South Carolina ETV

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Columbia, SC 29201-4761
Phone: 803-737-3545

Read a Map ... It's a Snap! (Grades 2-3)

Master Teacher

Julie Huber

Time Allotment

Two or three 35–45 minute class periods

Overview

This lesson is an introduction to map and globe skills. It focuses on helping children to understand the idea of a model and using symbols to represent real objects. Children will use grids and will be able to construct their own simple maps of familiar places.

Subject Matter

Maps

Learning Objectives

Students will be able to:

Define a map, globe, and symbol;
Use the direction words north, south, east, and west to describe movements;
Use a grid to construct a map of his/her own.

South Carolina Standards

Click here to download standards

Grade 2—Social Studies

III. People, Places, and Environments: Geography

2.7 The learner will demonstrate an understanding of the world in spatial terms.

The student will be able to:

2.7.1 Identify the purposes and characteristics of geographic representations such as maps, globes, and graphs;

2.7.2 Explain spatial concepts of location, distance, direction, scale, movement, region and connections among places and;

2.7.3 Construct a simple map of a familiar area incorporating cardinal direction, scale, and map symbols.

Media Components

Video

Where Are We?, Lesson 1: “Who is Spaniel Boone.” This video is about a little girl and her brother who are having problems understanding map skills at school. When their father returns from a trip, he gives the little girl a special furry friend, Spaniel Boone, who comes to life and helps the children to understand maps.

Web Site

PBS Kids DragonTales “Treasure Hunt Maze” has a game that allows children to lead a character through a maze to locate given objects. Children will use directional words to verbally guide other children who are moving the character.

Materials

toy car
toy plane
Beanie Baby dog
baby doll
other small toys that represent real life objects
maps of various familiar places

Per student:

Activity Sheets 1 and 2
map grid paper
glue
scissors

Equipment

Prep for Teachers

Cut out word and definition cards from Activity Sheet 1. Have enough copies for all students.
Gather together the toy car, toy plane, Beanie Baby dog, baby doll, other small toy objects, and maps of various familiar places.
Bookmark Web sites to use with the video.
Preview the Where Are We? video.
Preview the Web site to see how to show children to interact with the site.
Create a map grid for the school in which this lesson will be taught.
When using media, provide students with a Focus for Media Interaction, a specific task to complete and/or information to identify during or after viewing of video segments, Web sites, or other multimedia elements.

Introductory Activity

Step 1: Place a toy car, a toy plane, a Beanie Baby dog, and a baby doll on a table at the front of the class. Say: “Today we are going to learn about models. On the table I have some models of things in real life.”

Step 2: Have the children talk about what they see on the table and what they stand for.

Learning Activities

Step 1: Provide students with a Focus for Media Interaction explaining that they will watch a video clip to find out what a model is.

Step 2: Place video into the VCR. CUE video to the scene where the girl and boy are in the child’s bedroom. The girl is sitting at a desk and the boy is sitting on the bed. BEGIN playing video when the boy says, “What are you doing up so early?”

Step 3: PAUSE video after the dog says, “Now do you understand what a model is?”

Step 4: Discuss the word model and relate it to the objects on the table. Give children the word card for Model. (From Activity Sheet 1). Give children the matching definition card.

Step 5: REWIND tape and play dog’s explanation of what a model is again and then PAUSE.

Step 6: Tell the children that the little girl is still confused about something that her teacher said. Hand out the words globe, map, and symbol from Activity Sheet 1. Provide children with a Focus for Media Interaction by telling them to listen to the next part of the video to see if they can tell what a globe, map and symbol are.

(Answers: globe=model of the earth, map= flat picture of all or part of the earth, symbols=small things on a map that represent real things)

Step 7: PLAY video until you hear the dog say, “A map is a flat picture or representation of all or part of the earth. Symbols are used on a map to represent things.”

Step 8: STOP the video.

Step 9: Have children use remaining word and definition cards from Activity Sheet 1 to match words with definitions. Discuss all four vocabulary words and definitions.

Step 10: REWIND and REPLAY the dog’s explanation of each word as many times as children need in order to match words and definitions.

Step 11: Ask the children to brainstorm ways that they may use a map. (traveling in the car, at the zoo, in a mall to find a store) Show different maps of zoos, schools, towns, etc.

Step 12: Explain to children that in order to use a map you must have some specific skills and tools to use. Tell children that in the next lesson they will learn more about how to use a map.

Day Two

Step 1: Tell the children that today they will see a video clip that shows one kind of map. Provide them with a Focus for Media Interaction by asking them to look at the map and predict what the symbols on the map stand for.

Step 2: START video where the screen shows a green map grid that has the following symbols placed on the map: blue rectangles, a book, a flame, yellow curved pieces with a grocery bag and a money bag picture in them, a red shape with a flag, and a green soccer field shape. PAUSE when the dog says, “ Now our map of the neighborhood is finished. This is only one kind of map.”

Step 3: Leave this grid image on the screen.

Step 4: On the TV screen, point to each symbol and have children describe something in a neighborhood that might be represented by this shape.

(Note to Teacher: Depending on the size of your TV screen and the clarity of the image when you pause the tape, you may have to verbally describe some of the symbols)

Step 5: REWIND tape to where you see a blank green grid and the dog says, “Let’s make a map of your neighborhood.” PAUSE.

Step 6: Give children a Focus for Media Interaction by asking them to listen to find out what each symbol on the map will stand for.

Step 7: PLAY tape until you again get to the part where the map grid has all the symbols on it and the dog says, “Now our map of the neighborhood is finished.”

Step 8: STOP tape.

Step 9: Explain to children that today they are going to make a grid map much like the one in the video. Explain that they will be using grid paper and symbols to create a map of their school.

Step 10: Give out map grid paper of the school and Activity Sheet 2.

Step 11: Discuss places listed on Activity Sheet 2 and where they are located in the school. Have children cut out symbols and place on grid to locate in the school.

Step 12: Hand out glue and have children glue symbols to the map.

Step 13: Have children cut out the map key from Activity Sheet 2 and glue onto their new map.

Culminating Activity

Step 1: Have children use the map from the Learning Activity to discuss how to get places in the school. For example: To get to the library from room # 1, you go north down the hallway. The library is on the east side of the hall.

Step 2: Have children use direction words as they describe the paths to take to different parts of the school.

Step 3: Set up computers so that each is open to the following Web site: http://pbskids.org/dragontales/dragon_cassie/treasurehunt/treasurehunt.html.

Step 4: Have students go to computers in pairs.

Step 5: Provide students with a Focus for Media Interaction by having one student use directional words to direct the other student in how to move the character through the maze.

Step 6: Then the children will switch jobs so that each one has the opportunity both to give and follow the directional words.

Assessment

Activity Sheet 1 provides an assessment of the vocabulary that is being taught.

You can observe students at the computers to see who understands the use of the grid and the directional words.

Cross-Curricular Extensions

Math: Measurement can be connected to these lessons by having the children measure how far it is to the library or the office, etc., from their own classroom. Students can then draw maps to scale to show different places in the school.

Language Arts: The SC Curriculum Standards in Language Arts are designed so that students will gain speaking, listening, reading, and writing skills. These map lessons can be extended to include children writing out directions for getting to specific places in the school. Then other children follow these directions to see if they can actually get to the places with the given directions. Students can discuss ways to improve written directions so that it will be easier to follow them.

Community Connections

Take a walking field trip around the community using a map grid created by the class. Have “tour guides” set up at different points to explain things along the way.

For example: Have the mayor meet you outside of the Town Hall. Have a police officer meet you outside of the police station. Have a firefighter meet you outside of the fire station. This will be a great lead into a community helper unit or a good follow-up activity for the same.

Student Materials

Activity Sheet 1
Activity Sheet 2
Map Grid Sheet
scissors
glue