Activities for October

Mapwork

It is easy to live in a place without ever really knowing it well and possible to read about a place without a sense of it in relation to others. Try these geography games to help students (and yourself) develop a sense of place and distance in tangible ways (activities are taken from CMI's Alveary Geography curriculum).

• Treasure Map: Draw (or use Legos or something similar) a map of a room in your house, your yard, or the street you live on. If you're working with others, try hiding a few things at different places in your house or neighborhood and mark them on your map. Give your map to someone else and see if they can find the treasure.
• Cardinal Directions Exploration: Prep: Find a place in your school or outside that provides enough space for pacing off steps as well as allowing for slips of paper (and a treat) to be hidden. The student will use the magnetic compass to turn toward the appropriate cardinal direction, count off the number of paces, and hunt at that location for the next written directions. Select a place of beginning, a minimum of 5 locations to hide the slips of paper and a final destination where some sort of treat/reward is hidden. Each slip of paper will have a cardinal direction and a number of paces written upon it to find the next location. To Play: Have the student stand at the starting point so that the compass is facing N. Provide the student with written directions for finding the next written directions. Have them use the compass to determine which direction to walk, and count off the appropriate number of paces, hunt for the piece of paper, and continue the journey until they find the treasure at the end of the journey.

Read

Sarojini Naidu (1879-1949) is sometimes called "The Nightingale of India" because of her beautiful lyric poetry. Enjoy these two poems depicting sights and sounds in the city of Hyderabad, India. Read the poems aloud several times. What lines strike you? Why? Perhaps draw an illustration to go with one of the poems, and find Hyderabad on your globe or in your atlas.

• Nightfall in the City of Hyderabad
• In the Bazaars of Hyderabad

View

Study this picture of a dragonfly by contemporary author and illustrator Charles van Sandwyk. Discuss the colors, the lines, the shapes, and whatever else catches your eye. How would you compare this artwork to other styles you have observed? Read more about Charles's work here (and be sure to watch the video at the bottom of the page).

Listen

Alveary students are studying Tchaikovsky in Term 2 this year, and one of Tchaikovsky's most famous pieces is his 1812 Overture. Learn a bit about the background of the piece, listen to the piece itself, and then enjoy a fun twist on it by the Melodica Men. Consider printing out a blank map of Europe and Russia as well and marking out the important locations of the French and Russian armies.