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Teaching with TrueFlix
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Let's go for a drive. Quick! Name five things you think we'll see along the way? If your list includes rivers, plains, rock formations, or striking scenes of nature, you've shown an eye for our country's diverse landforms. Some of these landforms were formed millions of years ago. Some play significant roles in our nation's history. And some will leave you speechless in awe and wonder. The TrueFlix unit on U.S. Landforms in the U.S. Regions category will bring students' attention to the geographic features that distinguish different parts of the country. By accompanying the other U.S. region units, which include the Midwest, Northeast, Southeast, Southwest, and the West, students will build a greater understanding of and appreciation for the geographic diversity present throughout our United States.
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A Multitude of Media
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The National Parks: Parks Overview, found in the Explore the Web section, from PBS is a great online resource for exploring the landforms protected and maintained by our National Park Foundation. Ten parks are featured on the main page, including the Grand Canyon and Yellowstone, but all of the nearly 400 parks in the national park system can be explored using the Park Explorer tool. Sort alphabetically or by state to locate each park or to discover something new. For example, did you know that Alcatraz Island, the location of the infamous federal penitentiary which housed Al Capone, is part of the park system and features the first lighthouse and U.S. fort on the west coast, in addition to gardens, tide pools, and bird colonies? The ten featured park listings include detailed information on the establishment of the park, historical photos, a map, and a video excerpt from Ken Burns' film The National Parks: America's Best Idea.
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Project Idea
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Turn the classic state research project on its head by participating in a Mystery Skype, a video conference call wherein your class connects with a classroom in another part of the county and students have to determine the location of the connecting class through a series of clues. Determine to what U.S. region your state belongs, then select the appropriate unit from the U.S. Regions category. Click on Explore More to locate a Scholastic GO! article about your state. Create a list as a class of 10 facts about your state, then rank them in order from broadest to most specific. A broad fact might be that your state is located east of the Mississippi River. A specific fact might be that your state borders one of the Great Lakes. Access Microsoft's Skype in the Classroom, select the Mystery Skype category, and find an educator who is interested in connecting classes. Both teachers will have knowledge of the class locations, but keeping the locations secret from the students lends itself to a high-energy game of geographic wit. Be sure to have lots of U.S. maps and atlases on hand for students to reference throughout your Mystery Skype. To provide extra support ahead of time, assign each student a different state to research and have students challenge one another to see if they can guess one another's states.
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Matthew's Tip of the Month
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 Obtain a map of your state from a local travel agency and display the map in your classroom. Explore the map with your students for different landforms of your state, then invite students to bring in photos from home of a visit to one of the landforms they identified or of a landform located elsewhere in the United States. Attach the photos to the map using a paperclip and thumbtack in order to illuminate the features found on the map with experiences shared by your students. Hang pictures from outside your state along the border of the map. Making these connections to the world outside the classroom will help to instill a greater sense of curiosity for the landforms that make up your local geography. Send a note home with students inviting families to explore their local national parks. Include a link to the U.S. Landforms video and eBook as well as a link to the The National Parks: Parks Overview website. Be sure to include a reminder that this and other topics related to U.S. regions can be accessed from home through an Internet-connected device.
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- Matthew Winner -
Library Media Specialist & TrueFlix Ambassador
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UPCOMING WEBINAR DATES
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Learn more about getting the most out of TrueFlix by attending one of our monthly online training sessions.
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We'd Love to Hear From You!
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We'd love to hear what you think of the TrueFlix newsletter! Please email us your thoughts or ideas on how we can make it even better!
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