Geography terminology doesn't always inspire enthusiasm in students, so I am always looking for new ways to make learning vocabulary engaging and most of all memorable in the educational sense. In order to share the work, and spread the knowledge of terminology so we can move on to the more complex understandings I decided to have each student make a Smart Recording that can be part of a 'Geo Bank' and used as a class resource, as well as beyond the walls of the classroom. The image above was used on the first page of the example given as the visual guide for students, and inserted in a word document along with Word Art and a text box for the definition. All simple. Clean, clear, effective.
The second page includes a world map and three diverse examples of the term - e.g. isthmus. Upon completion the students then make a recording describing their visual and using their document, picture and Google Earth to clearly show examples and locations of their selected term.
The big project is the creation of their own island and culture so these should provide a rich resource of their island and neighbouring countries.
As more than 1/2 of my classes are below the 43rd percentile in the area of vocabulary(according to recent testing) it is imperative that visuals be clear, and catch the viewers eye and provide that hook for learning. Not only will curriculum content be supported by these images - it will be enhanced. In Medina's Rule of Thumb for presenters, the increase in understanding is clearly shown that recall is 3x stronger with visual and 6x stronger with a combination of visual and oral. Not only for the ESL students - for all.
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