Unit: Lesson 5

For our final lesson of the unit, we did a brief review of all five themes using a jigsaw group activity. We reassured the students that they would have their graphic organizers to use on the test, and to make sure that they had all the important terms and information written on it. As we split them into groups of five, we assigned each group one theme, and had them fill out a worksheet outlining the key terms and questions for that theme. We walked around to make sure the groups had the right information written down, then numbered off in fives so that one person representing each theme was in the new group. We gave students about ten minutes to share and exchange information in these groups, reviewing the important concepts and ideas from each theme.

We considered many possibilities for our final review, such as an integrative model lesson, a Jeopardy game, or another synthesis activity, but we felt that the jigsaw lesson really gave students a sense of ownership of the information, because they would be responsible for one section, and presenting to classmates. It worked out pretty well, as students were able to discuss and come to a consensus on the most accurate and concise information for their theme in their expert groups, them pass this on to their new groups so that everyone had access to the same information. We did have some concerns with quality assurance, and making sure that all students were getting accurate information, but we were able to walk around and monitor the activity, and asking questions and correcting students who had inaccurate information written down.

This review activity took about half an hour, and after all the students had the chance to share in their groups, we came back together as a class and went over the directions for the test. Some students were much more meticulous than others, raising their hand to clarify directions and ask about specific details of each question. Others breezed through easily without checking their answers. It was interesting to observe this disparity and realize that often the students who finished first did just as well as those who take their time and check all their answers twice. Some students made very minimal effort, skipping questions and writing question marks or incomplete sentences.

The timing of this last class went very smoothly, I guess after learning our lesson many times we were able to accurately estimate how much time students would need for each activity/section of the lesson. We were concerned that the test might take too long, but it was just the right length to assess student understanding, yet not be too tedious or time-consuming.

In the end, after we collected all the tests and papers, we said our goodbyes and thank yous to the students. They made each of us a card with a class picture, and a candid shot of us in the classroom. It was a thoughtful and sincere gesture that marked the culmination of our work and efforts in planning and teaching this unit. I know that I have definitely learned and grown a great deal as an emerging teacher, about all aspects from classroom management to time management to planning and assessment. Hopefully, in grading the final assessments, we will find that the students have learned and gained as much from this unit as we did.

Unit: Lesson 4

Our lesson on regions today was the last in our "Five Themes of Geography" Unit. We started with a brief review of all the previous themes, going over key terms, questions, and concepts. Most students had the main ideas, although there was still some confusion between location and place. It may be because these two themes are so closely related, but also because we taught them in an interwoven manner on the same day. However, in general, students had a firm grasp on most of the big ideas and concepts for each theme.

The topic of region is a difficult one to teach, especially since students have already done a study on Virginia regions, and know the fundamental aspects of region. We tried to focus this lesson on extending their basic understanding, and encompassing different types and classifications of regions, such as regions based on political boundaries, geographic location, population, and so on. In general, we wanted students to understand that a region is a group of places that share common characteristics, and there can be more than one way to divide an area into regions, depending on your purpose. After last week's class, we also wanted to delve into deeper class discussion, by asking probing questions and having students take a step back and really reflect on what they are saying. We found that even as we consciously tried to slow down, the discussion was still very fast-paced. It was difficult for us to take one idea and extend it or expound upon it; rather, we tended to move very quickly in order to give all students an opportunity to speak and share their ideas. Although this maximizes class participation, it doesn't necessarily promote the best flow of ideas and open discussion.

During the main activity, we gave each group of students a list of six places, with characteristics of each (including population, geography, industry, climate, etc.). Their job was to classify and group these places into as many different regions as possible, by looking at shared characteristics and common features across different places. We were concerned that the directions may have been unclear, so we did a practice example together. However, some students were still confused about the fact that within a region, ALL the places have to have shared features, not just some of them. We spent time with each group making sure they understood the general concepts and helped clarify and refine their thinking.

Several groups had conflicts and issues working together, especially choosing a recorder or arranging the information so that everyone had access to it. Certain group members tended to dominate, not allowing other members to suggest categories or regions. We didn't anticipate these tensions, since they seemed to work so well in all the activities before. However, we tried to mediate the tensions and allow all students to have input in the groupwork. In the end, when we got together to share ideas as a class, most students seemed to have gotten the general idea of a region, and different ways to classify regions. The ending was a little rushed, since we had to spend more time than anticipated clarifying and explaining the group activity. However, students had enough time to fill in their graphic organizer with the important details. As we collected their papers, we told students that we would be having a brief review of the unit, and a short assessment during our last class. Some students expressed concern and wanted to take their graphic organizers home to study, but we reassured them that they would have them available to refer to during the test.

Unit: Lesson 3

The third lesson of this unit focused on the idea of "movement," encompassing the idea of movement of goods, people, ideas, and information on a local and global scale. We had some activities for this lesson that we hoped would be fun and engaging for the students, as well as emphasizing the key understandings essential to the unit.

As always, we started off reviewing key terms and ideas from last lesson. As Kelly led the review, I walked around and made sure that students were writing down accurate information on their graphic organizers. Ms. Haas informed us that she thought it would be helpful to make the note-taking more explicit, as students had not had much practice learning how to take notes and effective note-taking skills. We modeled this by writing on the board the exact terms and examples that students should be writing on their individual sheets. This proved to be much more effective than the first day, when we just had students write "what they learned" in general terms.

We started off by having students go around the room and find objects made in other countries. Most students were able to write down a list of at least 4-5 different objects with countries of different origin. We talked about how these items might have gotten from their home country to Charlottesville, mentioning different methods of transportation. After this, we introduced the term interdependence. On the pre-assessment, a lot of students confused this with the term "independence" and so we tried to be very clear and explicit in explaining that interdependence is when we rely on one another by sharing or exchanging goods, services, or ideas.

The main activity was the "country cards" where the class was divided into five groups, each of which represented a country. The groups were given a card with a list of their major exports and imports, and were told to find the corresponding country or countries who could supply them with the things they needed (imports). Surprisingly, students understood their task immediately, and were excited to go talk to other groups and find out who they could import from. Some groups struggled with appointing a group diplomat, but we had them vote and decide among themselves.

I felt this activity was really successful in showing the concept of interdependence in a very concrete way. Afterwards, we had the groups connected in a trade network using yarn, and they were able to see very visually how interconnected they were, even with countries that weren't direct trading partners. We also talked about different factors that may break or disturb trading networks, such as war, poverty, or economic shortages.

One thing to keep in mind is that we do tend to give all directions orally, so in the future, it would be helpful also to have written directions posted, so that students who didn't catch it the first time have something to refer to.

After this activity, we had a group discussion on other things that can move, such as people, ideas, information, diseases, and so on. Students had some very insightful responses and ideas to share, especially about their own personal experiences moving. We introduced the ideas of families moving, and asked students about their family traditions or culture that may have come from another country (different foods, holidays, etc.) The discussion went by rather quickly, and we found that we had 15 minutes of extra time before the end of class. Reflecting on this afterwards, I realize that we probably did a lot to rush the discussion, because we might have been afraid of the students getting bored or inattentive. However, this is an extremely bright group of students, and in the future, it wouldn't hurt to slow down discussion and have them dwell on a single idea or thought for a little longer. When Ms. Haas jumped in and started asking them to slow down and think about one idea, they were able to come up with much more reflective and thoughtful answers.

To close, we had students work on their graphic organizers by filling in "things that can travel" "how things travel" and defining "interdependence." This could also have been more clear if we had a sample on the ELMO of the titles/headings we wanted them to include, rather than stating everything orally and having to repeat it several times. From looking at their charts, however, most of them understood the main points and concepts we were trying to convey in the lesson. Finally, we had a 3-2-1 exit card where they listed 3 things that they use every day that aren't made in the US, 2 possible ways these things got here, and wrote 1 short paragraph describing their journey as if they were one of these objects. The last part we changed because we had a lot more time remaining than we had anticipated, and we thought a creative writing exercise would be able to take more time than a short "list 1 benefit of intedependence." However, our original prompt would have tapped into some of the deeper understandings and big ideas of the lesson.

Unit: Lesson 2

We began the second lesson with a review of Location and Place from the previous lesson. Some students had been absent, so it was helpful to go over the key terms and write them on the board so they would have something to fill in on their graphic organizer. The students who were absent do have a bit of a disadvantage when it comes to the test, since they weren't here to experience all the activities and engage in the concepts as much in depth as the others. However, hopefully the brief review gave them some general idea of what we covered and did in class.


We began the lesson by asking students what they thought would happen if there were no trees in the world. Student responses varied from silly to insightful, and we were surprised at the depth of knowledge they had. For example, one student said that since trees supply oxygen, we would not be able to survive since we depend on oxygen to breathe and live. Another student mentioned something about animal habitats being destroyed along with plant life, thus limiting our consumption of food derived from animals. From this discussion, we went into the difference between how humans affect the environment (by cutting down trees) to how the environment affects humans (by making us dress warmly for the weather). We practiced by having students put several examples into each category, solidifying their understanding of this concept.

After this, we divided the class into two groups. Kelly worked with half the students on an activity focusing on how we adapt to the environment, with students completing a journal entry describing how they would survive on a desert island. My group had a discussion on how humans affect the environment, from pollution to hunting to animal extinction and endangerment. My first group was very lively and active in discussing these topics; one student shared about how his father owns a tree farm, and it's supposed to be better for the environment than cutting down trees in the forest. I shared with them pictures of endangered species of plants and animals in Virginia, and we discussed why these animals are becoming endangered. Students were much more perceptive than I expected, and were able to come to the conclusion that animals become endangered not only because of hunting, but also because humans destroy their environment, and other animals in their food chain.

The groups rotated after 15 minutes, and the second group of students was not as lively or talkative as the first. It took a lot more probing and questioning to get them to arrive at the same conclusions. For instance, I had to ask them if they knew what a food chain was, and then they were able to understand when one animal in a food chain is hunted, it affects other animals above it. However, they were eventually able to understand all the big ideas of how humans affect and change their environment. Both groups completed the graphic organizer with ideas and examples about how we influence the environment.

Overall, I felt that this was a successful lesson - students were always active and engaged with the material; there was enough movement around the room that students didn't get fidgety or bored with any one activity; and all students seemed to understand and connect with the big ideas. We didn't have a lot of extra time left like with the first lesson, in fact, in the end when we were sharing, we only had time for two or three students to share their journal entries. It was really encouraging to see how excited the students were to share their products. The fact that they were all so eager and begging to be called on shows that they are proud of the work they are producing, and confident enough to share with their peers and teachers. Seeing their enthusiasm motivates us to create more creative writing and other creative activities for them in the future, when we will hopefully have more time for students to share their products with each other.

Unit: Lesson 1

Our first lesson went much better than we anticipated, especially considering the fact that the regular classroom teacher, Ms. H, wasn't there. With a substitute, we were concerned about potential discipline/behavior problems, but the students were all well-behaved, attentive, and respectful. The substitute was unobtrusive and uninvolved, briefly introducing herself then retiring to her desk in the back of the room.

The kids were just coming in from lunch and recess, so they were still fairly energetic. However, we were able to get them in their seats and calmed down without much difficulty. We started off the lesson by relating it to the lesson we taught in the fall on latitude and longitude. Most of the students seemed to have some recollection of the terms, and how to use them to find places on a map. As we moved into the lesson, it was clear that some students were much more eager to participate than others. It was a challenge to try to call on all students equally, especially since we were still unsure on some of their names.

Kelly and I were able to transition pretty smoothly between our parts, and we varied the activities enough so that students weren't bored or distracted easily during instructional time. After going over location and place, and having students practice and give examples of absolute/relative location and human/physical characteristics, we moved into the mystery places game. Most students seemed to work well in their groups, and it was not difficult for them to figure out their mystery place. From walking around and hearing them discuss ideas with each other, it was clear that some of them had different ways of thinking and analyzing information, but they were all able to arrive at the same conclusion. As students were finishing this game, we realized we has finished much earlier than anticipated. To fill the remaining time, we had students draw pictures (individually) of their mystery place, making sure to include both physical and human characteristics. This was a more low-level activity on Bloom's Taxonomy, not requiring much analytic or creative thinking. However, it still aligned with the objectives of the lesson, in reinforcing the concept of place and the types of characteristics used to describe a place.

After students finished their drawings, we called on some of them to share with the class, which they all seemed excited and eager to do. This is a great way for students to be affirmed in their work and to receive recognition from both the teacher and their peers. Finally, after this, we wrapped up the lesson by handing out the graphic organizers that we will be using throughout the unit. We had the students focus on the first two boxes, "Location" and "Place," and fill out as much as they could remember from what we talked about today. Some students struggled to remember any information, while others were writing profusely with definitions and terms and examples. It was interesting to note the stark contrast and the wide range of abilities within the same classroom. We should definitely take this into account in planning future lessons, and make sure that all students are gaining equal access to the knowledge and information being preseneted. Some of the students who struggled may simply lack interest in geography, or perhaps the material was not presented in a way that appealed to their individual learning style. Regardless of the reason, it is our role as the teacher to provide every student with the same opportunity to learn.