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| GeoGram, Project. An interdisciplinary curriculum program bringing together the studies of physical, cultural, and economic geography with map, graph, table, and chart skills, critical thinking, and expository writing for middle school students studying world history and geography. |
Audience Approved by PEP for students in grades 6-8.
Description Project GeoGram provides effective supplementary materials designed to enable teachers to enhance instruction in physical, cultural, and economic geography, map/graph/table/chart skills, critical thinking, and expository writing for their middle school students. The Project's curriculum materials and instructional strategies, built upon the five themes of geography, that have since been adopted by the 1994 Geographic Education Standards Project, on behalf of the American Geographical Society and the National Council for Geographic Education et al., address key parts of the National Goals for Education centering around the need to have students demonstrate competency in geography and English. The Project's critical thinking thrusts help students prepare for responsible citizenship, further learning, and productive employment in our modern economy. Through the use of the Project's innovative instructional materials and teaching strategies, students "travel" and learn about selected areas of the world using nonconsumable "newsletters" and supporting curriculum materials which focus on basic geographical concepts about the areas of the world addressed in the Project's units. Supplementing each of the Project's units--America's Gateway Cities, India, China, Japan, Central America, and South America--adopters also receive student Reference Guides, with glossaries and crossword puzzles using key unit vocabulary words, teacher's Lesson Amplification and Implementation Guides, and all other necessary supporting materials including pre- and posttests. In implementing the Project, students are asked to use reading, writing, map, graph, table, chart, and critical thinking skills as they complete class work and homework activities, engage in collaborative projects, work with simulations, and complete individual assignments.
Evidence of Effectiveness Students in middle school World History and Geography classes implementing the GeoGram curriculum demonstrated significantly greater gains on project-produced and validated criterion- referenced tests of geographical knowledge, and map, critical thinking, and expository writing skills; and scored higher on a standardized test of basic skills covering social studies, language arts, and reference skills than did those in comparison groups. Project field test results showed that teachers devoted more classroom instructional time to geography, critical thinking, and expository writing skills while using Project GeoGram materials and devoted more time to student-teacher exchanges; and that students showed increased concentration on classroom activities and greater time on task.
Requirements GeoGram requires no change in staffing patterns. The Project's materials may be implemented as self-contained geography units, tracked into specific social studies content areas; or used as supplementary materials taught in a core program of social studies/English. The Project's six-hour staff development training workshop may be conducted at sites within the Los Angeles Unified School District, or at sites selected by potential adopters or State Facilitators.
Costs A complete Project GeoGram Curriculum Package, with sets of 35 copies of each of the project's six curriculum units, published on color-coded, nonconsumable, 110 lb. "index" stock, and all student pre- and posttests, necessary supplementary unit materials, and a teacher's Lesson Amplification and Implementation Guide for the units, on regular 20 lb. stock, plus a three-ring binder Teacher's Edition containing a single copy of all project curriculum materials is available for a cost of $250. Schools possessing the curriculum package may purchase additional Teacher's Editions for $35.
Services Project staff are available to conduct training workshops. Prospective adopters are asked to cover the travel and per diem costs necessary to conduct these workshops. The Project Awareness materials are available, on request, at no cost. A project quarterly . . . Bulletin, program updates, and other follow-up consultations are also provided at no charge.
Developmental Funding: ECIA Chapter 2 and LAUSD.
PEP No. 91-20 (4/3/91)
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