It’s already week three of classes for me, though we’ve only spent one week in our actual classrooms. Our first week focused on getting to know all the students at our grade level through rotating groups. It was a challenging but rewarding time for both students and teachers. During the second week, we started to get to know each other and cultivating our classroom culture.
This week, we’re gradually diving into content. Our first social studies lesson is a review of continents and oceans before moving on to mapping. To make this more engaging, I came up with a fun activity you can try, even as a reward or end-of-unit game.
A few Septembers ago, I found some continent and ocean puzzles at the dollar store and bought seven. The next day, I grouped my students, gave each group a puzzle, and challenged them to complete it as fast as they could, recording their times. We did it again to beat their record. It turned into a fun and interactive geography review, with students talking, laughing, discussing the maps and working together!
This year, I’ve added a printable to the activity for even more review and learning. You can download an editable version [here] to customize for your own puzzles.
Since then, I’ve created more geography games to keep things exciting. Check out these resources in my store:
What Teachers Want 