Though I love teaching geography (and Steiner said it is the most important subject) I also find it quite challenging. There are so many options — so many different directions a person could go with it. As a result, each week I have a pretty good idea of what parts of the country I want to cover, but pulling together the stories for each part has been quite time-consuming.
For this block — our final block of the year — it’s been especially so.
First, we covered the Puget Sound area — where we took our trip to the Olympiad. Story content included:
- Lewis and Clark
- Captain George Vancouver
I could have also included the native people there, though much of the Native American content was brought last year in fourth grade.
Then, we moved on to the Great Plains. Story content included the following:
- Cowboys
- The Pony Express
This week I’m planning on telling the story of Chief Sitting Bull and the Battle of Little Bighorn.
I’m hoping to go into California a bit the following week, including the missions and the Gold Rush. Last time around I also brought the Grand Canyon, but we’ll see if that happens this time.
Geography really requires the teacher to reach into the depths of her intuition and find what would be most compelling for her students. We’re doing lots of map-making, drawing and painting, as well.
It is challenging to have such a labor-intensive block at this point in the year, as we have so many other things to finish up.
At least we’re busy as the year comes to a close!
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