Finding the Help You Need For Teaching Geography

Organization to Help You Find What You Need

There are so many of you that are classroom teachers short on time (and energy), so I wanted to write a series of posts just for you! In them you will find links to everything I can think you may need. I plan to add in links and resources as I find them, so feel free to email me and ask for additions!

To best organize these posts, I’m going to sort by Social Studies subject area. At the end, I will add in resources that cross the curriculums or can be helpful in any classroom. I truly hope these posts will help you teach with less stress in your classroom!

World Geography Links & Resources

World Geography became my favorite class to teach. For one, I loved the freedom from the strict timeline I had to teach in my U.S. and World History classes. But more importantly, teaching World Geography helped me travel to new destinations every day! And I got to take my students with me without the stress of a field trip abroad!

Great Websites for Teaching (or Learning) Geography

Sheppard Software – This will always be my favorite for student engagement. The easy to play games really help students learn basic geography. It’s divided by region and student can compete with time and percentage correct.
CIA World Factbook – This is a great hidden gem. There is so much data, and it is updated often to give you a great view of topics like government economics, religions, and more as related to world geography.
National Geographic – Forever my favorite for visual representations of physics and human geography, Nat Geo has both adult and kids sites for the study of Geography.
World Atlas – This is your basic atlas in an online version. It’s easy to navigate and students can find tons of great information with easy searches.
GIS Geography – You’ll find very detailed (and scientifically correct) maps for student analysis at GIS. These are great for upper grades and those with specific topics of study related to geography.
Fact Monster – This one is more for younger students, but it still has great statistical data that’s easy to process. It’s great for student projects that require the basic facts.
Digital Atlas Project – This site is great for everything Geography. The maps are clear and concise and the site is fairly easy to navigate.
Even More Great Websites for Geography – This is an older posts with even more great links for teaching Geography. It has sites for learning, practice, and research for all ages.

Great Strategies for Teaching Geography

Travel Travel Travel! Geography is all about learning more on the people and places of our world, so teach as though you are taking a big, year long trip! Student will be more engaged now, but more importantly, they will be more curious about the world. You may even encourage some to become world travelers when they grow up!

Use pictures – This is my absolute strategy for teaching Geography. I started lessons with my own travel pictures and asked students to tell me what they saw. Simple, everyone can participate, and it draws them in for the bigger lessons.
Travel with Walking Tours or Gallery Walks – this strategy has been around forever, but it is a great one. Especially for Geography classes. It fits the theme, but also allows you to cover large amounts of content with ease.
Use Google Maps and Zoom – This was another of my students favorite things to do. I used it mostly for time filler lessons (testing days or other school events). We just picked locations and zoomed to see what we could find. Curiosity is a great motivator!
Centers or Stations – These are not just for younger students. Even middle and high school students will engage if they get to build regional structures with cookies or set up topographical maps with everyday ingredients (sand, pebbles, beans…).
More Strategies – I’ve written tons of posts over the years on teaching strategies. These will guide you through bellringers, games, and so much more to keep your lessons content-filled and engaging!

Great Resources for Teaching Geography

Here I’m going to promote just a bit! I worked for years to develop my Full Geography Course and it is my pride and joy! I update it as changes are needed and I’ve recently added in Google Drive ready resources for extension learning. And the best part is that everything is included in one big bundle.

In the full course, you will find:

A comprehensive curriculum map that lays out the units in a way that helps you plan for the full year.
Individual unit plans that guide you through the daily planning with suggested bellringers, resources, and exit prompts.
Resources to take you through every region and throughout the entire school year.
Unit tests and study guides to help you assess student learning.
Extension lessons to help engage all learners and to add in a little fun here and there!

One Final Note

For those of you who already use my resources, you know I am a hands-on creator. I love creating curriculum and working with teachers and students. Need a resource? I want to know! Do you need help with one of my resources? Please contact me! If you see needed updates or have ideas for changes, please send me a suggestion!

I started teaching in an era where our only resource was an outdated textbook. That’s what led me to start creating my own resources. Now I can add in more current events, more updated data, and more relevant tactics for engaging or students. And now, in a world where teaching is now so much more (paperwork, meetings, etc.), I hope I can help take the stress off by creating resources you can easily implement in your classroom. Your way!

You can always reach me at Michele@Micheleluckssocialstudies.com and I try to be very responsive. Please feel free to reach out with any questions or concerns. I’m here to help!