Education 3503: Language in Education Booktalk Activity Plan

Kyla Sacrey October 19, 2017

Cross Curricular Activity Plan

Title: How I Learned Geography

Author / Illustrator: Uri Shulevitz
Year: 2008
Publisher: Douglas & McIntyre Ltd.

Grade 3 General Learner Outcomes:

Social Studies: Students will demonstrate an understanding and appreciation of how geographic,
social, cultural and linguistic factors affect quality of life in communities in India, Tunisia,
Ukraine and Peru. (GLO 3.1)

English Language Arts: Students will listen, speak, read, write, view and represent to
comprehend and respond personally and critically to oral, print and other media texts. (GLO 1)

Specific Learner Outcomes:

Social Studies:
3.1.2 examine the social, cultural and linguistic characteristics that affect quality of life in
communities in other parts of the world by exploring and reflecting upon the following
questions for inquiry:
(i)What determines quality of life? (CC)
(ii)How does daily life reflect quality of life?

English Language Arts:

1.1 - Discover and Explore: Express ideas and develop understanding - connect prior
knowledge and personal experiences with new ideas and information in oral, print and other
media texts

Objective: Students will make connections to and/or highlighting differences between their
personal lives in Canada and the reality represented in Uri Shulevitzs How I Learned
Geography in order to demonstrate an understanding of quality of life.
Education 3503: Language in Education Booktalk Activity Plan
Kyla Sacrey October 19, 2017

Summary:

How I Learned Geography is a non-fiction picture book about a young boy and his family who
lost everything and had to flee their home because of war. When the boy and his family arrive in
their new home, they do not have food, toys, or friends nearby. One day, the boys father brings
home a map that gives their clay house some much needed colour. The boy comes to love the
map because it takes him to far away places without him ever leaving his home.

Description:

1. Invite your students to the reading area in your classroom and read the book out loud. While
reading, ask students how they think the main character feels in his new home. This will get
students thinking about the realities of others.
Prior to this lesson, see this website at Learn Alberta for some ideas on lessons that would
be useful before this one in defining quality of life.

2. Have a discussion with students about the positive and negative feelings that contribute to
quality of life. For the purposes of this story, you should emphasize access to at least two main
things: food and education. In the story, the boys lack of access to food means a decrease in
quality of life. However, even though he does not have access to formal schooling, the education
that he receives from the map makes him happy. This shows that education leads to an increase
in quality of life.

3. Ask students to talk about other things that could influence the characters quality of life. This
will include negative things like, living with a large number of people in a small space, homes
made of clay and camel dung, or no access to entertainment (such as toys). It can also include
positive things like family connections and access to (some) education, like the map. Talk about
how different things will effect the protagonists positive or negative feelings and how these
relate to his quality of life. This can include discussion on any of the following:
Food and water Schooling / literacy
Clothing and shelter Access to transportation
Friends and family Entertainment
Job or source of income to buy Safety
necessities Health care

Get students to compare the protagonists reality to their own. This encourages personal response
(ELA outcome) and connection to ideas of quality of life (Social Studies outcome).
Education 3503: Language in Education Booktalk Activity Plan
Kyla Sacrey October 19, 2017

4. As an activity, have students complete a worksheet either in writing or in drawing that

compares their every day life to the protagonists life. A sample worksheet is attached at the
bottom of this plan. By allowing students to draw the bulk of their response, it ensures fairness
for kids who are ESL or who struggle with writing.

Sponge Activity: If students finish their worksheet rather quickly, you could also have them draw
a photo of their city the way the protagonist might see it on his map. This will allow for further
personal connections and can reinforce ideas of community that are taught in social studies in
earlier grades.

Assessment: Students should be assessed formatively through the discussion phases of this
activity. If your students do not seem to understand the meaning of quality of life, your class
may benefit from doing some of the quality of life activities that were linked in step one. Once
students are responding appropriately to discussion and are making personal connections, they
are ready to move on to the worksheet. The worksheet can be assessed summatively. Assess
students on how they explain the connection to quality of life, and whether or not they can make
a personal connection. As long as discussion is well guided during and after the book reading,
and quality of life has been previously defined and understood, students will easily succeed.

Reflection:
Reading this book to your grade three students would be a great way to introduce not
only the diversity of places on the map, but the diversity of other realities as well. Kids can get a
sense of some of the injustices that take place in war-ridden countries, which will build ideas that
are key to global citizenship and quality of life. Not only that, but it is a wonderful opportunity
for children who may be refugees to see themselves represented in a book character. While the
protagonist is initially sad and unfamiliar with his new home, he comes out of it with a positive
experience. This would be a wonderful message to pass along to the students in your class who
may not be feeling at home.
Even though the book takes place in WWII, there are still a lot of refugee crises affecting
the world today, and were bound to have children in our classes that are, at the very least, not
native to Canada. It is really important that we make our classrooms inclusive for them, and
reading How I Learned Geography would be a great way to introduce some concepts, while
making them feel more understood. In doing all of these things we are also teaching our students
that there is value in the feelings and connections we make when reading.
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NOTE: This activity plan draws some inspiration from the following resources:

Learn Alberta. (2014). The most important factors. Retrieved from https://www.learnalberta.ca/content/
ssoc3/html/mostimportantfactors_cc.html.

Quality of life compare and contrast activity. (n.d.) Retrieved from http://www.ninjaplans.com/resources/
75/Quality-of-Life-Compare-and-Contrast-Activity, found on Pinterest.
 Name: ____________________

Quality of Life Comparison

What do I notice about the boy in the book? How does it compare to my life?

How is my quality of life different from the boy in the book?

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