Controversial Issue Project

Of the number of projects created this semester, the most touching was the controversial issue project. Me and my partner were assigned to talk about "sexism" in the elementary school. I have seen teachers being harsh on girls and soft on boys. I will not be a teacher that favors one sex over the other. I think that it is unethical and unfair to the students to be treated this way. All students need to be treated equally, regardless of sex.

Five Themes of Geography

In class, we talked about the five themes of geography. The five themes of geography are: Location, place, human-environment interaction, movement, and region. We were to create a project of our own and describe the five themes of that location we chose to do. I picked Istanbul, Turkey. I wanted to talk about it because I been there. I was happy to put this project together. I would love to show my students the project  created as an example for them. The students would love to put something together like this. It does not have to be a place you've visited, it can be a place you want to find out more information about or want to visit sometime in the future.

Photo Credit: google.com
for more information about visiting Turkey, go to www.goturkey.com

The Decades Project

The other day in my Social Studies methods class, me and my group presented our decade project. Me and my group had to present the 70's decade. We went through an extensive amount of research to find out what was it like to live in the 1970's as well as what new things were invented back in the 70's. I was responsible for looking up new technology that came out back then. Our project was so neatly presented, we had a poster board, displayed some unique items, and of course food. Here is a picture of how our table looked:

Trade Fair

The other day in class we did an activity called the "Trade Fair." I had to bring in a few items and try to trade it with my classmates. This is excellent way to teach students about various topics including:

Communication
Bargaining
Problem solving
Determine value of an item
Generosity
Wants vs. needs
Supply and demand
Import and export
Slave trade
Goods and services
Raw material
Profit and loss

I brought picture frames, coffee, donuts, flip flops and I left with a bottle of shower gel, a book mark, a greeting card, a candy bar, lotion (from Israel), Harry Potter DVD, and a donut. I think I got a pretty good deal!

Here are some pictures of our trade fair:

Salt Dough Maps

The other day in class we talked about geography. Using the atlas, me and my group picked Greece and then created a model of it using pre-made salt dough. This activity can be used in the elementary grades 3-6. I am sure the kids will not only love it but they will also learn a lot from it.

This activity can teach students the following things about geography: Using maps to locate places, the importance of maps, How can maps help us? and various landforms found in a place. By completing the salt dough project, students get a chance to express themselves through Art. Students will also learn more about the country they are presenting. In my future classroom, I would make sure that students pick different countries, this way the students will get a chance to learn from each other.

Cinquain Poems

The other day in my Social Studies class, we talked about being a part of a community/neighborhood. We had to bring in pictures of our community and analyze the pictures. The point of this activity is to see how different/alike we (as a class) were. We brainstormed some ideas as to where this activity can take us.

To name a few:

*Geography lesson: Where places are located on a map
*Plantation/vegetation
*Population in a community
*Geographical feature of a place
*Safe/Unsafe neighborhoods
*Being responsible citizens (Clean neighborhoods, mowing grass, etc.)
*Culture differences
*5 Themes of Geography
*Sidewalk War/Resolution

We listed a few more ideas, then we had to complete a cinquain poem about the "Neighborhood" theme.

Take a look at the pictures below.