Fun Ways to Teach Geography

 There are many fun ways to teach geography!

1. Play Globe Toss

For this whole group game, students toss an inflatable globe around. When a student catches it, they identify the place that their right thumb lands on.

2. Play I Packed My Suitcase

With this whole group memory game, students take turns naming places for each letter of the alphabet. The game gets progressively more difficult as students have to remember what the students before them have said.  Here's an example of a game: The first student says, "I packed my suitcase and I'm heading for (a place that starts with A) Alabama." The next student says, "I packed my suitcase and I'm heading for Alabama and (a place that starts with B) Bali." The third student says, "I packed my suitcase and I'm heading to Alabama, Bali, and (a place that starts with C) Costa Rica." Continue working through the alphabet until all students have had a turn. If you exhaust the alphabet, return to A. For tricky letters, allow students to peek at a map!

3. Have Students Learn About the Compass Rose

Students will love these fun geography ideas!

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Super Fun No-Prep Brain Break Game

 "Warmer, colder, you're getting hot!"

 "Huckle Buckle Beanstalk!" 

Huckle Buckle Beanstalk is played like this:

Choose a small object to hide. 

Tell students that you will hide the object while their heads are down. No peeking! 

With students' heads down, the teacher hides the object in plain sight without moving anything.

Say, "Heads up!" and explain that students will walk around the room looking for the object without touching anything. 

When a student spots the object, they return to their seat, and call out, "Huckle Buckle Beanstalk!" Students continue to look and follow the same procedure of returning to their seats and calling out, "Huckle Buckle Beanstalk."

If searching students struggle with finding the object, the seated students can call out: warmer, hotter, colder, you're freezing, you're burning up, etc to help.

The game ends when all students have spotted the object.

*Hint: Encourage students to keep walking for a bit after finding the object to trick their classmates into looking someplace else.

Add educational value to this game by hiding an object to introduce a unit. For example, if you are about to study magnets and electricity, you could hide a magnet. If you are going to study animals, you could hide a small plastic elephant. If you are about to read Charlotte's Web, you could hide a small spider. Have students determine the next unit, and this game can be part of an anticipatory set! 

Need more no-prep brain breaks? This quick, no-prep brain break resource is another student favorite and is great for those times when the students (or you!) have lost focus. 

Remember to join in on the fun!

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National Fourth Graders Day

 Celebrate National Fourth Graders Day on January 8th because 4th Graders rock!

1. Let the kids decorate their desks! 

Students could pick a theme such as winter, stars, turtles, the color pink, sports, etc. They can bring in items to decorate from home. You could also provide some craft supplies and ask colleagues if they have any craft supplies they no longer need.

2. Dress alike.

Ask the kids to wear jeans and a black (or whatever color you want) shirt. Just for fun add cheap sunglasses or bead necklaces. If you have time and resources, you could buy 4th Grade Rocks T-shirts. Remember to take pictures!

3. Create a hallway display.

This rock star theme bulletin board would work well. The banner reads 4th Grade Rocks. Print the Meet the Star information sheets for students to complete. Hang them up in the hall under the banner. Take and print photos of each student to add to the display.

4. Conduct surveys and create graphs of Fourth Grade Favorites.

Have the 4th graders in your school complete a survey about favorites. Survey favorite ice cream flavor, sport, food, beverage, color, animal, TV show, movie, season, etc. Pairs of students could then graph results. Display the completed projects! 

5. Read or start to read a 4th Grade novel.

Try Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing by Judy Blume.

6. Make a rock garden.

Purchase some large rocks. You could ask for a donation of enough rocks for your class or ask for a teacher discount. Have students trace around their rock on paper and use the tracing to plan their design. Then break out the paints and let the creativity flow. Allow the paint to dry, and then have students place their rocks outside in the area you have designated. Complete this activity year after year with your students, and watch the rock garden grow!

7. Write a poem.

A cinquain-type poem about 4th Grade would be fun! Cinquain goes like this:

Line 1 - One noun

Line 2 - Two adjectives

Line 3 - Three ing words

Line 4 - Four feeling words (or a 4-word feeling phrase)

Line 5 - Another word for the noun

Here's an example:

Fourth-Grader

Funny, smart

Laughing, thinking, creating

Happy to be here

Student 

8. Interview a 4th grader.

Don't teach 4th grade? No problem! Have your students prepare questions and arrange to meet with a 4th-grade class. Pair students up and let the interviews begin! Afterward, students can share a newsroom-type report. 

For 4 More National 4th Graders Day Ideas, click HERE!

Have fun celebrating amazing 4th Graders! 

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Teaching Drawing Conclusions

Students may benefit from a concrete to abstract approach when learning how to draw conclusions. 

You could start by playing a guessing game with real items.

Some ideas are:

• Beach bag with towel and sunblock
• Baseball or soccer bag with equipment 
• Birthday present
• Dog leash and tennis ball
• Canvas and paints
• Suitcase
• Book and library card
• Flashlight and sleeping bag

Display the items and have students guess where you are going.

Explain to the students that they used the items as clues + what they already knew to draw conclusions without you actually telling them where you were going.

Explain that when we read, we use clues in the story + what we already know to draw conclusions.

This drawing conclusions worksheet can be used with any text. It works well in guided reading groups to help students develop the skill.

Drawing Conclusions

You can reinforce the drawing conclusions skill with worksheets throughout the school year.

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Open Ended Questions For Kids

 Teach students to answer open-ended questions in just 4 steps...

1. Demonstrate how you would answer an open-ended question.

Display this question or one of your own: What are your favorite art materials to work with?

Explain to students that you will answer the question in a complete sentence which is easy because you can steal words from the question. Underline favorite art materials in the question to show the words you will steal. 

Form the answer: My favorite art materials to work with are watercolors.

Explain that you can add a bit more detail by telling why.

Form the answer: My favorite art materials to work with are watercolors because they are unpredictable.

2. Answer an open-ended question as a class.

Display a question such as: Where do you feel most happy?

Guide students in identifying which words to steal from the question. Underline feel most happy in the question. 

Form an answer such as: I feel most happy when I am at the lake.

Guide students in adding more detail.

Form an answer such as: I feel most happy when I am at the lake with my cousins, Ana and Brenda.

3. Have students answer a question independently.

Display a question such as: How do you help the environment?

Students underline words that can be stolen and answer the question independently.

Allow students time to share their answers.

4. Provide daily practice during morning work or as a station activity.

Need to save time? These open-ended question cards include both blank response sheets and guided response sheets. The guided response sheets are perfect for students who need a little more support! 

Restate It Cards 

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Veterans Day Activities

 There are many ways for students to acknowledge our veterans!

1. Have small groups create giant cards for the local VFW.

2. Students could create thank you cards for a local VA hospital.

3. Have a veteran come out to speak to your class. 

Students can prepare questions in advance so that you can make sure they are appropriate. Young students can inquire about the differences in military branches, places stationed, type of food and shelter, uniforms, transportation, and other nonviolent topics. 

4. Organize or participate in a care package collection for troops.

5. Decorate the halls.

This craftivity is easy to make and includes writing organizers!

Veterans Day Craftivity

Click HERE to see more Veterans Day ideas!

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Resources For Teaching Geography

Check out some ideas to add fun and engagement to your geography unit!

1. Explore maps and globes. 

Students may benefit from some hands-on experience with various maps and globes. Try looking for maps and globes at yard sales or ask friends, family, and your local library for donations. Give students time to casually explore.

Have students learn about different types of maps here:

2. Make paper mache globes. 

Form groups and have students cover a round balloon with paper mache. Use a whisk to mix 1 part flour with 2 parts water. Tear strips of newspaper or paper bags. Dip the strips one at a time into the mixture, smooth out, and wrap around balloon. Continue until balloon is covered. Allow to dry.

Once dry, have students draw and paint the continents. Dry again and have them paint the oceans. Once dry again, label the continents and oceans.

3. Play this Compass Rose Game.

4. Have students work on cardinal and ordinal directions.

5. Play pin the place on the map.

Draw a basic outline of your state on large bulletin board paper and hang it up. Write the name of important places in your state on index cards and place tape on the back. One at a time, have students close eyes, spin around, and try to get the place correctly on your state map. No peeking! Blindfolds could be used if you have enough fabric for students to have their own. Students love this game and it helps them form a mental mapping of their state!

6. Play secret longitude and latitude.

Each student uses an index card to secretly record the latitude and longitude of a favorite place or place they wish to visit. You can make this as general (as in a state or country)  or specific (such as Disney World or the Washington Monument) as desired. Students switch index cards and use a globe or world map to determine their classmate's secret location.

7. Help students learn key geography vocabulary.

7. Make pumpkin globes!

Students will love learning about geography!

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