5 Themes of Geography

Besides doing the decades project, my other favorite project this semester was to do the 5 themes of geography. While I did mine on my hometown, I still had fun doing it.\
I think this project would be fun for students as well because it helps them really become familiar with the themes of geography. Finding pictures that represent place, region, movement, human interaction, and location will help students relate to these things and let them take fun pictures as well. 

Third Grade

Before this semester, I mostly worked with Kindergarten. Then for field I was assigned 5th grade and found out that the teacher already had a student teacher. My next stop was 6th grade where this teacher also had a student teacher. I finally found a place to go, which was third grade. While I am a little dissapointed that I didn't get an older grade so that I could gain experience with them, I am so glad that I got the class that I got. I hope that I will be able to do student teaching at the same location.
The first day I walked into the school I was welcomed by every teacher I saw and even the principle. I felt like I was supposed to be here. Throughout the ten weeks, I became familiar with the teachers and even found some teachers I had when I was in school.
I was able to learn a lot from this experience. My field teacher was very helpful also. Even though she has been teaching for a long time, she wasn't a teacher who did all worksheets all day. She let the students move around and play games.
I am glad I was able to be at the school that I was at. It was an experience that I will never forget.

Rules, Rules, Rules

This semester we learned the importance of meaningful rules and consequences. We also learned that teachers as well, need to follow the rules. How many times were you told to not talk in the hallway and then two seconds later your teacher is talking to another teacher in the HALLWAY! Whatever the case was, I can remember my teachers throughout school breaking their own rules.
Even though I am not a teacher yet with my own classroom, I think that it is important to have a classroom where students are involved with the creation of the rules and consequences. This begins the first day. As soon as the students walk in, have them notice that there are no rules posted in the classroom. This lets the students know first hand that they will have a say in this room. The first step is to ask students what they would think would make school or the classroom a fun place to be. Write all their ideas on the board and then go through them and find the ones that are acceptable or that can be controlled by the teacher. Then once the students have done this, have them think of ideas that make school a boring place or not a good feeling. Do the same thing with these ideas as before. Then go through and have students think of their own consequences.
Once all these steps are finished, make sure that every student understands what each rule is really about and the consequences that go along with that rule. Growing up I would have loved to help make the rules in my classes, but it was never the case. This gives students the freedom and independence that they yearn for.

Where in the World.....

An interesting way to help students learn about geography is to have students find the location of where their clothes were made. A lot of the time, our clothes are made in countries that we may have never heard of, with the exception of China. The first step in this activity is to have students help each other look at where their clothes were made. The students then take a look at a map to find where these countries are. Once students have found the countries, they take a colored pencil and color in the country on a blank map.  By doing this activity, it lets students become more familiar with using a map first of all. It also lets students find the countries that they are less familiar with. This activity could even break into discussion about why some countries make more clothes compared to other countries. Talking about trade between countries can also be a discussion when doing this activity.

Making Books

A few weeks ago in Language Arts, we were assigned to make a book. I enjoy working with younger elementary grades so I created an ABC book of spring. For each letter, I thought of a word associated with spring that begin with that letter.  A few examples are:

A is for air, so crisp and clean.

B is for beautiful blooming flowers. 

C is for chilly spring mornings.

By having students make a book gives them the freedom to write about their interests and share them with friends and family. This also lets students be the illustrator of their books. A few ideas that my classmates had were a book of spring poems, March Madness, and a book about things that happened on the first day of spring for the past 20 years. 

Travel Through Time

This semester we were given the opportunity to 'travel through time', and it was a blast. We broke into groups of about 3 or 4 and created a decades project. Each group was to find information on a decade and present it. My group was the 50's. We filled our presentation with artifacts that I found from my Grandma and Grandpa including my Grandpa's Air Force uniform that he wore in Korea. We also used a lot of things from I Love Lucy.
A adults, we enjoyed every minute of this project. I was able to learn a lot about not only my decade, but the other decades as well. I think this project gives children a hands-on experience that they wouldn't learn from a text book. Letting them dress up and find artifacts from their decade is also something they may not be familiar with.

Using picture books to teach history

This week in class, we were introduced to using picture books to teach history. You may think that using picture books with students in older grades such as 5th and 6th grade might not grasp their attention, but even I, being in college, was engaged in these books. There were many things that I read in the picture book that I didn't read in the textbook. Two books that I know interested me are: Roanoke, The Lost Colony, An Unsolved Mystery From History, by Jane Yolen and Heidi Elishabet Yolen Stemple and Lincoln and Douglas: An American Friendship by Nikki Giovanni. The authors of both these books share a lot about history that can't be found in a textbook. As a teacher, finding ways to teach history in a fun and an engaging way is critical.