World Geography
Middle School: 6th - 8th grades.
One Year Course
Teacher: Cyndi Schroeder 770-633-0010
email: schroeph@gmail.com
5889 Millstone Run
Stone Mountain, GA 30087
Course Objective:
To give students the opportunity to learn the geography, cultures, and peoples of the world in which they live, in
order that they might more fully understand the myriad fascinations and wonders of creation.
Class Description:
Each week during class, a region of the world will be presented to the students by the teacher. The focus of the
presentation will be on the region’s geography and culture, including religions and people groups; major historical
events will also be covered briefly, especially events linked particularly to geography. The presentation will include
hands-on activities and games. The end of the class period will be devoted to student presentations.
Homework each week will consist mainly of the student’s researching a country (or geographical region) in the region
of the week and giving a short, 2-5 minute, presentation to the class (i.e. show and tell!) based on that research, so
that other students can get a more detailed picture of each country. In addition, students (especially those in 8th
grade) may sometimes be required to read a book of their choosing from a list provided by the teacher.
Ideally, the class will get together for activities outside the classroom on occasion, such as a party with the theme of a
country or a meal at an ethnic restaurant. We may hold “country days” in which students dress up as people from
different places.
Required Textbook:
Cultural Geography Student Text 3rd Edition by Michael D. Matthews.
Bob Jones University Press, 2008 $46.50
You may wish to bookmark the following websites on your computer, or write them down.
CIA World Factbook: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/
www.picturesofplaces.com (This website is very good, but it has a lot of links to people’s vacation blogs and pictures,
so you may wish for students to search in it with supervision.)
Tuition: $400 Supplies: $50 (due at the beginning of class).
Payment plans: 1. Full payment at the beginning of class; 2. $200 payment at beginning of each semester; 3. $40
per month, August - May (10 months).
Don’t forget the Class Registration Form!
Thank you.
Summer Reading Assignment:
Each student should choose a book to read, and prepare for the first day of class a brief (2 minute) presentation
describing how the book is related to Geography (Hint: There may be geographical features in the book, or it may
give facts about a culture, etc.) Note: If you would like to choose a relevant book not on the list for this assignment,
that is fine.
The Continuously Growing Book List:
Around the World in 80 Days by Jules Verne (World)
Africa
Star of Light by Patricia St. John (North Africa)
The Secret of the Fourth Candle by Patricia St. John (Africa, Various)
A Question of Yams by Gloria Repp
Saba: Under the Hyena’s Foot by Jane Kurtz (Ethiopia)
Antarctica
Asia
The Jungle Book, by Rudyard Kipling (India)
King of the Wind by Marguerite Henry (Middle East)
The Kite Fighters by Linda Sue Park (Korea)
Spring Pearl, the Last Flower by Laurence Yep (China, opium wars)
Yung Fu of the Upper Yangtze by Elizabeth Foreman Lewis (China)
Australia and Oceania
Call It Courage by Armstrong Sperry (Pacific Islands)
Europe
The Lost Prince by Francis Hodgeson Burnett (Europe)
Rainbow Garden by Patricia St. John (England)
Treasures of the Snow by Patricia St. John (Switzerland)
Hans Brinker, or the Silver Skates by Mary Mapes Dodge (Netherlands)
Heidi by Johanna Spyri (Switzerland)
Kathleen, the Celtic Knot by Siobhan Parkinson (Ireland, 1930s)
The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Graham (England)
North America
Hucklebery Finn, by Mark Twain (Mississippi River)
Om Kas Toe by Kenneth Thomasma (American West)
Naya Nuki by Kenneth Thomasma
Little House on the Prairie, by Laura Ingalls Wilder (American Prairie)
The Journeyman by Elizabeth Yates
Mountain Born by Elizabeth Yates
A Place for Peter (sequal to mountain born) by Elizabeth Yates
Paddle to the Sea by Holling C. Holling (this is a short book, so all captions should be carefully read.)
Misty of Chincoteague by Marguerite Henry (the Carolinas)
The Amazing Impossible Erie Canal by Cheryl Harness (short book)
Ten Mile Day by Mary Ann Fraser (short book) (American West)
Daily Life in a Plains Indian Village 1868 by Michael Terry (short book)
Treasure in the Yukon by Jerri Massi (Canada/Yukon)
Texas Tomboy by Lois Lenski (Texas)
Strawberry Girl by Lois Lenski (Florida)
South America
Dunwoody Classes
2009-2010
Family Membership Fee
The membership fee for Dunwoody Classes for 2009-2010 will be $75 per semester for one student or $100 per
semester for multiple students enrolled. The membership fee includes the facility fee and unlimited choices of
classes.
Teacher registration and tuition are made payable separately to the individual teachers. The membership fee is
made payable to Becky Humphrey and must be paid before or by the first day of class. This one membership
fee and the teacher fees are the only fees that will be assessed.