History · Grade 9

Geography SEL activities

18 ready to use activities that teach Geography content and build one Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) skill, about 20 minutes each.

Thinking Spatially: Maps, Places, and Regions

• Where I Am From Self-awareness · Week 1Students sketch a map of the places that matter to them and name the geographer identity they bring to understanding the valley.
• Maps Tell Stories Responsible decision-making · Week 2Comparing map projections and who made them, and noticing how choices about what a map shows can shape feelings and judgments.
• Mental Maps of Home Social awareness · Week 3Drawing mental maps of the Coachella Valley and comparing them to see how different people experience the same place.
• Drawing Regions Relationship skills · Week 4Defining regions by climate, language, and economy in small teams and negotiating together where boundaries belong.
• The Land of the Cahuilla Self-awareness · Week 5Learning how the Cahuilla people used palm oases, springs, and seasonal movement to thrive in the desert, and honoring knowledge rooted in a place.
• Places Change, Places Remain Self-management · Week 6Comparing old and new photos of a valley town to track change and continuity and naming what stays steady in students' lives during times of change.

Physical Systems and Human Populations

• Earth Shapes the Valley Self-awareness · Week 7Explaining how the San Andreas Fault and erosion shaped the Coachella Valley and naming body signals of fear so students can respond calmly in an emergency.
• Living in a Biome Self-management · Week 8Comparing how desert plants and animals adapt to extremes and identifying strategies students use to persevere through hard seasons.
• People on the Move Social awareness · Week 9Mapping the push and pull factors behind migration to California through published accounts and an imagined traveler, and listening with respect.
• The Bracero Journey Relationship skills · Week 10Tracing the routes and agreements of the Bracero Program from 1942 to 1964 and considering how workers kept connections with families across borders.
• Cultures Side by Side Social awareness · Week 11Choosing sources that reveal the languages, foods, and traditions of a cultural mosaic and practicing curious, respectful questions about traditions different from one's own.
• How Towns Grow Responsible decision-making · Week 12Analyzing why settlements like Indio grew along water, rail lines, and highways and weighing growth decisions where neighbors want different things.

Environment, Society, and the Future

• Water in a Thirsty Land Responsible decision-making · Week 13Examining how wells, canals, and Colorado River water turned the desert into farmland and how different groups negotiate scarce water fairly.
• When Heat Shapes a Community Self-management · Week 14Exploring how extreme heat affects work, school, and health in the valley and building a personal plan to stay calm and safe in the heat.
• Borders and Cooperation Relationship skills · Week 15Studying how the United States and Mexico share rivers and a border through treaties such as the 1944 Water Treaty and practicing steps to rebuild trust after a disagreement.
• Trade Networks and Our Food Self-awareness · Week 16Tracing how Coachella Valley grapes, dates, and peppers travel through global trade networks and recognizing how interdependence connects students to strangers far away.
• Planning the Valley's Future Responsible decision-making · Week 17Using geography to propose a plan for a cooler, greener neighborhood and setting a hopeful goal students can work toward.
• Gratitude for Place Relationship skills · Week 18Students write thank you notes to a place and to a person in the valley that shaped their sense of belonging this semester.

RoseThread Connect activities are drafted with the help of AI and shaped by educators. Students never have to share anything personal. Our five SEL skills are informed by CASEL's SEL Framework; RoseThread Learning is not affiliated with or endorsed by CASEL.