20 Best Tips

Learning About Our Country ~ the United States

The United States was the last country that we studied in our two year world geography study.  Since we were going to be doing Early American History in the upcoming year, we just did a general study to get the basics in ~ because really, there is SO much you could do!

The United States is the third largest country in the world and located on the continent of North America. There are six different regions in the US: New England, the mid-Atlantic, the South, the Midwest, Southwest, and the West.

You can view the other countries that we’ve studied from North America on my North America geography page. See the other countries that we’ve studied

Week 1 Layout

Monday

  • Introduce new song about the United States from Geography Songs
  • Use atlas and globe to locate the United States
  • Read one of our books from our bookshelf about South Africa

Tuesday

  • Review geography song
  • Learn {and review} some terms: mountain range, desert, plains
  • Independent reading from bookshelf
  • Filled out the map of the United States using our notebooking page

Mapping US

 Click on thumbnail to download pdf file

Wednesday

Thursday

Week 2 Layout

Monday

image

Click on thumbnail to download pdf file

Tuesday

Wednesday

 
Thursday

  • Review geography song
  • Summarized one of our reading books and copy summary/dication
  • Added our notebooking pages to our binder and stamped our passports!

Books To Use

 

Resources and Websites

State Notebooking Pages ~ Free Printables!!

One of my readers, Debbie from Our Cup of Tea, emailed and asked if I would be able to put together some notebooking sheets for a US state study that her family is doing ~ similar to the other geography notebooking pages that I created for our Galloping the Globe studies.

I’ve posted them on my geography resource page, but wanted to let you all know about them in case they would help you out too!

The first one is a more basic State Factsheet Notebooking page and includes space to tell the state capital, population, state flower, state bird and surrounding states. There is also room to write down information on someone famous from the state, other fun facts and famous landmarks.

State factsheet

{Click on image to download}

The second of the State Notebooking pages is also a single page, but includes clip art for all 50 states so if you have younger kids {or ones that don’t want to draw} you can use the clip art in the space provided. This notebooking page goes into a little more detail, providing room for the following info: statehood, abbreviation, capital, square miles, bordering states, state bird, flower, tree, motto, song, famous person, and fun facts.

Desktop9

{Click on image to download}

You can always find these geography notebooking pages and MANY more geography resources on the geography page of my website. I have general printables available as well as printables organized by various continents along with resources that we’ve used and loved!

Here’s a quick peek at some of the other plans and printables I have posted:

Jolanthe Signature affiliate button

O Canada! ~ Lesson Plans and Resources

Canada spans more than half of the Northern Hemisphere and is the second largest country in the world. It also has the world’s longest coastline ~ there are oceans on three sides. Canada’s lakes and rivers make up about 20% of the world’s fresh water.

The population of Canada is less than half a percent of the world’s population. The majority of Canada’s people live in the southern part of Canada and the largest cities are Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver. Canada’s two official languages are French and English.

You can view the other countries that we’ve studied from North America on my North America geography page.

Week 1 Layout

Monday

  • Introduce new song about Canada from Geography Songs
  • Use atlas and globe to locate Canada
  • Read one of our books from our bookshelf about Canada

Tuesday

  • Review geography song
  • Learn {and review} some terms: province, hemisphere, territory, bay {Hudson bay}
  • Independent reading from bookshelf
  • Filled out the map of Canada using our notebooking page

 Mapping Canada

 Click on thumbnail to download pdf file

Wednesday

  • Review geography song
  • Took a virtual tour through Canada
  • Talked about three different explorers: Leif Erickson, Jacques Cartier, and John Cabot
  • Independent reading 

Thursday

Week 2 Layout

Monday

 Flag of Canada

Click on thumbnail to download pdf file

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

  • Review geography song
  • Summarized one of our reading books and copy summary/dication
  • Added our notebooking pages to our binder and stamped our passports!

Books to Use

Resources and Websites

Off We Go to Mexico ~ Unit Study & Lesson Plans

Our first stop in our study of North America was Mexico. Mexico is three times the size of Texas and is south of the United States. The Rio Grande, the longest river in Mexico, forms the border between the US and Mexico.

Mexico has a variety of plant and animal life and also a variety of environments: desert, rainforest, wetlands, and mountains. Most of the country’s population are mestizos, people of mixed Spanish and Indian origins. During our studies we learned about the history of Mexico, tried to speak a little Spanish, did a little online sightseeing, and finished up with a yummy recipe {and one we’ll have to make again!!}.

You can view the other countries that we’ve studied from North America on my North America geography page.

Week 1 Layout

Monday

  • Introduce new song about Mexico from Geography Songs
  • Use atlas and globe to locate Mexico; read in the atlas about Mexico
  • Read one of our books from our bookshelf about Mexico

Tuesday

  • Review geography song
  • Learn {and review} some terms: gulf, river, rainforest, wetland, peninsula, coast, gulf, canyon, desert
  • Independent reading from bookshelf
  • Filled out the map of Mexico using our notebooking page

Mapping Mexico

 Click on thumbnail to download pdf file

Wednesday

Thursday

Week 2 Layout

Monday

Flag of Mexico

Click on thumbnail to download pdf file

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

  • Review geography song
  • Cooking ~ Churritos
  • Summarized one of our reading books and copy summary/dication
  • Added our notebooking pages to our binder and stamped our passports!

Books To Use

Resources and Websites

Learning About Venezuela ~ Lesson Plans and Links

Venezuela is the northernmost country of South America and a little larger than the state of Texas and Oklahoma put together. It is home to Angel Falls, the highest waterfall in the world. Venezuela is also the wealthiest nation in Latin America because of the petroleum/oil reserves that are found in the country {second in size to those in the Persian Gulf area}.

There are several different areas in Venezuela: beautiful beaches, the Andes mountains, plains {llanos}, rainforests, and the highlands {tepui}. We talked a little bit about everything this week: Columbus, the first explorer to visit Venezuela in 1498; the religion and languages of the country; Angel Falls; and Simon Bolivar, the man that led the revolt that ended the Spanish rule of Venezuela.

You can view the other countries that we’ve studied from South America on my South America geography page.

Week 1 Layout

Monday

  • Review our South America song from Geography Songs {see words below}
  • Use atlas and globe to locate the country of Venezuela; read in the atlas about Venezuela
  • Read one of our books from our bookshelf about Venezuela.

  South America

    Argentina, Venezuela and Colombia,

    Ecuador, Peru and Chile and Bolivia,

    Uruguay and Paraguay, Brazil and Guyana

    and Suriname ~

    These are the countries of South America.

    The French have French Guiana.

    The British have the Falkland Islands.

    Brazil is the biggest country and

    Chile is the longest.

Tuesday

  • Learn {and review} some terms: mountains, beaches, plains, rainforest, tabletop plateaus
  • Independent reading from bookshelf
  • Filled out the map of Venezuela notebooking page

Mapping Venezuala   Click on thumbnail to download pdf file

Wednesday

  • Review geography song
  • Talked about languages and religions of Venezuela
  • Independent reading 

Thursday

Week 2 Layout

Monday

Flag of Venezuala 

Click on thumbnail to download pdf file

Tuesday

  • Learned about Jimmy Angel and Angel Falls
  • Watched this video of Angel Falls and also this one {amazing}
  • Read together one of books from bookshelf

Wednesday

Thursday

  • Summarized one of our reading books and copy summary/dication
  • Cooking ~ Platanos Fritos
  • Added our notebooking pages to our binder and stamped our passports!

Books & Resources

 

Resources and Websites

Jolanthe Signature affiliate button

Perusing Peru ~ Lesson Plans and Links for Learning about Peru

I know…it’s a bad title. But can you blame me? :)

One of the last countries that we learned about in South America was Peru. Peru is the third largest country in South America and nearly half of the country is covered by the Amazon jungle. There are many plants and animals found in Peru that are not found anywhere else on earth. The Andes mountains also run through the country of Peru.

You can view the other countries that we’ve studied from South America on my South America geography page.

Week 1 Layout

Monday

  • Review our South America song from Geography Songs {see words below}
  • Use atlas and globe to locate the country of Peru; read in the atlas about Peru
  • Read one of our books from our bookshelf about Peru.

  South America

Argentina, Venezuela and Colombia,

Ecuador, Peru and Chile and Bolivia,

Uruguay and Paraguay, Brazil and Guyana

and Suriname ~

These are the countries of South America.

The French have French Guiana.

The British have the Falkland Islands.

Brazil is the biggest country and

Chile is the longest.

Tuesday

  • Review geography song
  • Learn {and review} some terms: mountains, mountain pass, lake, desert, rain forest, jungle
  • Independent reading from bookshelf
  • Filled out the map of Peru notebooking page

Mapping Peru  Click on thumbnail to download pdf file

Wednesday

Thursday

Week 2 Layout

Monday

Flag of Peru Click on thumbnail to download pdf file

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

  • Summarized one of our reading books and copy summary/dication
  • Added our notebooking pages to our binder and stamped our passports!

Books & Resources

 

Resources and Websites