TE 401: Teaching Social Studies to Diverse Learners

Class 12November 13, 2008Geography and Literature Circle Microteaching

Agenda

Reflections on field teachingFinal lesson plan reminders5 themes of geographyGeography centersLiterature circle microteaching

Reflections

What were the teaching moments?

What did you learn about teaching?

Visiting you – next week

Final Lesson PlanAll five parts turned in as one documentYou are the lead authorCT feedback formRubric on AngelAnnotated bibliography – cite class texts/articles in the coursepackEmail to bykereri@msu.edu label this way: firstnameandlastname.SSfinal.TE401Questions?

What is geography?

Geography - an integrated discipline that brings together the physical and human dimensions of the world in the study of people, place, and environment focusing on the earth’s surface and the processes that shape it, the relationships between people and environments, and the connections between people and places.

Five Themes of Geography

Location: Position on earth’s surfacePlace: Physical and human characteristicsHuman-Environment relationshipsMovement: Relationship between placeRegions: How they are formed/change

Geography Centers

What are centers? A review

Planned activities that enhance and supplement class instruction

Often used as an “informal” assessment

Independent or small group focusedOften used so children can work independently while teacher works with small group

Guidelines for CentersEstablish rules  Set time limits for the centers.  Decide how many people will be allowed at each center.  Show students how to behave, properly use and pick up the centers. Rotate assignments  Decide if certain centers will be available on certain days or create a chart to decide who attends what center and when. Schedule  Decide how to incorporate centers into the classroom schedule, and decide what kind of center best complements the current instruction being taught.

*Taken from http://www.howtodothings.com/education/a2359-how-to-incorporate-centers-in-the-classroom.html

Centers using five themes of geography!Theme 1: Location – Google Earth – find the absolute and relative location of your country using Google Earth screenshots. Upload into PowerPoint

Theme 2: Place – DiscoveryAtlas on UnitedStreaming.com – distinguish physical and human characteristics

Theme 3: Human-Environment Interaction – Material World books

Theme 4: Movement— Factmonster.com the moving of people, ideas, information, and products

Theme 5: Regions— World Fact Book - how they form and change; an area with one or more common characteristics or features, which gives it a measure of homogeneity and makes it different from surrounding areas.

For next time . . .

McBee article (course pack)Skim Ch. 10 of Brophy and AllemanWeinstein & Mignano Ch.11Discussion Group Microteaching

Any readings?

Literature Circle Microteaching

Location

South Africa

South Africa: Absolute LocationRuns from 22 degrees 34 degrees S LatRuns from 16 degrees to 32 degrees E Long

South Africa: Relative LocationSouth Africa is found in the Southern tip of Africa; to the west lies the Atlantic Ocean; to the east lies the Indian Ocean; several countries border South Africa to the north: Botswana, Zimbabwe, Namibia and Mozambique

Place

South Africa

Place

PhysicalBeaches

MountainsOceans Plateaus

DiamondsGold

HumanMines

WinelandsSoweto cooling

towersRobben Island

PrisonLighthouse

Human-Environment Interaction

South Africa

Human Environment Interaction

Surfers (many world competitions) on the ocean’s beachesMining- much of central/northern South Africa is used to mine such things as diamonds, etc. that are extracted by humansVineyards – Cape Winelands produce many world renowned wines

Movement

South Africa

Movement

Region

Southern Africa

Region

Southern Africa (Sub-Saharan Africa)

The purple area shows the region of Southern Africa

RegionRegion is similar because it is south of the Sahara DesertLandforms in common: plains, mountains, plateaus from old mountain rangesSimilar wet/dry seasons and climatesSimilar natural resources – much of the region has mining, national parks, lakes, rivers, animals such as monkeys, and impalaCountries include: Lesotho, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Mozambique, Zambia, Namibia, Swaziland