Mountain

 3rd Grade – Geography    (Italian educational system)

Mountain-and-Forest-Powerpoint-Backgrounds

Materials for the lesson

Sheets A4, pens, cardboard, colors

Layout of the classroom

Goups of desks in the classroom

Phase 1

The teacher introduces the topic by explaining  to students the features that define the mountain environment. Altitude, flora, fauna, climate, etc. She talks with children about their experiences in this particular environment. The most interesting aspects highlighted by the students in their narratives can be written on the blackboard.

Phase 2

Students are divided into small groups. Each group should invent a brief story set in the mountains. The story must contain the words that define the elements of the mountain previously identified (eg valley, ridge, valley or passage, peak, tunnel, trail, mountain, refuge, glacier). Each group member should have a role in the play.

Phase 3

Each group, after having written down the story, will  try to represent it through a brief dramatization. To do this, students can find different solutions such as using an external narrator or creating a short script with some lines for every different character.

Phase 4

The teacher discusses with the students about the experience. Each group is asked to illustrate with a drawing its story. With the written stories and their illustrations,  the class  can then create a book of “mountain words”.