perfectly in the rhythm.

Here's a social studies song to the tune of This Old Man (also known as The Barney Song.) 

The Continents Song
North America, South America, 
Europe, Asia, Africa,
Australia and Antarctica.
There are seven continents. 

North America, South America, 
Europe, Asia, Africa,
Australia and Antarctica.
Now we all can cha, cha, cha!
 
I'll admit, the kids made up the second verse. 
I figured, if my second graders can name the 7 continents, they deserve to dance! 
Years later, kids come back to me and sing the song to me!


Want printable copies? See this freebie:

 
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Seven-Continents-Song-for-Learning-About-Our-World-5308695?utm_source=blog%20post%20seven%20continents&utm_campaign=Seven%20Continents%20Song


 Music helps the memory.
Music is magical.


Music, the Brain, and the Seven Continents: This post makes the connection between music and memory, and has a song to help the children remember the names of the seven continents.





Learning About New Hampshire!


What better way to learn about your home state (and the nearby states) than reading in a fun book?

I've joined up with a group of bloggers for Booking Across the USA!
I was lucky enough to be involved in this project last year (See THIS blog post) and I couldn't wait to do it again!

For more about the Booking Across the USA Project, click the image below or click HERE:


This year is particularly cool, since we got to use these books, thanks to Blue Apple Books!
I shared Travelin' the Northeast with my class, and it's adorable! Each book represents a section of the United States, and has a page about each state, along with facts about that state. The best part? There's this cute little dog named Charlie that's on every page, and they absolutely LOVE searching through each state for Charlie!

Here are some of the facts we learned about New Hampshire from this book:

  • The first free public library was established in Peterborough, New Hampshire.
  • Tupperware was invented in New Hampshire.
  • The alarm clock was invented by Levi Hutchins in Concord, New Hampshire in 1787.
  • Alan Shepard, the first US Astronaut in space, was born in Derry, New Hampshire November 23, 1923.
  • Plus, there are some cool pictures on the map page of New Hampshire that give us more information about the state!
  • Brain research tells us making connections to the arts help children remember.
  • Most teachers have these around their classrooms:

If not, they're easy to find!
How about these?
Pipe cleaners are easy to find! If you put these two
materials together, you can make something like this:

Here's how it works:  Each time a child can share a fact about one of the states they've learned, they get a new bead for their bracelet. As they build up beads, they can go through the beads, remembering each of the facts they have learned. The beads are helping the memory!

Another way to use the beads: Attach another bead to the bracelet for each state the children can find on the map!


Five Fun Ideas for a Beach Week!

In many ways, this has been one of the most fun weeks I've had as a teacher in ages!  Why? Because we're done with most of the "have tos" and I get to teach what I truly feel the children need, and will enjoy. 

Five Fun Ideas for a Beach Week: Children absolutely love a theme week. It brings an enthusiasm for learning, and is fun for the teacher, too!


I chose to go with a Beach Theme for this week, and I'm not sure who had more fun, me or the kids!

We were totally busy, and squeezed in the beach theme every chance we could!

Here are a few of the things we did:

1.  Towels!  We brought in beach towels, and the children sat on them every time we had stories on lessons on the rug. Each day, there were more beach towels and paraphernalia, it really looked like the beach! We even had a couple of "boogie boards" and a child sized beach chair! These came in handy during Independent Reading time, as well. Yes, you guessed it, we read loads of books with the Beach theme!
Five Fun Ideas for a Beach Week: Children absolutely love a theme week. It brings an enthusiasm for learning, and is fun for the teacher, too!


Five Fun Ideas for a Beach Week: Children absolutely love a theme week. It brings an enthusiasm for learning, and is fun for the teacher, too!

2.  Games!  I managed to dig up several games with the beach theme that reviewed important skills we studied this year. Of course, instead of the usual tubs, I picked up some pails and buckets at the dollar store to store the beach themed games. Great stuff!

Five Fun Ideas for a Beach Week: Children absolutely love a theme week. It brings an enthusiasm for learning, and is fun for the teacher, too!

Five Fun Ideas for a Beach Week: Children absolutely love a theme week. It brings an enthusiasm for learning, and is fun for the teacher, too!

Five Fun Ideas for a Beach Week: Children absolutely love a theme week. It brings an enthusiasm for learning, and is fun for the teacher, too!

3. Books, books, and more books!  Our wonderful librarian found some great books for us to share! Here are some of my favorites:

4. Floating Boats!  This was a huge hit this week, and something I managed to bribe motivate the children with as they're getting into their "summer mode". We made sailboats out of milk cartons, then today we floated our boats. First, they put their boats in the water, then we added "people" (balls of clay) It was interesting to see how many people they put into their boats without disaster. They were thrilled to bring their boats as well as the "people" home at the end of the day today. We called our bodies of water The Atlantic Ocean, The Pacific Ocean, and the Indian Ocean. We figured the Arctic Ocean was mostly ice and probably wouldn't have sailboats. (Yes, I'm always finding excuses to squeeze in a bit of geography review as well!)
 
Five Fun Ideas for a Beach Week: Children absolutely love a theme week. It brings an enthusiasm for learning, and is fun for the teacher, too!

Five Fun Ideas for a Beach Week: Children absolutely love a theme week. It brings an enthusiasm for learning, and is fun for the teacher, too!

5.  "Beach Day" Theme Unit: We did manage to squeeze in some real learning, mostly in the form of centers. This set has plenty of review materials for my second graders! You can see this unit by clicking the link below or click here: Beach Bundle

Five Fun Ideas for a Beach Week: Children absolutely love a theme week. It brings an enthusiasm for learning, and is fun for the teacher, too!


 

Five Fun Ideas for a Beach Week: Children absolutely love a theme week. It brings an enthusiasm for learning, and is fun for the teacher, too!

What themes do your students enjoy in your class?

Five Fun Ideas for a Beach Week: Children absolutely love a theme week. It brings an enthusiasm for learning, and is fun for the teacher, too!

The Brain, Baseball, and Geography

I read a lot about how the brain learns and remembers. Why? Because I find it absolutely fascinating. I also want my students to learn, so I'm always searching for ways to help them remember what I've taught.


The Brain, Baseball and Geography! Do you want to teach some geography skills in a way children will remember? Here are some brain based ideas to help!

I've found that kids learn best when they get a little bit at a time, frequently, rather than one big lesson all at once, then never to see it again. (Unfortunately, our present Math program does the latter.)

There is plenty of evidence to prove that frequent review and practice are the best ways for children to remember what they're learning.

There's also plenty of evidence to prove that connecting learning to children's passions helps the learning process.

So, what does this have to do with baseball?  That's the passion that I connect to learning geography!

I write a letter every morning to the children, letting them know of anything special happening that day. I also post the learning targets for the day. Then, I usually add some fun little questions and/ or graphics—you know, to motivate the kids to read the letter!

This movie shows the insane loyalty of Red Sox fans!

Here in New Hampshire, we are die-hard Red Sox fans. Those of us who grew up in the Boston area have developed a loyalty that we just can't shake. Since the official start of baseball season a couple of weeks ago, I've been writing a little "Red Sox Geography" question in the morning letter, complete with a map and labels.

It might look like this:
The Brain, Baseball and Geography! Do you want to teach some geography skills in a way children will remember? Here are some brain based ideas to help!

or like this:

The Brain, Baseball and Geography! Do you want to teach some geography skills in a way children will remember? Here are some brain based ideas to help!

I admit, I'm as almost as passionate about geography as I am about the Red Sox. If the little ones aren't baseball fans when they come into my class, they certainly are by the time they leave!

I make sure we have plenty of maps around, and the children scramble to be the first ones with the answer! It's just a little bit every day, but they become familiar with the names of the states, the bodies of water, and the cardinal directions. 

The timing is good since their reading and mapping skills will be strong enough for these activities by April. Since we won't get out until the last week of June, they'll be getting almost daily practice!

Want to know more about brain-based learning? See Ten Brain Based Learning Strategies or 10 Key Brainy Points.

See also this resource with Geography Baseball Task Cards!
The Brain, Baseball and Geography! Do you want to teach some geography skills in a way children will remember? Here are some brain based ideas to help!

 How do you use their passions to get them interested in schoolwork?

 
The Brain, Baseball and Geography! Do you want to teach some geography skills in a way children will remember? Here are some brain based ideas to help!

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