Active Methodologies for the Junior Cert

Introduction

Jason O’Brien &Norma LenihanGeography in ActionEducate.ie

Active Learning

Today, this is what we are interested in!

Literacy & Numeracy

Key Words

• Teach the word and meaning

• Foundation - building blocks

• More than learning words

• Students need to be able to:• Understand the

meaning• Spell them• Explain• Use in a sentence

Wordles

Create your own

Activity!!

Extra resources

search

Word Pyramid

Word Trail

Numeracy

Activity• Students can check the

prices of home heating oil on www.cheapestoil.ie and the prices of petrol and diesel on www.pumps.ie.

What can you get the students to do with this information??

• Covered through out the Geography course

• Currency• Percentages• Measurement (cm,

mm, km)• Graphs - Pie charts, bar

charts, trend graphs• Population pyramids

Activities

1.Ask students to keep a daily record on way home of the petrol stations they pass

2. Compare the prices in petrol stations between the highest and lowest.

3. Compare the prices between diesel and petrol and get the difference.

Other activities

• ‘Who am I’ – Stick a keyword to the

students forehead and then they have to ask the students questions in order to guess what keyword they are.

• ‘Debate’– Get the students to organise a

short debate on a topic. “Human interaction with the sea does more harm than good”

Activity ‘Dragons Den’When covering Secondary Economic Activities get students to

work in pairs and come up with a manufacturing industry they would like to start up. They present to the class – using the factors that influence location of an industry. The class votes on which one is most likely to succeed.

Photo’s

• Find evidence with their phones and email them

• Set up a geography email in the school

Students could make a short advertisement/promo to attract tourists to their area, region or to a specific attraction. This can be a poster, leaflet, audio clip, video clip or even an advertisement.

Some Ideas

Positives and Negatives of Tourism in Spain

DJ SunshineMaria, the local hairdresserSophia, a local residentAndré, a local fishermanCarlos, the local politicianJosé, a farmer

Flashcards

Can be used for definitions, contributing factors etc

Dormant A volcano that has not erupted for a long time, but could possibly erupt again

Whip around

• A method for reviewing material at the end of class or maybe a chapter

• Students sit in small groups• Each student says one thing that they have

learned in that class. Keep going around the group until they run out of things to say!

• Students are teaching and learning!

Think – Pair - Share• Can be used to introduce a new topic, come up with

a list of factors, for revision.• Students individually write a list of their

thoughts/ideas.• Then pair up with the person next to them to see

what they may have missed• Then students come together in a larger group• Important that teacher takes feedback.

Tips for group work!

• Use short segments of time!• Keep groups small• Put students into groups – don’t always let

them chose their own groups• Walk around the room while the groups are

working

Learning outcomes (K-W-L)• Gives the students a

focus at the start• Set out clear goals

for them• They can revert

back to see if they are achieving their outcomes

• Self evaluation for the students

• Encourages them to take responsibility

Go raibh maith agaibh!