It is SO fun to teach students about geography. For primary kids, the world feels huge. Just their town feels big enough. So when you start teaching about all of the continents across the world, it can be hard for them to fully understand!
We get the job as teachers of making this huge concept more concrete. Today, I have three ways to turn a unit about the seven continents into concrete, engaging learning!
Fact Sheets & Posters
I like to introduce a large unit with a series of foundational lessons. These opening lessons cover the basic information students need to know to fully understand the skill. Without some introductory lessons about each continent, students can’t participate in art projects or interactive books later on.
So, I introduce each continent through a series of slideshows, fact sheets, and posters. These tools give students all of the information they need about each continent!
Each of these PowerPoint/Google Slideshows have stunning photos and interesting facts! And there’s even a fun little “quiz” at the end! You can read more about these fun digital slideshows here!
Interactive Booklets & Spinners
I am a big believer in working in hands-on learning as much as possible! This reaches those learners who may not understand the information as well when they simply had to listen or read. I love using interactive booklets to get students writing about the information they see throughout the unit.
Along with the booklets, I have my students summarize their learning through a spinner activity. Students spin the wheel to reveal different facts about each continent. This is a great way to review all of the information from a large continents unit and share it with others easily.
Take a peek at a few more pictures in this blog post!
Seven Continents Art Projects
After all of the teaching comes the application! Art projects and crafts are a great way to get students immersed in everything they just learned. In my continents bundle, each continent includes two crafts for students to complete.
These make great end-of-study projects. Plus, these crafts are where the engagement really comes in! Pair these with some games from the continents {which are also included in the continent bundle}, and your students will have an absolute blast!
Are you ready to combine these three ideas to create the greatest continents unit ever? I have everything you need to get started – the Digital Slideshows + Hands-On resources! All seven continents come with the same pieces. So, you can structure your lessons similarly over the course of your entire unit. For each continent, you will receive:
• Continent Poster
• Fact Sheet
• Resource List (suggested books & website links)
• Word Search
• Two crafts (art projects, instruments, puzzles, etc)
• Two games or activities played by children of the continent
• Around the World Continent Spinner
Opening your students’ eyes to the world around them can be exciting! This unit will make the planning easy, so you can focus on the teaching.
Want a free Continent Word Search to kick off this unit!
