Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Geography Challenge #2

At the beginning of the year I tried a geography challenge with the girls. It worked even better than I had hoped.

We are now filling the "geography adventure" jar again. For the next two weeks, as we read about Columbus, I will be teaching the girls basic map skills. Each morning I am asking them questions from the previous lesson. Along with the review questions I am throwing in world geography questions. For my first grader I am also asking her questions about our address.

My ideas do not always work. This one is working. For this homemade geography unit I am using a book called Maps and Mapping: geography facts and experiments. (check the J912 section in your library for something similar) I am also using TOG Year 2 map aids.

And the adventure that will reward all of their hard work? A trip on the Applcart! What? The Applcart is our college town's version of public transportation. Each girl will be given a map, pick a destination, and without assistance pick the bus route that we should follow to reach the chosen destination. They are so excited that it is almost embarrassing. You would think that they never leave the house.

I do not care to spend the entire day on the college bus with my 4 children, so I am highly motivated to teach well. I hope to take pictures of this adventure.

3 comments:

Laura said...

oh my goodnes! what a fantastic idea!! i love it, really love it. how motivating and what a fun memory that will make . . . if you can survive it. ha ha. have fun!

Carol said...

Thanks, Laura. I never would have dreamed that my children would be begging to ride on the same bus that I used! I am hoping that we won't get to many crazy looks. Swallowing the pride one more time, but looking forward to the excitment of the adventure.

Anonymous said...

What fun! I love it! I hope you don't mind if I steal that idea from you.