Current Events
Why reserve current events for your history classes? Start off each Geography class period with a current event news report. Find reliable online sources from each state, region, or country of study to immerse your students in the happenings from that area. And don’t worry about language barriers; just watching the images roll across the screen can be a great discussion starter on what your students think is happening in that part of the world!
Start off your current events trip around the world in Europe with Euronews!
Photo of the Day
Image analysis is one of the most critical skills for students to learn and practice. To emphasize this importance, start off each class period with the Photo of the Day. National Geographic provides these incredible photos for you online, and you can expand the lesson with further research or allow the students to apply prior knowledge to the image at hand.
Where in the World…?
Do you remember the Carmen Sandiego games? Give your students that same fun through a daily Where Are We prompt! List out characteristics of a place, or use these ready-made prompts, for a fun and engaging trip from the classroom to a new location each and every day!
Map Attack
Start off each class period with a game of darts! With a laminated wall map and a class set of sticky darts, let students enter class, throw their dart, and then quickly research the location of attack. Use my Free SPRITE handout, allowing students to add each location to each category every day of the week for a 5 location summary each week!
Music Around the World
Studies have long shown that using music in the classroom can help students learn and better retain content. With that in mind, start each day with music from the region of study. The World Music Network has a great selection of music with quick and easy access. Let students listen and then respond to the sounds of the region.
Starting off with an effective bellringer not only gives you time to take attendance and prepare the last minute needs for your lesson, it also helps to get your students in the right frame of mind for learning. And if you use fun and engaging bellringers, your students are more likely to buy into the lesson and into learning in your Geography classroom!
Happy Teaching!
Love this! Thank you.