Third Grade, Geography

I believe it is important to know where countries are, but right now I prefer to learn them as off shoots of our other subjects. We keep a large map of the world on our dining room table and find many ways to use it.

• In Bible this year we are praying for the peoples of the world, so each week we find the country where the people we are praying for live.
• I'm also trying to pick up age appropriate books about these countries.
• In Nature Friend there are pictures of other countries, stories about animals, plants, or places in other countries. We find all these places on the map.
• In any book we read, if another location is mentioned, we look for it on the map. Sometimes it is a city that isn't on the map, so we pull out our world atlas and look for it.

Here is a list of books we have enjoyed about other countries/peoples:

• Water Buffalo Days by Quang Nhuong Huynh -- Vietnam
• Afghanistan
• Four Feet, Two Sandals by Karen Lynn Williams -- refugee camp
• Bhutan
• Kings and Queens by Sally Lee -- this book has a color picture of Bhutan's King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck
• Bhutan by Leila Merrell Foster -- we looked at pictures in this book
• Bangladesh
• Yasmin's Hammer by Ann Malaspina -- story of a family that moves to Dhaka, and the desire of Yasmin to learn to read
• A Basket of Bangles by Ginger Howard -- a story of how five women begin their businesses
• Bangladesh: In the Children's Own Words by Chrysalis Education
• B is for Bangladesh
• Rickshaw Girl by Mitali Perkins -- this is a story of how a girl manages to help her family financially in a culture where it is not culturally accepted
• Beja (Sudan)
• My Great-Grandmother's Gourd by Cristina Kessler -- a story about a well and the old ways
• Booryat (Mongolia)
• Suho and the White Horse retold by Yuzo Otsuka -- a legend of Mongolia
• My Little Round House by Bolormaa Baasansuren
• Vanishing Cultures: Mongolia by Jan Reynolds -- lots of pictures, along with a story of life in Mongolia
• Bulgaria
• Looking at Bulgaria by Bronja Prazdny
• A Gift From the Heart told by Radost Pridham -- folk tales from Bulgaria
• Colombia
• Senor Cat's Romance and Other Favorite Stories from Latin America retold by Lucia Gonzalez
• Biblioburro by Jeanette Winter
• China
• No Year of the Cat retold by Mary Dodson Wade -- picture book story about why there is not a year of the cat and why rat and cat are enemies
• China in Colors by Marla Gamze-Pendergrast
• Chad
• Rain School by James Rumford -- the children's school year starts with building their school because each year the rains wash it away
• Cuba
• Rabbit Wishes by Linda Shute -- why rabbits have long ears
• The Bossy Gallito retold by Lucia M. Gonzalez