Geography

Paddle-to-the-Sea

Author(s): 
Holling Clancy Holling
Copyright: 
1941
Subject(s): 
Geography
Setting: 
United States
Grade / Age level: 
All ages
Resource Type: 
Picture Books
Review: 
Paddle-to-the-Sea is a one-of-a-kind story about a little carving of an Indian in a canoe that is sent off from North of Lake Superior in Canada for a four-year trek through each of the Great Lakes, through the St. Laurence River and finally into the Atlantic Ocean. Beautifully written and fabulously illustrated, the story takes readers on an in-depth (and rather lengthy!) story of the Great Lakes region told through the "eyes" of an inanimate wooden toy as it encounters all kinds of weather, wild animals, helpful people, a forest fire, and much more. It may sound like a strange premise, but it works, and all of my children have been enchanted with the story, though it may help that, living in the Great Lakes region, a number of the places are quite familiar to us. In addition to colorful illustrations of various locations from the story, the text is often surrounded with smaller maps and technical illustrations of locks and various geographical features of the region. We've found this to work best as a read-aloud as the sheer length tends to be intimidating to the younger set. It's probably a good hour of reading.
Reviewed by: 
Alicia Van Hecke
First reviewed: 
3-2-2009

Pele, King of Soccer / Pele, El rey del Futbol

Book cover: Pele King of Soccer
Author(s): 
Monica Brown
Illustrator(s): 
Rudy Gutierrez
Number of pages: 
40 pages
Copyright: 
2009
ISBN: 
9780061227806
Publisher: 
Harper Collins
Binding: 
Softcover
Subject(s): 
Geography
Grade / Age level: 
Preschool
Grades K-2
Resource Type: 
Picture Books
Review: 

This week I want to post about one of my country's heroes... Pele, King of Soccer.

Warm illustrations full of movement tell the story of the world's genius of soccer from his humble beginnings to his post professional carer as an ambassador for the world's most popular and well-loved sport.

I am naturally skeptical when picking up a book that has to do with my own origins: this colorful and friendly volume surpassed my expectations and took me back to my country inside its originally illustrated pages! A great choice for when you are doing an elementary school level unit study on Brazil and needing a picture book.

The book is bilingual and while I wish it were in Portuguese, Brazil's language, it will serve Spanish students well.

Reviewed by: 
Ana Braga-Henebry
First reviewed: 
April 02, 2009

The Global Puzzle

Book cover: 'The Global Puzzle'
Copyright: 
2003
Publisher: 
A Broader View
Subject(s): 
Geography
Grade / Age level: 
Grades 3-5
Grades 6-8
Resource Type: 
Puzzles and Games
Review: 
This inexpensive (approximately $15) jigsaw puzzle provides an easy and fun way to learn World Geography. Pieces are cut along country borders (although larger countries are split into pieces). Colors are simple and continents, oceans, countries and capitals are clearly marked. A few of the smaller countries are joined together in one piece. Canada is broken up into pieces cut along the province borders. The United States is broken up into pieces composed of one or two states each.

You might think the oceans would be diffcult to assemble given the vast areas they cover. Well, they thought this through pretty well. The ocean pieces connect with traditional jig-saw shapes (except for island pieces). Even better, they are printed with information about each of the countries of the world - in alphabetical order - in order to easily identify the general area they belong in. If you start by piecing together the border and then the oceans, the country pieces will stay together quite nicely. A nice picture of the map on the box makes a very helpful reference.

My nine-year-old son and I really enjoyed assembling this puzzle over the course of two days. Because of the amount of information on each piece (country, size, shape, etc) it is much easier to assemble than a standard jigsaw puzzle with the same number of pieces (There are just a few pieces that you will need to identify simply by color and shape - both in the ocean and in a few of the very large countries). The puzzle is recommended for ages eight and up. Children younger than eight might be frustrated by the coordination needed to work with some of the smaller pieces. Some of my younger children (as young as five) did enjoy helping put together the border pieces.

A great value and highly recommended!

Additional notes: 

600 pieces jigsaw puzzle, completed size 36" x 18"

Reviewed by: 
Alicia Van Hecke
First reviewed: 
4-5-05

The Librarian Who Measured the Earth

Book cover: 'The Librarian Who Measured the Earth'
Author(s): 
Kathryn Lasky
Number of pages: 
48 pages
Copyright: 
1994
Publisher: 
Little Brown Publishing
Binding: 
Sewn Hardcover
Subject(s): 
Biographies
Geography
Scientists
Setting: 
Ancient Greece
Grade / Age level: 
Grades 3-5
Review: 
This is a fascinating story, told for children and fully illustrated (beautiful full color pictures with interesting and at times humorous details) of the Greek Scientists, Mathematician and Astronomer - Eratosthenes. (Don't worry - the author does help you to pronounce the name). Eratosthenes was born in the 3rd century B.C. in the country we now call Libya to Greek parents. There he was educated in the classical Greel tradition and developed a keen interest in the world around him. As a young man he was sent to Athens to study where he became known as a scholar and historian. At 30 he was appointed tutor to the son of the King Ptolemy II of Egypt and so he settled in Alexandria. He became involved in the great Library at Alexandria where he eventually became head librarian. In this setting he worked on his most famous problem - attempting to calculate the circumference of the earth. The book takes us through the process he went through in solving the problem and illustrates the events and concepts involved in a way that can be grasped by young children (early gradeschool and up - although my preschoolers enjoyed the book without fully grasping all the details). The story is particularly interesting because his calculations were within 200 miles of our present day figures.

We enjoyed this book very much - the content is great and the illustrations are very nice. It would make a fine supplement for Greek History and encompasses a bit of Math and Science as well. The reading level is more challenging than your average picture book (perhaps 4th grade level) but it could be read aloud to younger children.

Reviewed by: 
Alicia Van Hecke
First reviewed: 
9-13-2000

The Scrambled States of America

The Whimsical, Mad-Dashing, Geography Game
Book cover: 'The Scrambled States of America: The Whimsical, Mad-Dashing, Geography Game'
Copyright: 
2002
Publisher: 
Gamewright
Subject(s): 
Geography
Setting: 
United States
Grade / Age level: 
Grades 6-8
Elementary
Resource Type: 
Puzzles and Games
Review: 
The Scrambled States of America is based on a book of the same name by Laurie Keller. It involves making geography fun for young children through a story in which the states get mixed up and need to be put back in order. You don't need to know the story to enjoy the game, however.

The games involves two decks of cards - a state deck and a "scramble" deck. Players bring states "home" by following instructions on the "scramble" deck. These instructions involve things like: the state's color, letters or words found in the nickname, states that border that state and how many syllables in the capital. There are two levels of play. For younger children, anyone with a state matching the instructions on the "scramble" deck gets to bring that state "home." Older children can play a fast-paced version in which the first one to find a qualifying state gets to bring it "home."

The illustrations are a little "goofy" (each state is drawn with a face on it), but we found that our four children capable of playing (in our case, ages 5 1/2 through 12) enjoyed the game very much at their appropriate levels. I think the children practice valuable skills - searching for states on their maps, identifying attributes and learning about syllables (to name just a few).

You know it's a good game when children and adults both enjoy playing it!!!

Additional notes: 

Copyrights 2002-2005

For 2 to 4 players, ages 8 and up.

Two card decks with a simple 8 1/2 x 11 paper map for each player

Reviewed by: 
Alicia Van Hecke
First reviewed: 
10-29-05

Trans Europa

A Tactical Track-building Game
Book cover: 'Trans Europa: A Tactical Track-building Game'
Copyright: 
2005
Publisher: 
Winning Moves Deutschland/Rio Grande Games
Subject(s): 
Geography
Setting: 
Europe
Grade / Age level: 
Grades 6-8
Elementary
Resource Type: 
Puzzles and Games
Review: 
Our family enjoys Geography very much (especially my 10 year old son) and so new Geography games are always a welcome addition to our curriculum and/or learning environment.

Trans Europa has a European map gameboard on which you connect major cities (chosen from the card deck) with "train tracks." It can be played on a simple level by younger children (the recommendation is 8 and up) but can involve rather complex strategies as well.

Each round takes only a few minutes (5 to 10 at the most) and several rounds combine to form an entire game. (There is a simple scoring system alongside the board used through an entire game.)

The materials are of good quality, nice colors and easy to sort out. We thought it was particularly interesting that the pronunciation and spelling of many of the cities are not those commonly used in the U.S. It might be beneficial to have a map of Europe on the wall with which to compare names and identify the country each city is located in.

Highly recommended!

Additional notes: 

Recommended for ages 8 and up, For 2 to 6 players

Game Board with cards and small wooden playing pieces

Reviewed by: 
Alicia Van Hecke
First reviewed: 
10-31-05

Catholic Heritage Curricula Lesson Plans: Third Grade - Supplements

Book cover: 'Catholic Heritage Curricula Lesson Plans: Third Grade - Supplements'
Subject(s): 
Geography
Reading Comprehension
Lesson Plans
the Holy Rosary
Grade / Age level: 
Third Grade
Review: 

The supplements are carefully woven into the third grade lesson assignments, but for those who prefer not to use the lesson plans the supplements alone could easily be used for enrichment and would make purchasing the plans worthwhile. For example the book report supplements contain clear guidelines for helping young students write book reports, a checklist to help the student in their efforts, creative ideas for written reports or oral reports and hands-on project reporting. There are over 20 beautifully illustrated forms to be used for writing the reports or keeping track of books that have been read. These are not the normal squares and circle forms on the market, but are ruled pages containing illustrated borders depicting Victorian, Catholic and nature scene which would appeal to the eyes of both children and adults. Book report books comparable in length sell for about $6.99.

In addition to the book report supplement, the plans include a series of reading comprehension pages. Once again the pages are visually attractive to the student and they focus on questions designed to encourage beginning literary analysis as well as the usual comprehension type questions. These pages are based on three outstanding books: Catholic Tales for Boys and Girls, More Catholic Tales for Boys and Girls, The Little Apostle on Crutches. Almost 50 pages in length, this supplement is comparable to workbooks that sell for about $8.99 with the added feature that they are Catholic and clever in their design.

"At the Feet of Mary: Holy Rosary Project." is the most beautiful introduction to the rosary that I have seen. It is designed as a hands-on project to bring the faith to life. Each week the child focuses on a different mystery through discussion, readings from a lovely description of a child's trip to shrines, the coloring of gorgeous illustrations that form part of a prayer book and meditations that are clearly explained. The prayer book that the child makes includes illustrations that will touch the heart of a child because they depict the Mysteries as seen through the eyes of a child. At the end of this 5 week project the child has produced a gorgeous prayer book. This supplement is 65 pages long and nothing on the market even remotely compares to the depth and beauty found in this project, but books on meditating, understanding the rosary and illustrations on the rosary combined would stand at about $15.95.

The fourth supplement focuses on geography and is entitled "Tour a Country." It includes both a general plan for the study of any country, as well as nine sets of four week plans for studying specific countries. (i.e., 36 week course covering nine specific countries.) The instructions are easy to follow and have a Catholic world view. The pages themselves are beautifully illustrated and the activity pages are sure to please the children. We have been using a "Countries of the World" activity book that cost $15.99, but will be switching to the "Tour a Country" supplement as the activities are more interesting and the study approach is more focused and logical as well as Catholic.

Finally, there are: monthly planners and certificates which could be used for any grade or program; thirty pages devoted to the teaching of third grade which answers home schooling questions as well as teaching independence; a dozen pages of memory gems and how to use them; illustrated chore and virtue charts Similar books covering home schooling helps, charts and poetry together would cost at least $12.99 If one were to buy books that covered the material contained in each of the four supplements the cost would be over $50.00 but the books wouldn't be Catholic in approach or presented in a way that allows the home school mother to efficiently teach the subject. For the family that home schools using material other then those published by CHC it is clear that the supplements alone make the plans well worth the price. You won't be disappointed. (365 pages of lesson plans and supplements cost $38.95 from CHC)

Reviewed by: 
Andrea Chen
First reviewed: 
4-29-04

CHC Lesson Plan Guide: Middle School Years

Book cover: 'CHC Lesson Plan Guide: Middle School Years'
Number of pages: 
308 pages
Copyright: 
2005
Publisher: 
Catholic Heritage Curricula
Binding: 
Spiralbound
Subject(s): 
History
Science
Geography
Lesson Plans
Virtues
Grade / Age level: 
Grades 6-8
Fifth Grade
Review: 

I have just finished planning the school year for my 5th and 8th graders using the new CHC Lesson Plan Guide for the Middle School Years, and I have never had such a productive and enjoyable time of it! Normally, I like to plan, but there never seemed to be enough time or information in one place to do it effectively or efficiently. I prefer a customized curriculum for each of my students, emphasizing their particular interests while shoring up their weaker subjects. With six students alongside little ones, planning the school year's curriculum is a very time-consuming process. CHC has made all the difference for me this year.

The Lesson Plan Guide is just that–-a complete guide to designing your student's studies for each of the middle school (grades 5-8) years. There is structure within flexibility, and many options to appeal to a diversity of students with different gifts and talents. This is not a "school-in-a-box" that you can open and immediately put to work. You will need to spend a few hours for each grade level, looking over the courses that are detailed for you, and considering your student. But, this investment of a few hours will provide you, as the teacher, with a firm overview of the path you will take to meet the goals at the other end of the school year. Having that "big picture" helps tremendously when motivation lags. Using the CHC Lesson Planner (reviewed elsewhere) will simplify this customization further as they were designed to be used together.

Each of the four years is laid out with a plan for core subjects, non-core and elective subjects, enrichment materials, and parent resources. Sample schedules for each grade level are provided as an example of a balanced workload for a typical student. Unique to CHC are the Independent Study Charts that show the student which material he should be able to work on without direct teaching. Six detailed hands-on student courses are provided for up-to-date, beautiful Catholic textbooks in the areas of history, virtues, and Church history. As if that weren't enough value for the money, the Guide also offers wonderful teacher resources that provide the "what-you-need-to-know-to-teach" writing, science, and world history at these grade levels. Several authors contributed these resources, and the different approaches to these subjects are refreshing in their variety.

CHC has managed to produce a wonderful plan for middle-grade students that features the best characteristics that we have come to expect from them:

  • do-able projects that the children both anticipate and cheerfully complete;
  • a unique hands-on approach to most subjects that truly engage the student on several levels;
  • an underlying structure that the teaching parent becomes familiar with as the year goes on;
  • a progression in critical thinking, the ability to work independently for longer periods, and solid academics at a comfortable pace as the years pass.
All in all, this book is one of the best investments available for a Catholic homeschooling family who prefers to individualize their student's curriculum, within limits, while providing a thoroughly Catholic education utilizing multiple methods of learning

This book contains:

Planning Guides:

  • Fifth Grade: (18 pages)
  • Sixth Grade: (18 pages)
  • Seventh Grade: (18 pages)
  • Eighth Grade: (20 pages)
Hands-On Student Courses:

  • 5th Grade From Sea to Shining Sea Hands-On Study Guide (9 pages)
  • 6th Grade All Ye Lands Hands-On Study Guide (9 pages)
  • 7th Grade "The Virtue Tree" Student Course (44 pages)
  • 7th Grade "Timeline of the Republic" Guide (19 pages)
  • 8th Grade: 2000 Years of Christian History Study Guide (12 pages)
  • 8th Grade: "Timeline of the Ages" (19 pages)
Teacher Resources:

  • "Jump Start Your Writing" (26 pages)
  • "Science in a Nutshell" (24 pages)
  • "World History Timeline" (46 pages)
Perspective: 
Catholic
Reviewed by: 
Susan Kalis
First reviewed: 
8-23-05

How We Learned the Earth is Round

Book cover: How We Learned the Earth is Round
Author(s): 
Patricia Lauber
Illustrator(s): 
Megan Lloyd
Number of pages: 
32 pages
Copyright: 
1990
ISBN: 
9780064451093
Publisher: 
Harper Collins
Binding: 
Softcover
Subject(s): 
Earth Science
Geography
Grade / Age level: 
Elementary
Resource Type: 
Picture Books
Review: 

A history and science picture book that covers the development of man's understanding of the shape of the earth focusing on the discoveries of the Greeks and on the voyages of Christopher Columbus and Magellan. Currently out-of-print.

Reviewed by: 
Alicia Van Hecke
First reviewed: 
4-5-01

Pages