Primary Geography Champions

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Map IT Picture IT Write IT - Course Handouts

Course handouts and the City of the Week powerpoint that were shared at my seminar (see next post below) can be accessed via the following links:

Download Course Handouts below:

1. MapIt PictureIt WriteIt - website guide

2. A Guide to creating maps using Quikmaps

3. Conversations between characters `At the skatepark'

4. A Different View:Images and Activities

5. Four senses frame (see, hear, smell, feel or touch)

6. What's in the square (Nine Number Grid)

7. City of the week PowerPoint Presentation You will need to download this presentation from the Slideshare website in order for the links to work.

`MapIT Picture IT Write IT' seminar at the 2009 TES Education Show in London

It was really good to meet everyone at my seminar session at Olympia yesterday and absolutely fantastic to meet so many people who are enthusiastic about geography. I've updated the PowerPoint and credited photographers & schools where appropriate. I'll send everyone who left me their e-mail address a copy of the PowerPoint (probably later this week) and I'll also be sending you an invitation to join the Primary Geography Champions NING - though if you don't want to wait you can click on the link above and register today. If you'd like to contact me directly my contact details are on the Geographical Association website.

The PowerPoint has been split into two halves to make the download size more manageable:

Map It Picture It Write It Part 1

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Map It Picture It Write It (Part 2)

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Japanese Anenome, Garden August 2009

Garden August 2009 Japanese Anenome, originally uploaded by wendyn56.

I'm taking a well earned rest from geography for a few weeks over the summer. I've been experiementing with close up flower shots in the garden. I thought it was time that I used a few different settings on the SLR rather than using it in program mode all of the time. I was quite pleased with some of these images so I've added them onto my Flickr site.

Starting with geography: using picture books to plan an integrated topic in the primary school

If you are looking for alternative starting points for planning an integrated topic in the primary school – then a picture book could provide a very accessible way in.  I think this particular book could provide a starting point for Year 2’s (6-7 year olds) to Year 4 or maybe even Year 5 (8 – 10 year olds).

First the book that you choose has to have a strong geographical theme running through it.  My chosen book, `What if …’ is about recycling so it fits very nicely into the theme of ESD (Environment & Sustainable Development).  This is a theme that is shared equally strongly with science and also with citizenship.  So we have a very good basis for a geography/science/citizenship integrated topic.

Now I realise that all over the land in the world of the English primary school the words `we’re delivering a skills based curriculum’ are currently `hot’ but I want to argue here for thinking about concepts.  We need to start with the `big ideas’ of a subject. 

I want to start by explaining how to do this where geography is the lead subject.   First I developed a planning grid of empty boxes with headings that focus on both geography’s `big ideas’.  In terms of `big ideas’ I want to highlight PLACE, SPACE & SCALE as being the most important for primary geography though you’ll notice in my planning grid that I’ve linked together `place & scale’ and then `location & space’.  On the exemplar sheet I’ve prioritised `environmental interaction (including ESD)’ as this is essentially what the book is about.  Though I’ve also included `interdependence & connectedness’ – two very important ideas that were largely neglected in the current English National Curriculum programmes of study for geography, and then `changing human & physical processes’ and `cultural understanding & diversity’.  On the blank planning sheet I have left the boxes under `curriculum links’ blank.  Though as I read through the text of `What if …’ I realised that the book also embraced art, science and citizenship – so I added these headings onto my sheet.

So how did I use the planning sheet?

First I read through the book and listed all of the ideas that the book suggested to me.  These are in black type.

Next I looked at these ideas and though about `activities’ and the kind of ideas that might be developed into activities and I listed these in blue type.

I haven’t done the next stage – but what I would do next is to choose three or four of these ideas/activities and  develop them into an outline for a medium term plan.

If anyone uses this idea and adapts it for use with their own class I’d love to hear how it goes.  Please add a comment or get in touch by e-mail.  You’ll find contact details on the Geographical Association website.

`What If ...' start with a book

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Using picture books to develop geographical ideas

When teaching an integrated curriculum it is important to understand how the `big ideas’ from different curriculum subject or area can contribute the developing children’s understanding of the world.

Place space and interconnectedness are three of geography’s `big ideas’.  Here they are used in conjunction with `key questions’ to help you plan the geography component of a study  starting with a picture book that has a strongly geographical theme.

Using Picture Books to develop Geographical Ideas

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Using story: `One World’ by Michael Foreman

 

One World

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