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I found Bavidge's article hard to read and confusing. Your take on the article truly helped  me understand what her point of view is on children literature and urban lifestyle. I understand the view that it literature in an urban setting is not based on the child's perspective.
-McLean

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I like how you were able to break down this difficult read by going into each of her points individually. Breaking it down to where the author was coming from really helped me digest this article. I agree with you about the five themes of geography. They are an awesome tool to help students learn a lot of relatable information about a topic.

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I like how you made the point of children learn about different places around them through the books and items we use to teach them with. Your points really helped to break down the article for me. I also liked your points about the five themes of geography. They can be a lot to digest but they show us the whole picture of a place.

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Your explanation of the other frameworks was so much easier for me to understand than the article was. The relation of all the themes is a strength I did not think about but one that will be beneficial in the classroom. If the students can find relation in anything they are learning, I think it will help them review and actually understand it instead of just "know" it.

Lauren White

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I agree the 5 themes seem to be a better fit. You stated a strength to be the strong message of not stopping geography once you teach location and place. This is such a huge strength. This helps the student's understanding of the subject and area they are learning about. I think the extra ideas included in the theme will help to actually learn more from geography. The basic knowledge of reading it on the map is not always enough.
Lauren White

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Whitney,
In your response you mentioned that geography should continue to be taught further, after teaching location and place. I remember being in school, and that was the basis of geography. However, looking back now I see how that really did not meet all the different parts of geography, and I wasn't learning anything I was simply memorizing what I was told. I hope to teach my students geography in a way that covers many areas rather than just one or two. Thanks for sharing.
-Elizabeth Cook

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You stated that the five themes should not be the only thing that educators look at when teaching geography. That was one of the main takeaways for me from this article. I think they are to be used as a guide, but should not limit what students learn about when it comes to geography. I listed confusion by the educator as one of the weaknesses of this particular model. Thanks for sharing.
-Elizabeth Cook

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Laura,
After taking these classes and reading children's books more in depth, it is easy to see the author's biases and the settings and plot. This is important to remember when we are choosing books for our future classroom. It is important that we expose the students to all possible situations and not just push one certain one on them because then they will have a distorted view. I enjoy the five themes of geography and think that if we know how they are not often taught connected, then, we will be able to fix that with our future classes.

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It is so weird to think about all of the books that we grew up with as children as having negative outlooks on certain things. I definitely do not remember that when I was reading. It is important that we keep this in mind in the future classrooms. It is also very important to teach and stress to the class how the five themes of geography are intertwined and connected with one another. If the students know this, it is easier for them to grasp the full idea of geography.

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I never thought about how children literature books don't truly focus on urban life and when it does focus on urban life it is really down played or unrealistic understanding of the living environment.
I also agree that all five frames work in geography. I also only remember it being maps location and place. How would you reteach your classroom to better understand?

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I never thought about the fact that children's literature being a great way of giving children a glimpse into the real world.   I can see how learning about the real world would help them in their futures. The fundamental themes did organize better and give more specific details. I can see that confusion could take place but I think that once the teacher looks into the details they can get them straight.

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I enjoyed listening to your responses! You made some very valid points, my favorite was when you said we need to teach children that is okay to not all live the same and just because some people live differently than you, that no way is the right way or the wrong way.  I think a way to avoid overwhelming our students is in how we break down all of this information. I believe it's a good idea to start teaching into the 5 groups then later when wrapping up this unit to remind students how these themes are related. Samantha Lee used a good example in her post if you get a chance to listen to it. You did a great job explaining your thoughts on this article.
Laura Pruyn

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@SamanthaLee
I liked how the article broke down the 5 themes, but like you said although they're categorized differently they are interlinked. It is important that we don't teach them completely separately. I liked the example you used with Raleigh and the Piedmont area. Examples similar to that one is a way to lay it out the big picture for our students. I enjoyed listening to your responses, great job!
Laura Pruyn

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I thought that your take on Bavidge's article was very informative. Your understanding helped me to enhance my own. Thank you! When you mentioned the negative connotations that some literature portrays really stressed to me the importance of fully understanding what we bring in to the classroom. Another bit of information that you stressed that I fealt was very important was, "it is not just what we are saying in the classroom, but how we say it." I think that this is a very important concept to remember. After all we are privileged with the responsibility of molding young minds, and it is what we bring to the classroom that will reflect our students understanding.
When it came to the 5 Themes of Geography, I too was able to see the broadness that Geography entails. I felt that these themes if utilized in the correct manner will help our children grasp a more meaningful interpretation of the world around them. I especially enjoyed how you applied Geography with seeing the world in spatial terms.  Overall, I personally feel that these themes offered a valuable outline for us as teachers to introduce each theme in great detail and how they relate to one another. Thank you for sharing!

Michelle Sardinas

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This module really helped me understand what Geography should consist of. Like you I found that the 5 Themes of Geography gave a clear outline of the various topics we should touch on within our classrooms based on a relevant theme (location, place, human environment interaction, movement, and region). The subcategories within the themes allowed for a greater understanding of the topic (more meaningful).
As for the Bavidge article I had a difficult time comprehending what was trying to be said. However, after listening to your take, I feel that we both took away the same concept. In short, children's literature helps give children a view on the world around them. Thus we as teachers need to be selective of the books we use to help portray a particular concept. Thanks for sharing!
Michelle Sardinas

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@Samantha Lee,

 

            Personally the Bavidge article I
found hard to read and rather dry. Somehow missed the part about how she stated
that children’s literature when relating to geography is shown in a simplistic manner
which makes it easier to understand for children. I did however find it
interesting that most children’s literature is written in an urban setting and
that it is seen as incompatible with the child.                                I did find that I preferred the 5 fundamental themes over
the content area and the geography for life methods. I just liked the simplicity
of the 5 fundamental themes. I like the fact that it allows freedom in the
classroom as well as a well-structured and organized method to teaching. My
favorite part of the 5 fundamental themes is the fact that is provides a
different way of learning than rote memorization. I can see where teachers
would want to separate these themes and could cause issues in the complete
understanding of the whole of geography, or where a teachers lack of knowledge
could cause incorrect use of the 5 fundamental themes. 

               @Megan
Dickerson

             

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@Samantha Lee,

 

            Personally the Bavidge article I
found hard to read and rather dry. Somehow missed the part about how she stated
that children’s literature when relating to geography is shown in a simplistic manner
which makes it easier to understand for children. I did however find it
interesting that most children’s literature is written in an urban setting and
that it is seen as incompatible with the child.                                I did find that I preferred the 5 fundamental themes over
the content area and the geography for life methods. I just liked the simplicity
of the 5 fundamental themes. I like the fact that it allows freedom in the
classroom as well as a well-structured and organized method to teaching. My
favorite part of the 5 fundamental themes is the fact that is provides a
different way of learning than rote memorization. I can see where teachers
would want to separate these themes and could cause issues in the complete
understanding of the whole of geography, or where a teachers lack of knowledge
could cause incorrect use of the 5 fundamental themes. 

               @Megan
Dickerson

             

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@Sakari Burgess,          I have never thought about how children’s
literature could affect a child’s view of the world they live in until reading the
Bavidge article. I have always loved to read, but until this week I did not
realize that children’s literature was dominated by fantasy instead of realism.
I guess now that I think of it, it makes since because that is mainly what you
find when looking through the children and young adult sections of the library.


                   When I was in grade school I
remember my learning of geography the same as you do. Lots of maps, notes,
outlines and memorization. To be honest I would forget it as soon as the test
was done. I know when I did the warm-up games I did poorly because I don’t remember
anything much about geography. I definitely think that the 5 fundamental themes
are a great way to learn and teach geography. I really like the way it is
structured and organized, plus the fact that is gives teachers the freedom to
be creative in their lesson planning.            I think a good way to overcome the teachers lack of
understanding of the 5 fundamental themes would be to do a workshop on it and
show teachers how to use it properly inside the classroom. I know that I don’t
have the strongest background in geography so I would have to teach myself
deeper content knowledge before I would be able to teach it to students. But a
workshop would be a great starting point to help teachers really understand
what they are teaching and how to properly teach the subject. 

                @Megan
Dickerson

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@Sakari Burgess,          I have never thought about how children’s
literature could affect a child’s view of the world they live in until reading the
Bavidge article. I have always loved to read, but until this week I did not
realize that children’s literature was dominated by fantasy instead of realism.
I guess now that I think of it, it makes since because that is mainly what you
find when looking through the children and young adult sections of the library.


                   When I was in grade school I
remember my learning of geography the same as you do. Lots of maps, notes,
outlines and memorization. To be honest I would forget it as soon as the test
was done. I know when I did the warm-up games I did poorly because I don’t remember
anything much about geography. I definitely think that the 5 fundamental themes
are a great way to learn and teach geography. I really like the way it is
structured and organized, plus the fact that is gives teachers the freedom to
be creative in their lesson planning.            I think a good way to overcome the teachers lack of
understanding of the 5 fundamental themes would be to do a workshop on it and
show teachers how to use it properly inside the classroom. I know that I don’t
have the strongest background in geography so I would have to teach myself
deeper content knowledge before I would be able to teach it to students. But a
workshop would be a great starting point to help teachers really understand
what they are teaching and how to properly teach the subject. 

                @Megan
Dickerson

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Michelle,
I also found Bavidge's discussion about children's literature interesting, that children's literature is not really 'children's'. Children's literature is an adult author being nostalgic about childhood or attempting to relate to children or teaching them. Though, I feel her main point involving children's literature and geography is that we need to be aware what literature is telling children about places, which is an aspect of geography.
I agree that the five themes of geography are a great framework for us as teachers . It helps us to organize our thoughts when planning geography lessons. It is important that we use these themes to teach, but not to teach the five themes as units.
Great work!
Kelsie

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I loved your explanation of the Bavidge article. I had a hard time understanding the context but your explanation did a great job in explaining. I thought the main point was simply to inform of the lack of urban settings in children's literature. However, you made a great point in how it relates to us as teachers. It is important to make sure that students are represented in the materials that we teach. In regards to the 5 themes, I had not considered the volume of what teaching the 5 themes consist. I think this is a great thing to consider when teaching. However, although overwhelming I think the 5 themes would not be as meaningful if we lessened the content. The purpose of teaching the 5 themes together is because they all coincide so well together. The article mentions a weakness is separating the 5 themes, therefore I don't feel like there is a way to make the volume of content less overwhelming.

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Elizabeth, I gathered the same view points as you stated in you recording. As many of us have mentioned this article was very hard to read and understand. It did however make sense when I read about the 5 out of 54 books. I think the main my point is understanding that urban cities are not portrayed in children's books. I also had a similar experience with Geography only being about location and place. I like that you tied high order thinking into the framework. Geography that is taught as location and place do not require any major critical analysis by students. I think I would have had a more memorable experience in Geography if I would have been challenged more instead of just memorizing everything.

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Laura,
I agree that is very important that we consider what we are telling children through literature. I read a lot of children's books and I have noticed how there are differences in the ways that authors approach setting and childhood. I did find Bavidge's framework very helpful in categorizing children's literature in urban settings. I also like the structure that the five themes provided. They have really helped me to see the depth of content that is geography. I also agree that it would have been helpful to see the themes more connected.
Nice work!
Kelsie

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You may want to turn your volume down before listening.. I didn't realize how loud it was until I was finished. Sorry!

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http://vocaroo.com/i/s02RjAyMm5ld

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I definitely agree that Bavidge was correct in saying children's books portray a glimpse into life in the city. Your thought about the out of touch of reality to that concept is vital to children's understanding of the real world around them. Although it is important to give children the reality of their world, I also believe it is important for children to discover how the urban life is like through experience. As adults, we are put in situations we were not prepared for in childhood. This sense of problems solving, I believe, is crucial for children to experience in their lives.
-McLean

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http://vocaroo.com/i/s0cADCyBOKjF

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Kelsie,
When selecting books for our student it is important to know what kind of information that the book may portray to our students. I was surprised that Bavidge points out that "classics" many times have negative connotations towards urban areas.  These fundamentals that Boehm and Peterson point out to us are a framework for which educators are to use to build upon. When discussing Geography, it is important to use this framework and teach all of these themes and help the students relate how each theme is intertwined with another.

Thank you for your discussion!
-Amanda

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I like Peggy, had a hard time reading and completely understanding everything that Bavidge stated in her article. I was intrigued by how Bavidge says that the reader-author relationship was completely seperate and never meshed together. The author writes with only the reader, in this case the child, in mind. He/She tries to write in ways that will make sense for the reader.

When discussing the fundamental framework, I think that the biggest factor is to make sure that we intertwine each of the individual themes so the students will start to see how each relates to the other. I also think that this framework helps break down the huge amount of content into teachable and learnable amounts.

Thank you for your discussion!
-Amanda

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I was having some technical difficulty so please make sure you turn your volume down first.
http://vocaroo.com/i/s0vmW06xGBQ4

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As you mentioned in your reflection about the article about the 5 themes of geography, this article does bring to light how broad the study of geography. Before this module, I would have thought that geography was just the study of land and land forms which it is, but it is so much more. As we move forward in our teacher education, we need to "intertwine" geography throughout the curriculum as we could very easily incorporate it into reading and science instruction.

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I need to be honest, I found Jenny Bavidge's study very hard to read and comprehend all that she was trying to say. You brought up a very important point, which I did not totally get until I listened to your ideas and that is the connection between the adult (author) and the child (reader). That relationship is an important one to understand as we choose books to read with our students and discuss the setting. Books truly take us away, but we need to be cautious about what our children are learning about the places that they take us and the point of view of the author.

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Peggy,

I like how you said we should be more conscious of how we portray urban life to children because when they are given limited details children are given, “a small glimpse of the realities of city life.” I think you have good ideas about the 5 themes, making connection and comparisons.  I also thought a weakness was the themes being taught incorrectly. Basically teachers using them to teach geography appose to using the themes as a tool while teaching.  Thanks for sharing your example from a recent trip in a classroom!

-Emily

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Kelsie,

I like that you talk about literature being a way children learn about the world.  Children don’t have as many experiences as adults and therefore they learn through books, stories, and word of mouth. You said, “It’s important to consider not only what we are saying to children but how we are saying it.”  I think this is important to think about this statement in general as educators.  I also like the fundamental themes because they help breakdown the subject.  I agree with you we should teach students all the themes are intertwined even if they are taught separately.

Good post!

-Emily

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Emily Martin

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