I originally was going to do a holiday themed post about the best gifts a geography teacher could get, but then Kristi Reinke asked the question of how to spend $100 for her class.
Here are some ideas that would go perfect in a #worldgeochat classroom.
Fantasy Geopolitics – Started by worldgeochat friend, Eric Nelson, this is a game that to be honest, shocked me. I didn’t think that 7th graders would want to be involved in a fantasy league for news junkies, but I was wrong. I explained the game to students saying, “the more your country gets mentioned in the news, the better your score is,” and that was all it took.
On draft day, students who had done very little work throughout the entire year came with yellow note pads and countries ranked from 1-150. There were audible “awww!” and much quieter “darn” (or the less PG version of it) when countries that they thought only they knew about were picked up.
For the season, my students were news hawks. Checking headlines every morning. Picking up “lesser known” countries. Trying to pull one over on their classmate and trading a country that had been in the news but wouldn’t be any more for an up and comer. Fantasy Geopolitics is a great activity for your students!
Sounds Around the World – A worldgeochat original, Jason Baker developed this game to get students to appreciate the diverse music that comes from all over the world. Imagine Jeopardy, but only with sound clues. It is a great way to get students to talk to each other. Have them divide up into teams, play a clip, and give them 30 seconds to come up with a team answer. Watching students attempt to guess regions and subregions is something to behold.
I worried that students would remember every location when we played it again, but true to their form, my 7th graders were like a blank slate when we played it a second time. It’s a perfect activity on a day where you just need something a little different from the norm!
Books
I’ve said this a million times in #worldgeochat, a picture is worth a thousand words. If you want your students to be hooked, get them books that show pictures of places around the world.
One warning here. Be aware of the danger of the single story. Show your students at least a piece of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Ted Talk so they realize that a picture from Kenya doesn’t represent all of Kenya and more than a picture from any place in the United States represents off of this country.
Books I own and would recommend to every geography teacher:
Material World: A Global Family Portrait – this is the book that most geography teachers know. It shows families and their homes from all over the world.
Hungry Planet: What the World Eats – this is also from Peter Menzel and captures families and their food.
Where Children Sleep – this one shows the “bedrooms” of children around the world. Remember – it’s a single story of a place!
Toy Stories: Photos from Children Around the World and Their Favorite Things – this one is exactly as the title describes it.
Books that are on my wish list:
Off to Class: Incredible and Unusual Schools Around the World
This is How We Do It: One Day in the Lives of Seven Kids
worldgeochat 
Love the links! Thanks!
If you know a classroom that needs Fantasy Geopolitics sponsorship outside of school, point them to http://www.allstars.fanschool.org/sponsorteacher where a parent or community member can sponsor one year of an annual subscription for half the cost.
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One program that I love using in my social studies classes is called Storyboard That. It allows your students to create their own digital storyboards (like comic strips). There are many ways you can use it and most middle schoolers love it.
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I’ll have to look into this! Thanks Caleb!
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