Video:3 Activities for Teaching South American Countries

Transcript:3 Activities for Teaching South American Countries

Hello I'm Milo for About.com and today we're talking about three activities for teaching the solar system. Do these activities with the student initially together. Then as the student gains mastery, they can become independent work.

Create a Lesson Goal When Teaching South American Countries

The first step in creating any lesson activity is answering the question "what do you want the student to walk away with?" It's good to form a goal around what thinking is involved in learning the subject matter. Then voice the goal to the student so they they also can be on board. For example, a lesson objective could be: "we are going to research the countries of South America so as to distinguish a few defining characteristics that separate from each other so as to help us understand the region better."

Tips for Teaching South American Countries

For these kinds of activities it's best if the student has a learning journal or notebook on the subject. When doing the activities with the student. Make sure to model what a successful learner does. For example, you say out-loud what you are thinking as you perform the action to show how you, as a seasoned learner, are making connections: "On my mind map, I'm going to connect Brazil, with Guyana, French Guyana, the Falkland Islands, and Suriname as they all have dominate or official languages other than Spanish."

Use a Map Activity to Teach South American Countries

This is a warm-up activity for working with countries of South America. Preparation: Write the names of all the countries on small slips of paper. Put the papers in a bowl.

1. In front of a map, the student pulls one slip from the bowl.
2. The student says one fact they know about the country. As a warm up this allows the student to search their memory for anything they might now or think about the country.
3. Then the student points out the country on the map.

Review: Have the student say a couple things they are interested in learning about one of the countries.

Use a Mind Map Activity When Teaching South American Countries

In this activity the student will create a mind map of geographical data on South American countries.

1. The student starts with a list of the countries of South America and researches the same 3 simple questions about each of them. Some possibilities are:

• a. Population size
• b. Language
• c. Ethnic Population
• d. Major Industry
• e. Colonial power

2. The information can be put on index cards or in their learning journal.3. The student then creates a mind map or web with the countries. The student can write a name of country and then draw a line to another country based on its relation to the first regarding the information researched.

For instance, the student can draw connections between all countries that were former colonies, then between the largest populated countries. The connection can be color coded and the whole project can be performed in a learning journal or on a poster so as to become a wall that teaches. For review the student can discuss one particular connection between two countries.

A Game Show Activity Can Teach South American Countries

This is a review activity that can be done after working with the topic. While a playful brain break, it allows the student to think about the countries in a different way.

1. The process is simple, take a fact about a particular country that has been reviewed and turn it into a question, such as "This is the largest Portuguese-speaking country in South America."
2. Student and teacher can take turns being the host and contestant.
3. Successful answers are written down in the learning journal.

Tips for Ending Lessons on South American Countries

At the end of every lesson, review if or to what extent the student reached the goal and celebrate that. If you did not reach the whole goal, you have something to focus on next time. These lessons can be scaffolded up or down and returned to for further learning.

For more information and helps on teaching, check us out at About.com.