© Hawaii Geographic Alliance. July, 2000.
A BOOK IS A WINDOW TO THE WORLD Purpose This is a series of library lessons for second graders that combines geography, literature, and research skills. It is called "A Book is a Window to the World." The students will hear literature selections that have settings in specific places in the world. They will identify and locate the continents and oceans, describe the story settings using physical and human characteristics, and answer geographic questions using non-fiction books, encyclopedias, and atlases. It is not a multicultural study. It is to give the kids a sense of place to help them understand and appreciate what they read. It is to give them a framework on which to attach future geographic learning. It is for second graders, but it could be simplified for first graders. For third to fifth graders, the questions could be of a higher level and the research and writing more complex. Primary Question What are the physical and human characteristics of a particular place? Secondary Questions What are the seven continents and four oceans and where are they located on the Earth? Where is the equator, North Pole, South Pole, Northern Hemisphere and Southern Hemisphere? Geographic Skills Acquire geographic skills Answer geographic questions Geographic Themes Location Place Geographic Standards, Hawaii Standards, Benchmarks, and Performance Indicators See attached chart. (Standard.pdf) Materials Needed Fiction and non-fiction books about specific places on the Earth. See
Bibliography.- (biblio2.pdf) Large world map Pictures of the places and artifacts for matching game Easy encyclopedias Atlases Worksheets to accompany stories. (See attached sample - antarc.pdf.) Assessment worksheets (See attached - assessm.pdf.) Glue and crayons Vocabulary continent, ocean, equator, North Pole, South Pole, Northern Hemisphere, Southern Hemisphere, physical characteristics, human characteristics Procedure
Lesson One--Introduce continents and oceans by reading Hottest Coldest Highest Deepest by Steve Jenkins. Students color in the world map with one color for oceans and another color for continents. Introduce the atlas and the Student Discovery Encyclopedia.
Lessons Two-Eight--Read a book with a story set in a distinctive place. Students describe the setting using physical and human characteristics. They answer a geographic question using the atlas, encyclopedia, or non-fiction book.
Grade 2
March 2001 (rev.)
See attached (storyset.pdf) The first six will be done together. The seventh one will be done by each student and used later for the assessment.
Lesson Nine--Review continents and oceans by reading Blast Off to Geography by Loreen Leedy. Play riddle game where they are asked to match a story setting with a real place on the Earth. Use pictures of story settings and photographs of the real place.
Lessons Ten and Eleven--Assessment (See attached - assessm.pdf.)
Assessment
The attached worksheets are the performance indicators listed on the Standards chart. Each has a rubric for evaluation.
© Hawaii Geographic Alliance. July, 2000.