Global Learning – travelteachlove

Going Green (Screen) In the Classroom

January 11, 2019 No Comments

Well, we officially survived the holiday season! As we ease into the swing of things returning to school I thought it would be fun to take some time to reflect on my favorite project students completed so far this school year. I talked a little about our Holidays Around the World project in my last blog post, but I didn’t get a chance to share about the projects students completed. Students had a blast learning about a country of their choice and how they celebrate the holidays there. They worked hard researching, taking notes, and writing informational paragraphs. But it […]

Social Studies

Holidays Around the World

November 30, 2018 No Comments

With the holiday season upon us there is a lot of excitement in the classroom. Students come in each day ready to tell me about their Elf that is hiding around their house, stories of baking cookies, shopping for presents and lots of other holiday traditions. At school I also have a tradition of exploring holidays around the world with students. Last year as a second grade teacher I went all out to cover the holidays. Since the seven continents are part of the social studies curriculum it was a perfect fit. I covered thirteen different countries over the course […]

Classroom Connection, Reading, Social Studies

Think Global! Retelling Stories and Folktales From Around the World

March 12, 2018 No Comments

There are so many simple ways to get students to think globally. Last week I had my students practice retelling a folktale when it came to me. Duh, if I am going to have students practice sequencing a folktale through retelling, why not add a simple question asking students to tell me where in the world the folktale originated? It was a simple one question addition to a graphic organizer that I could easily make myself. That thought was all I needed, I was off and running with more ideas. Instead of just including the question of where the folktale […]

Classroom Connection

Yard Games or Math Practice?

May 30, 2017 No Comments

Last Friday was definitely a FriYAY type of day! It all started the weekend prior when after a moment of weakness when I went to Target. I just can’t resist the dollar section! Besides picking up blow up yard dice I’d seen on several Instagram posts, I also found the most amazing wooden yard dominoes. It was just the thing I needed to create a global math game lesson. I already own Molkky (a yard game from Finland), but I bought another copy of the game from Amazon. This proved much easier than finding space in a suitcase and lugging it across the […]

Classroom Connection, Science, Social Studies, STEAM, Travel

Finland STEM Boating Challenge

April 30, 2017 No Comments

What a week back from spring break! It was go, go, go from the moment we returned. We received our eggs to hatch, students wrote a class book of poems to send off to Student Treasures to be published, we started a new unit in math on money, Thursday was poem in your pocket day, and we had boat building and a big boat race on Friday for STEM. There was a lot to be excited about but the STEM lessons were some of my favorites. We kicked off the STEM lesson with a social studies connection. I wrote a small […]

Classroom Connection, Social Studies, STEAM, Travel

Simple Machine STEAM/STEM Lesson Brings Amsterdam to Massachusetts

April 21, 2017 No Comments

With a loud and clear love for travel, it was probably no surprise to my students that I would find a clear connection between travel to another area of study, STEAM. It all started with our study of Europe. After talking about places around Europe, I gave students a small book I wrote about Amsterdam (which you can grab for free on my TpT store). The book gives general information about this major city in Europe based on my travels there. One particular section of the book, about gables on homes and buildings in Amsterdam was the link to STEAM. I still remember […]

Classroom Connection, Social Studies, Travel

Let’s Explore Asia

April 17, 2017 No Comments

Before April vacation we were able to explore two more continents, Asia and Antartica. First up, Asia. Having traveled to Thailand a few years ago with teachers, I was excited to share pictures and videos from a small section of such a large continent. In addition to that, it was fun to share the class book my student made from the year I traveled there. After learning all about Thailand, students wrote about their favorite facts creating a Student Treasures book. (Side Note: If you haven’t heard about this free student publishing company…check them out!) Bridging our study of Europe […]

Classroom Connection, Social Studies, Travel

Let’s Explore Europe

April 9, 2017 No Comments

Our classroom travel through Europe started out much the same as with North and South America. If you haven’t had a chance to read those posts, you can check them out here: North America, South America. But now, back to Europe. First we had to identify Europe on a map, read a fact sheet, and highlight important information. At this point, students knew the drill, and what to expect for the first day studying a new continent. The rest of the week brought a few new activities. First, I stumbled across a YouTube series called Travel Kids. It was a great fit to include in lessons […]

Classroom Connection, Social Studies, Travel

Seven Continent Exploration

March 14, 2017 1 Comment

We have finally reached the part of the social studies curriculum I have been dying to get to since my grade change to second grade, an in depth look at the seven continents, yay! The holidays around the world unit we did in December was a great intro to the seven continents, but now students will dive deeper into each continent. Not to mention they will get to listen to countless anecdotes of my travels (trust me they love these). My passion for travel and learning about countries could not have found a better fit. Now is the time to install a love and […]

Classroom Connection, Food

Ugly Vegetables and Fruits

November 1, 2016 No Comments

Our story for the week is called The Ugly Vegetable by Grace Lin. It focuses on a family that grows Chinese vegetables in their garden rather than flowers like the rest of their neighbors. The little girl in the story wonders why her families garden is so different from everyone else’s and calls the vegetables they grow ugly. This story prompted great discussion on diversity and how just because something is looks different doesn’t make it ugly or bad. There was a great lesson at the end when all the neighbors come to the house where the vegetables are cooked into […]