The Surviving Social Studies Blog

Fun Geography Activity for First Week of School Using Google Slides

9/9/2020

This year, my district has switched from teaching 49-minute classes to teaching 90-minute classes. That being said, this doesn't mean that we can get through almost twice as much curriculum each day because our students are with us for longer. I teach middle school, and our students are sitting through five 90-minute classes during the two days they are in school for in person learning.

This is way more enjoyable for them than sitting and listening to the same thing class-after-class:

Rules. Rules. Rules.

This activity is one activity of many that I'm doing with students this year to help break up their day and also see how well they use technology.

The nice thing about this activity is it allows students to help each other out while still social distancing in class. In fact, this is encouraged!

I tell students, "Everyone gets stuck once in a while... so ask for help if you need help, and help someone if you know how to do what they're struggling with."

What's great about this activity is that it gives students a chance to talk with each other and solve problems together, which is something I want them doing all year long anyway! This gets that ball rolling.

I teach 8th grade, and this activity takes students about 20 minutes to do (depending on their level of expertise using Google Slides).

What's fun is that when students are done and you make the answer key available, you'll hear some laughing in class and comments like, "Oh, wow! I was WAY off on the Mississippi River!" Or, "Meh... I was pretty close on New York City."

Some students will turn their screens toward each other to show them either how close or how far away they were.

They get a chance to do something, talk to each other, and begin a bond that will hopefully grow as the year goes on.

I suggest trying the activity first so you know how to assist students. Here's the answer key slides that you can share with students when they're done.