A new school year has started for us here in the Northern Hemisphere. We are off to a fantastic start. I am working with our 5th grade teacher and class on their Christopher Columbus Social Studies unit.

Cristobal Colon

We are looking to involve students in researching the historic figure from different perspectives in order to put together a more accurate view of the “hero-fied” persona he has been portrayed as in many textbooks in the USA.

To this end, we would like to skype with “experts” from different countries and backgrounds who could tell us a little bit about what their perception of Christopher Columbus is. What have they been taught in school or at the university about the “Discoverer of the Americas”? Do you celebrate “Columbus Day” , “Dia de la Raza” or “Dia de la Hispanidad” in October? What does your textbook say?

We would be interested in skyping with educators at the elementary school, middle school, high school or university level as well as entire school classes to put together different perspectives.

If you have a different perspective, please contribute to our learning. Leave a comment here on this post, contact me via the form or Tweet me to let me know you would be interested in participating.

The actual Skype call should not last longer than 5 minutes and we would send you specific questions ahead of time.

If you are ready to weave global awareness & collaboration into your elementary school classroom, consider participating in the

Teddy Bears Around the World Project

For the third year, Teddy Bears from around the world are contributing images about their travels, traditions and customs to this blog.

Currently, there are contribution from the following categories:

Categories Submissions

The idea is to collaboratively create a space with stories from different locations around the world. Students practice creative writing skills as they contribute stories from the bear’s perspective about their lives, surroundings and customs. I would like to expand having classes connect and interact with the stories of their teddies via more commenting.

About the Project:

Teddy Bears Around The World started as a project with a school mascot called José,  the travel bear, who enjoyed roaming the world, getting to know new places and meeting interesting people. The Teddy Bears Around the World blog provides the space to hang out and communicate with different teddy bears around the world to hear more about their lives and adventures. This will allow our students to see each other’s countries, customs and traditions through the eyes of our “teddy bears” and open their horizons through a more global perspective.
The idea is to have an ongoing exchange (no deadlines, no pressure) to contribute stories, photographs, videos or podcasts.

These contributions can be from the teddy bears point of view or from the students’ point of view telling a story ABOUT their teddy bear. We could have seasonal posts or specific “story starters”, such as:

• Teddy celebrates Thanksgiving in USA (other country specific holidays)
• Teddy is going to the movies
• Teddy’s Eve tradition
• Teddy and his favorite foods
• Teddy looses his first tooth
• Teddy watches TV
• Teddy’s favorite fairy tale
• Teddy celebrates his birthday
• Christmas trees around the world

There is no need to send a Teddy Bear to another school or teacher. All you need to do in order to participate is to register via the Contact Form, integrate writing and documenting (via images, videos or audio) the adventures of your own class’ teddy bear.

• Fill out the form.
• You will be contacted (at the e-mail you supply in the form) to submit an image of your Teddy Bear.
• Once the image has been submitted and has been approved, it will be placed on the Teddies of the World Gallery Page and a placemark will be created on the Where in the  World Map.
• You will then receive a username and password for this blog to upload your own posts AND that allow your class to comment on other teddy bear’s posts.
• Your posts could be about life in your part of the world. They could include traditions, holidays, day to day life , school events, etc.

So how about it? Are you an elementary school teacher who wants to get involved in a project that practices:

• writing skills?
• media skills?
• collaboration skills?
• geography?

and exposes your students to

• local & community awareness?
• global awareness?
• being globally connected?

Students from Jacksonville, Florida/USA and Binyamina, Israel recently celebrated Jerusalem Day together. A true opportunity to share Language, Culture & History via Skype.

A grandfather in Israel shared his memories of the Six Day War (1967) of liberating Jerusalem. The Rabbi from Florida explained what Jerusalem means to Jews outside of Israel. Students sang songs, played instruments and practiced English and Hebrew.

Jerusalem Day- Yom Yerushalaim from langwitches on Vimeo.

A Teacher's Heart Smiles when...

A teacher’s heart smiles when students become creative, enthusiastic and take ownership of their work. This was the case with the 4th grade class at my school. Their classroom teacher asked me to introduce podcasts to her class, she and her students took it from there and RAN… with it…

I came to their classroom to let them listen to various examples of class-podcasts and talk to them about  creating a collaborative storyline, that would tie individual audio segments together. I also talked to them about the importance of voice acting in order to engage their audience.

Here are some sample podcasts they listened to:

• Flat Stanley Podcast
• Magic Tree House
• Zoo Trip
• Endangered Animals

Students started to get excited as we were brainstorming scenarios for their storyline.

Brainstorming on the SmartBoard

We took a screenshot of the final list and uploaded the image to their classroom blog. Students were then asked to write a short paragraph on the blog detailing their storyline. The class was going to vote for the best storyline to be used for their podcast.

Screenshot of Possible Storylines

From their classroom blogs:

Sabrina M.

I think the plot should be where we go the Kennedy Space Center and Hannah accidentally pushes the button that launches the rocket so we go to all the different planets and then an evil alien says that we cannot go back to Earth unless we can name four facts about every planet. And that’s when we say all our facts.

Josh Z.

Plot: We go into space accidentally and we get a tour of space. After the tour a black hole suddenly says ” take a quiz of the solar system if you get any questions wrong the sun will disappear ” and we take the quiz and the sun doesn’t disappear.

Reesa Z.

We should do something where we all were asleep and we had a dream about and alien taking us to the solar system and then he/she would give us a tour about the planets. Then we will talk about our planets. After that we all wake up and realize it was just a dream.

Ryan H.

Real estate agents: Aliens from many galaxies away want to sell, The sun, Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, asteroid belt, Jupiter, Saturn, Neptune, Uranus, and Pluto are on the market from alien Real estate agents. The aliens want you to know 4 facts about each planet in order to buy them. If you dont get all 4 facts for your planet by Friday Earth will be destroyed.

Hanna G.

I think the storyline should be: One night all of the classmates dreamed of aliens coming out of the blackhole and they came to capture us. Then the next day we came to school and we went to the Kennedy Space Center and clumsy Hannah accidentally launched the rocket and then it fell so we had to go back to the class and when we got back the class turned into the solar system. In the solar system we learn about all the planets. When we were done we went to the alien real estate agents to get us back home.

Allie I.

Everybody in the class goes home and goes to bed. They all have the same dream. In their dream, they dream about space and learn about space. When they go to school the next morning, they all figure out they had the same dream and talk about what the dream was in class.

Edyn G.

I think that we should be staying at a hotel and there is not enough beds so we pull out a pull out bed and while every one is asleep it turns into a rocket ship and takes us into space and then it turns into a bus and we tour space and then it turns into a rocket ship and gos back to the hotel.

Montgomery P.

I think the plot should be: We go outside for recess, and Daniel tells everyone to come look at what he found. He found twenty jet packs. So we all take a field trip to all the planets and the moon and sun. So when we get back we put the jet packs back where we found them.

Rachel O.

Our classroom turns into the space shuttle because by accident Josh tripped over a binder and pressed the button and no one knew what it did until they all saw the stars and planets.After they see all the stars and planets the class wants to go and take a look around at them all.Mrs.Raitt says “Ok let’s go!”.We all are looking at the planets and then we go back to school.

Shira D.

I would like to do a news cast where on the news they announce that aliens have captured people and they take then around the solar system and that is my idea!

We booked time in the computer lab to allow students to “play” with Garageband and learn about tracks, background music, splitting, editing and moving tracks.

The classroom teacher created a list of planet facts that each group had to include in their segment and students started to write their script.

Items to be included in script

Once each group finished and exported their segment, we imported these files into a new Garageband project and arranged the segments in order.

Putting Podcast Together

Take a “listen” to these 4th graders “Space Real Estate Agents” podcast. Honor their efforts as

• storytellers
• collaborative team members
• creative writers
• producers
• directors
• audio editors
• podcasters

Leave them a comment, including your location, so they can track their listeners on a Map.

View MJGDS-4th Grade Space Podcast Audience in a larger map

Geography should an integral part of EVERY subject area. It is a vital 21st Century skill to be able to connect and collaborate with people from around the world. The study of Geography is a springboard to Global Awareness.

I  follow Andrew Evans on Twitter. Nothing extraordinary, since I follow more than 1400 people, but… Andrew was not tweeting about classroom projects or the newest tool to improve teaching and learning.  Andrew, sponsored by National Geographic, set out in January 2010 from Washington, DC/USA to travel by bus all the way to Antarctica (…well with a boat ride here and there). Using Twitter, Andrew allowed his 2500+ followers to experience alongside him his journey through the US, Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, and Argentina all the way to Antarctica… All by bus…

What an incredible experience. Andrew also blogged about his adventures on the National Geographic Intelligent Travel Blog. Since our 8th graders are studying South America, I felt it could not hurt to try to contact Andrew to see if he would be available and willing to skype with our students to tell about his adventures and answer questions. I contacted him…. and he said YES!!!!

We set up a day and time to skype. On my end , I involved Mrs. R, our Middle School Social Studies teacher, and Mrs. Z, our 5th grade teacher, to prepare their students by reading through the Andrew’s blog and explore the @bus2antarctica Twitter feed “backwards’.

It was a wonderful opportunity to have 8th graders and 5th graders working collaboratively. The older students were charged with preparing relevant interview questions, guiding and mentoring 5th graders on how to go beyond questions that require “yes/no” answers. 5th graders were in charge of documenting the skype connection via their blog, flip and digital camera, backchannel (we use TodaysMeet.com) and entering data into a form, which goes to a spreadsheet.

Prepping for Skype Call

Skype call with Andrew Evans

Here are a few questions students asked:

By Marni S.

Why has going to Antarctica always been your life-long dream?
What was going through your mind when you were crossing the Strait of Magellan?
How did you get National Geographic as a sponsor?
What was it like getting on a plane and flying home in a few hours after 6 weeks of driving in buses?
Did you learn any new languages on the trip? Or new words in language?

By Shaina P.

I read that you were on a bus with a few Israeli’s. Did you learn any Hebrew from them? If so, what?
How did National Geographic support you on your trip.
What was going through your head when you crossed the straight of Magellan?
What were the different weather experiences you encountered?
Was the Mate good? What did you like about it? What did it taste like?

Video Taping and taking Digital Images

Live Blogging during Skype Call

Data Entry of Facts we learned about

Backchanneling

Download our backchannel pdf from the Skype call here : Bus2_Antarctica_Backchannel

Backchannel during Skype Call with Andrew Evans from @bus2antarctica
by 5th graders (Martin J Gottlieb Day School, Jacksonville, FL)
Reverse Chronological Order (Read from bottom to top)

he eats fish eyes

sonya at 3:36 PM, 27 Apr 2010 via web

He tries anything that the culture naturally eats

Jordan at 3:36 PM, 27 Apr 2010 via web

he had tried new things during the trip

sonya at 3:36 PM, 27 Apr 2010 via web

he tried new foods

Ryan at 3:36 PM, 27 Apr 2010 via web

Mrs. H is telling him about her trip of the world

Jordan at 3:36 PM, 27 Apr 2010 via web

it was exiting for him to see the penguin

Ryan at 3:34 PM, 27 Apr 2010 via web

he likes birds

aaron at 3:34 PM, 27 Apr 2010 via web

Matte is like a green and brown color

Jordan at 3:34 PM, 27 Apr 2010 via web

The Mate was good

Sam at 3:33 PM, 27 Apr 2010 via web

he loves mate

Ryan at 3:33 PM, 27 Apr 2010 via web

people were praying on the bus

Ari at 3:33 PM, 27 Apr 2010 via web

He thought he was going to die

Sam at 3:32 PM, 27 Apr 2010 via web

He had some Jewish people on the bus with him and learned some Hebrew

Jordan at 3:32 PM, 27 Apr 2010 via web

he talked in russian with a guy

Ryan at 3:32 PM, 27 Apr 2010 via web

He speaks Russian

Ari at 3:32 PM, 27 Apr 2010 via web

(Thank You)

Benjamin at 3:31 PM, 27 Apr 2010 via web

He remembers Todah Rabah

Benjamin at 3:31 PM, 27 Apr 2010 via web

He learned hebrew

Ari at 3:31 PM, 27 Apr 2010 via web

It was strange to go on a plane after all of the bus travel

Jordan at 3:31 PM, 27 Apr 2010 via web

It felt kind of like a dream cause he traveled for so long.

Benjamin at 3:31 PM, 27 Apr 2010 via web

Every weather condition but hurricanes

Benjamin at 3:30 PM, 27 Apr 2010 via web

He went through all sorts of weather

Julia at 3:30 PM, 27 Apr 2010 via web

There were many changes in weather

Sam at 3:30 PM, 27 Apr 2010 via web

Very cold at night. Very hot in the day.

Benjamin at 3:30 PM, 27 Apr 2010 via web

Every weather condition you could think of

Benjamin at 3:30 PM, 27 Apr 2010 via web

he learned how to explain an iphone in spanish

Ryan at 3:30 PM, 27 Apr 2010 via web

he had to teach people to take a picture

sonya at 3:30 PM, 27 Apr 2010 via web

He taught people how to use the i-phone in spanish

Benjamin at 3:30 PM, 27 Apr 2010 via web

He told us the word drizzle in spanish

Benjamin at 3:29 PM, 27 Apr 2010 via web

He learned drizzle in Spanish

Sam at 3:29 PM, 27 Apr 2010 via web

he learned some spanish and other languages

sonya at 3:29 PM, 27 Apr 2010 via web

Ryan at 3:29 PM, 27 Apr 2010 via web

He learned a lot of new words in Spanish

Benjamin at 3:29 PM, 27 Apr 2010 via web

there were some times that he wanted to rest

sonya at 3:28 PM, 27 Apr 2010 via web

the skype is interesting

aaron at 3:28 PM, 27 Apr 2010 via web

he had altitude sickness but never gave up his dream

Jordan at 3:28 PM, 27 Apr 2010 via web

He wanted to go but there were times on the bus that he sat on the chair for 50 hours

Jordan at 3:27 PM, 27 Apr 2010 via web

mexico felt long

aaron at 3:27 PM, 27 Apr 2010 via web

He saw a baby blue whale

Benjamin at 3:27 PM, 27 Apr 2010 via web

Well its much better to see animals up close in nature than the Zoo

Jordan at 3:26 PM, 27 Apr 2010 via web

Meeting real life animals is much better than going to the zoo in his opinion.

Benjamin at 3:26 PM, 27 Apr 2010 via web

There were Baby Seals

Sam at 3:26 PM, 27 Apr 2010 via web

He thought ringing the bells was cool

Sam at 3:26 PM, 27 Apr 2010 via web

The Bolivian Salt Flats.

Benjamin at 3:25 PM, 27 Apr 2010 via web

He loved visiting the Equator.

Benjamin at 3:25 PM, 27 Apr 2010 via web

he loved the equator

Ryan at 3:25 PM, 27 Apr 2010 via web

seals are sneaky

aaron at 3:25 PM, 27 Apr 2010 via web

A leapord seal scared him because they have huge jaws

Jordan at 3:24 PM, 27 Apr 2010 via web

They are a lot more dangerous than regular seals

Benjamin at 3:24 PM, 27 Apr 2010 via web

he was scared of lepoard seals

Ryan at 3:24 PM, 27 Apr 2010 via web

He was scared of the Leopard Seals

Benjamin at 3:24 PM, 27 Apr 2010 via web

he was very happy when he got to antartica

Ryan at 3:24 PM, 27 Apr 2010 via web

he says its good to set goals

aaron at 3:24 PM, 27 Apr 2010 via web

He was happy to reach his goal

Sam at 3:24 PM, 27 Apr 2010 via web

He was very happy when he met his goal

Benjamin at 3:24 PM, 27 Apr 2010 via web

Victoria and Hannah are now the next people to ask questions now

Jordan at 3:24 PM, 27 Apr 2010 via web

He thought it was a beautiful country

Benjamin at 3:23 PM, 27 Apr 2010 via web

he likes iraeli food

Ryan at 3:23 PM, 27 Apr 2010 via web

Mendel wanted to go to israel

aaron at 3:23 PM, 27 Apr 2010 via web

He was in Israel last year

Benjamin at 3:23 PM, 27 Apr 2010 via web

mendel wants to go to Israel

Ryan at 3:23 PM, 27 Apr 2010 via web

he was very scared that he would miss the bus

sonya at 3:23 PM, 27 Apr 2010 via web

alex want to go to australia

Ryan at 3:22 PM, 27 Apr 2010 via web

“Where is the place you always wanted to go to.”

Benjamin at 3:22 PM, 27 Apr 2010 via web

What would have happened if he lost his boat he said he found a boat that would go 3 days later but he made it there in time

Jordan at 3:22 PM, 27 Apr 2010 via web

He is asking us a question

Benjamin at 3:22 PM, 27 Apr 2010 via web

he had a backup plan

aaron at 3:22 PM, 27 Apr 2010 via web

It was a lot more urban here in America than down south.

Benjamin at 3:22 PM, 27 Apr 2010 via web

Andrew said the country with the best besides America is Argentina.

Ari at 3:21 PM, 27 Apr 2010 via web

The united states was different than all the other places

Sam at 3:21 PM, 27 Apr 2010 via web

it was a shock for him to come back to america

Ryan at 3:21 PM, 27 Apr 2010 via web

Argintina had good border patrol

Jordan at 3:21 PM, 27 Apr 2010 via web

Argentina had very good security

Benjamin at 3:21 PM, 27 Apr 2010 via web

The best border security was in Argentina

Sam at 3:21 PM, 27 Apr 2010 via web

Mendel and Alex are now asking questions now

Jordan at 3:20 PM, 27 Apr 2010 via web

Andrew’s bus hit a cow and the bus turned over

Ari at 3:20 PM, 27 Apr 2010 via web

He had falling rocks on the road but they didn’t fall on him.

Benjamin at 3:19 PM, 27 Apr 2010 via web

falling rocks on the road

Ryan at 3:19 PM, 27 Apr 2010 via web

He had falling rocks

Jordan at 3:19 PM, 27 Apr 2010 via web

poor cow

aaron at 3:19 PM, 27 Apr 2010 via web

He also hit a cow and the bus rolled of the road

Sam at 3:19 PM, 27 Apr 2010 via web

he went to panama and saw sharks

Ryan at 3:19 PM, 27 Apr 2010 via web

He is going to talk mainly about terrifying experiences.

Benjamin at 3:19 PM, 27 Apr 2010 via web

he was scared

aaron at 3:18 PM, 27 Apr 2010 via web

He is going to tell a story about is adventure

Benjamin at 3:18 PM, 27 Apr 2010 via web

He wanted to stay an extra month if he went again

Sam at 3:18 PM, 27 Apr 2010 via web

he would take more time

Ryan at 3:17 PM, 27 Apr 2010 via web

He hopes to go back to Antarctica

Julia at 3:17 PM, 27 Apr 2010 via web

he wants to go back to antartica

Ryan at 3:17 PM, 27 Apr 2010 via web

it tasted like chicken

aaron at 3:17 PM, 27 Apr 2010 via web

He tried Guinea Pig

Sam at 3:17 PM, 27 Apr 2010 via web

he did not like ginea pig

Ryan at 3:16 PM, 27 Apr 2010 via web

he had ocyopus

aaron at 3:16 PM, 27 Apr 2010 via web

the most interesting food was grilled octopus

sonya at 3:16 PM, 27 Apr 2010 via web

The best meal was in Peru it was a Grill Octopus

Sam at 3:16 PM, 27 Apr 2010 via web

They asked another question on how he got National Geographic to sponser him

Jordan at 3:16 PM, 27 Apr 2010 via web

The most interesting thing was that he discovered the world was small

Sam at 3:16 PM, 27 Apr 2010 via web

He thinks that traveling on land is more fascinating instead of air travel because you experiences more experiences.

Benjamin at 3:15 PM, 27 Apr 2010 via web

Andrew wanted to take a bus on the trip because he wanted to see more on the trip. ©

Ari at 3:15 PM, 27 Apr 2010 via web

He is a travel writer

Julia at 3:15 PM, 27 Apr 2010 via web

he writes for nat geo

Ryan at 3:15 PM, 27 Apr 2010 via web

sam is back channeling

aaron at 3:15 PM, 27 Apr 2010 via web

world atlas is his favorite book

sonya at 3:14 PM, 27 Apr 2010 via web

Shira asked what made want to go on the trip he answered that he always loved to travel

Jordan at 3:14 PM, 27 Apr 2010 via web

He was inspired by the world atlas

Sam at 3:14 PM, 27 Apr 2010 via web

he likes land travel instead of flying

Ryan at 3:14 PM, 27 Apr 2010 via web

this is cool

aaron at 3:14 PM, 27 Apr 2010 via web

HE has always wanted to do this

Sam at 3:14 PM, 27 Apr 2010 via web

he wanted to go to Antartica when he was little

Ryan at 3:14 PM, 27 Apr 2010 via web

Houston Texas

Benjamin at 3:14 PM, 27 Apr 2010 via web

he is in houston

Ryan at 3:13 PM, 27 Apr 2010 via we

Mrs. T is talking to Andrew about backchannel and the talkers

Jordan at 3:13 PM, 27 Apr 2010 via web

Mrs. T is telling him about our jobs.

Benjamin at 3:13 PM, 27 Apr 2010 via web

introducing each other

Ryan at 3:12 PM, 27 Apr 2010 via web

We finally have connection

Jordan at 3:12 PM, 27 Apr 2010 via web

He is turning on his video and we now can see him.

Benjamin at 3:12 PM, 27 Apr 2010 via web

saying hi

Ryan at 3:12 PM, 27 Apr 2010 via web

here we go

Ryan at 3:12 PM, 27 Apr 2010 via web

Andrew Evans is online©

Ari at 3:12 PM, 27 Apr 2010 via web

He’s Finally HERE

Jordan at 3:12 PM, 27 Apr 2010 via web

Mrs. T. is trying to contact Andrew via i-phone

Benjamin at 3:07 PM, 27 Apr 2010 via web

everybody is waiting

Ryan at 3:06 PM, 27 Apr 2010 via web

We are still hoping for a response

Jordan at 3:06 PM, 27 Apr 2010 via web

sonya at 3:05 PM, 27 Apr 2010 via web

Mrs. T is telling us how to say good luck in Argentinain

Jordan at 3:05 PM, 27 Apr 2010 via web

Mrs. hernandez came him

aaron at 3:03 PM, 27 Apr 2010 via web

Mrs. T is talking about Andrew and Mrs. T is calling him now

Jordan at 3:03 PM, 27 Apr 2010 via web

this willl be a privelige

aaron at 3:02 PM, 27 Apr 2010 via web

we are lucky to skype with him

aaron at 3:02 PM, 27 Apr 2010 via web

he went to Antartica on a bus from Washington D.C.

Benjamin at 2:57 PM, 27 Apr 2010 via web

We are going to Skype with Andrew Evans

Ari at 2:57 PM, 27 Apr 2010 via web

Sam at 2:56 PM, 27 Apr 2010 via web

Hello

Ryan at 2:56 PM, 27 Apr 2010 via web

Hi

How is geography being taught in your school? Is it a weekly time block designated under the umbrella of Social Studies in Elementary School? Is it a semester or one year required credit course in High School?

Geography is a separate subject. Really?

Heidi Hayes Jacobs says (p. 36) in her Curriculum 21. (ASCD, 2010) book:

Geography should be cut as a snapshot unit with an integrated approach continuously woven into the academic year. Rather than the token “let’s start off the school year with our classic unit on geography,” the curriculum should include an ongoing injection and use of geography and a full range of maps. When schools do not use maps of all kinds with regularity in a range of classes (English, science, art), our students do not get to apply geography in a meaningful way.

Heidi Hayes Jacobs compares a segregated and isolated teaching unit of geography to a first grade teacher posting an ABCs poster on the wall, only to take it down after a month.

It is about making continuous connections of geography themes to what we teach. Where does the content fit into the world? How does the content relate to other subject areas. How does it affect the people who live there? Where do we find Math concepts in the physical world around us? Do literary or historic perspectives change due to geographic locations? How does Geography impact the economy?

How can we help classroom teachers make these connections from their teaching subject/content to geographic awareness/compentency?

Vivek Wathwa states in an article on TechCrunch about American competitiveness in the global educational field that

if we create the incentives for American children to study math and science and to complete advanced degrees, the magic will happen. In addition to math and science, we should teach our children about world culture, geography, and global markets. In the era of globalization, these subjects are equally important.

Bill Ferriter (@plugusin) recently tweeted

Really heartsick about NC’s decision to make social studies a history instead of geography focus. That’s narrowminded in today’s world.

If geography is equally important as math and science, than why is it being made a “lesser” focus?

I presented recently at the Teacher2Teacher conference in Bow Island, Alberta, Canada. The topic of one of my sessions was: “Geography is All Around Us”

Take a look at the slides and check out the tools and resource links discussed at the presentation for examples how geography can AND should be integrated into other subject areas.

Resource Links:
Google Maps
Google Earth
VoiceThread
Wikis Blogs
Skype
Twitter

Examples:

• Twitter- Bus2 Antarctica
• Read Around The World
• In Search of Pachamama
• Google Lit Trips
• Flat Stantley Podcast
• Posterous Blog- Defining Japan
• Teddy Bears Around The World
• What Could It Mean? VoiceThread
• Free Rice
• Math Maps
• Current Events
• Around The World With 80 Schools

How do you integrate Geography into your subject area? How can you upgrade one unit, one lesson or one assignment to integrate geography. What tools are you using? What projects are participating in? Please share you tips and techniques.

Take a look at previous blog posts on Langwitches with examples of Geography integration:

• Geography Awareness Week-Get Lost in Mapping: Find Your Place in the World
• The Logistics of Creating a Current News Events Google Map
• Our Own Private Pirate Island
• News Events Assignment with a Twist
• Map Skills on the SmartBoard
• Framing a Field Trip with Google Earth
• 6 Schools- 6 Countries-1 Hour
• Beyond the Playground: Google Earth for Elementary Students
• Writing a Story in Google Maps
• Connecting the Dots… with Google Earth
• Flat Stanley Podcast
• Podcasting with First Grade

Here are a few tips through Twitter.

I am guest blogging on My Wonderful World Blog (National Geographic Education Foundation) in honor of Geography Awareness Week 2009 the week of November 15 – 21!

This year’s theme is “Get Lost in Mapping: Find Your Place in the World”.

I wanted to share a successful geography lesson that continues to grow throughout the school year.  I have blogged about the  News Events Assignments with a Twitst and The Logistics of creating a Current News Events Google Map previously.

The lesson was born out of a very traditional  “Current Events Assignment”, handed in to the teacher on paper, which had been part of the curriculum for years.

The Middle School Social Studies teacher at my school (Martin J.Gottlieb Day School) was not satisfied with the paper and pencil assignment and was looking to bring the old and tried task into the 21st century. She wanted students to not merely be looking up random and disconnected news events that were handed in to her on a weekly basis. She wanted students to be really making connections among these events by involving higher level thinking skills such as evaluating, analyzing and creating. The new assignment was to not only involve geography skills, but also bring into the lesson information literacy and global awareness.

We decided to create a collaborative map for each grade level (6th, 7th, and 8th grade) with Google Maps. Each student was assigned a different colored or shaped placemark within Google Maps . They were also given the class username and password to be able to log in from home.

Their weekly “Current News Events” assignment now consisted in:

• Logging into their grade level map
• Placing a placemark on the location the news event had taken place
• Entering the location’s country as the title of the placemark
• Using the description box to add a category the news article was falling under (Ex. politics, environment, entertainment, etc.)
• The source link to the original news article or citation if from a paper newspaper
• A summary of the article. Preferably in 140 characters or less.

Since the start of the assignment,  several weeks have passed and new lessons have been learned, input from educators around the world received and new dimensions to the lesson have crystallized themselves.

As more news events are added,  we are asking questions such as:

• In what category do most news events we added fall?
  
• In what continents and countries are these news items in?
  
• What area of the world do we know or hear the most or least about? Why?
  
• How can we expand our horizon to cover more areas of the globe?

It has been good to observe that students are branching out in their search for sources. They are reading newspapers from different locations around the world, such as the UK, Australia, and Japan.

They are realizing that:

• different sources bring different points of view, opinions and kinds of news items.
• not all perspectives are represented in one source
• to get a “fuller” picture of a news event, you have to look at more than one source
• location of a source influences the content and perspective of the article

We  are asking ourselves:

• What does it mean if the majority of our sources are US based by coming from CNN.com and Foxnews.com?
• How are other countries affected by events happening in different countries or continents?
• What is ( or is there) a difference in terms of validity of news when the source is BBC or Comedy Central?

Each week students, after they have entered their news event, present the location and summary of their placemark to the class on the SmartBoard.

As students present their news event, other students are working with their laptops at their desk and are editing their peer’s placemark. They are becoming collaborators and critical thinkers  by validating and cross-referencing sources, asking for clarifications if the summary was not understood and making suggestions to where to place the placemark best.  As Mrs. R., their teacher said:

In previous “Current News Events” assignment, there was never an element of self- and collaborative checking of their work. Students handed in their news event and summary on a paper. I was the only one reading it.  The collaborative web based map has brought a new dimension of deeper thinking.

Why are students motivated to go over and check their own and classmate’s work?

Students are aware that their Google Maps of Current Events have been viewed by over 10,000  people (all three maps combined). Over 20 comments have been left by others from far away countries such as Israel, Australia and Korea, leaving students with a sense of pride and that what they do in class matters. Other teachers are using their maps as examples to teach their students. Commenters have:

• asked students to add source links to the original articles
• requested that we double check location placemarks
• challenged students about the “worthiness” of adding articles in the entertainment category
• encouraged students to look for patterns about their news event locations
• shared links to images about a news event

As the Social Studies teacher and I reflect on this weekly task, we want to continue to add new elements and enter into additional phases of the assignment in order to prevent it from becoming routine or just another thing to do for the students.

We are contemplating:

• To give students a broad topic and asking them to find relevant news sources, representative of different countries? Is there a difference in the “facts” that are reported or omitted depending on location? What is their “take” on a specific event?
• Ask students to come up with a world news topic, add their opinion and take on the subject, then ask others around the world to contribute their unique perspective to that topic.
• Have students analyze responses from different locations around the world and consider responses on basis of geography.

What are your thoughts and ideas how to expand, develop and create even more facets to this assignment?

Take a look at the GoogleMaps at and leave a comment for our 6th graders, 7th graders and 8th graders.

Note: There is an email link embedded within this post, please visit this post to email it. Note: There is a print link embedded within this post, please visit this post to print it.

I’ll be joining bloggers around the Web for the 2009 Geography Awareness Week Blog-a-thon, hosted by National Geographic’s My Wonderful World Campaign.

Tune in to the My Wonderful World Blog November 15-21 for a daily dose of geographic news and jottings, photos, calls to action, a mystery location quiz, and more…

The Teddy Bears Around the World blog has moved domains! Please update your RSS, links and bookmarks. Please point to the new address: http://www.langwitches.org/blog/travel/teddybearsaroundtheworld/

• If you are looking to participate in an easy and cute global project, that your students, school and parents will absolutely love, then this project is for you!!
• Are you in higher education and teaching pre-service teachers? They could contribute stories, specifically designed with subject area integration on their mind or practice their skills of storytelling as a teaching tool.

What is this project all about?

Teddy Bears Around The World started as a project with one school mascot called José,  The bear enjoyed roaming the world, getting to know new places and meeting interesting people.

This blog provides the space to hang out and communicate with different teddy bears around the world to hear more about their lives and adventures. This will allow our students to see each other’s countries, customs and traditions through the eyes of our “teddy bears” and open their horizons through a more global perspective.
The idea is to have an ongoing exchange (no deadlines, no pressure) to contribute stories, photographs, videos or podcasts.

These contributions can be from the teddy bears point of view or from the students’ point of view telling a story ABOUT their teddy bear. We could have seasonal posts or specific “story starters”, such as:

• … “Teddy” celebrates Thanksgiving in USA (other country specific holidays)
• … “Teddy” is going to the movies
• …  New Year’s Eve tradition
• … “Teddy” and his favorite foods
• … ”Teddy” looses his first tooth
• … “Teddy” watches TV
• … ”Teddy”’s favorite fairy tale
• … “Teddy” celebrates his birthday
• … Christmas trees around the world
• … Playgrounds around the world

If you are interested in hanging out with us, please contact me with information about your school and teddy bear and to receive a username to participate on this blog.

We have 10 bears around the world participating at this point and more signing up. We are looking for more teddies to contribute stories, pictures, videos and/or audio. This could be a great “creative writing” activity, geography, social studies,  “All about communities” lesson and global connections/awareness.

What do you need to participate?

• Contact me
• A stuffed bear (panda bear, ice bear, brown bear, black bear, etc.)
• A story or information about your geographic location to share
• Images, video or audio

Check out some of the latest posts from Teddy Bears Around the World

• A Birthday Party under the Sukkah
• This is the story of Jose, who helped save the Nature Park of Buenos Aires