Me on the Map Grade level: 1 st Grade Subject(s) Area: Reading, Writing, and Social Studies Materials needed: One sheet of construction paper per child, yarn or string, crayons or colored pencils, pencils, copies of the flipbook for each child, Google maps, Me on the Map book http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/product/me-on-the-map-flip-book-549473 Standards: Objectives: Learning Activities: Social Studies: Standard 1: Students apply Social Studies skills and resources 1.1 Identify basic components of maps and globes English Language Arts: RI.3 Describe the connection between two individuals, events, ideas, or pieces of information in a text W.2 Write informative/explanatory texts in which they name a topic, supply some facts about the topic, and provide some sense of closure. SL.5 Add drawings or other visual displays to descriptions when appropriate to clarify ideas, thoughts, and feelings L.1d Use personal, possessive, and indefinite pronouns (ie: I, me, my, they, them, their, anyone, everything) Students will understand their place on the map. Students will view a map and figure out where they are on it. Students will visually display their thoughts and where they are on the map through a flipchart. Students will share and explain their flipchart to a partner. 1. Google Earth: Seat students on the floor. Show the students where the school is on Google Earth and then, zoom out to give them a bit of perspective of things. 2. Read to the students: Read Me on the Map to the students. 3. Activity: Make the flip-charts with the students. Color themselves. Draw their house. Draw their street. Paste the map of Bismarck and mark (about) where they live. Paste the map of ND and have the students write Bismarck next to the star. Paste the map of the US, color in ND and write North Dakota. Paste the map of North America, color in the US, and write United States of America. Color in the Earth 4. Wrap-Up: This activity may take more than one day, depending on how quickly the students can work through each circle. If not finished, have the children put them away and put a later gator on the activity. If finished, wrap-up by having the students share and re-tell their flipchart to their sharing partner.
Assessment: Reflection: Accommodations and Modifications: The flip-chart will be collected by the teacher to assess the students understanding. The teacher will listen to students as they re-tell their flipchart to their partner. The teacher will walk around and observe students working to ensure that they stay on task. The teacher will ask questions while reading to check for students understanding. The teacher will use a rubric to assess children s work and understanding. This lesson was FANTASTIC!! It went so well, and I was so pleased with how the final projects turned out! I started off the lesson, as planned, with Google Maps and the students thought that it was really cool. It seemed to really pull them into the idea of maps and their place on it, and they were really excited about it. Then, we read the book and I was impressed as the students gave me all of their attention, interacting with me as we read the book. Next, we did the actual project. The students did such a great job following my directions, and I think having us all do it together one step at a time was a good idea because they everybody was on the same page doing the things that they were supposed to. I also did some little informal checks to see how close we were to moving on to the next step by asking for thumbs up or asking them to hold up the next piece when they were done. This was nice because it helped me get a visual idea of how many students were still working and not quite ready to move on. Finally, the students got to share what they made with a partner. We actually ran out of time for this (which made me glad that I had done so much prep work cutting out all of the pieces beforehand, etc.), so we promised that they could share after gym. When they came back from gym, the first thing they asked me was if they could share their project with their friends. It felt good to see them so excited about what they made, and as I walked around listening to them retell the story of their map, I felt really good about my lesson. They all did a fantastic job re-telling correctly, which makes me feel like they got a pretty good grasp on the idea of their place on the map. Even my student who is in and out of the room all day for Special Ed. did the project, and I was SO proud of him as I sat and listened to him re-tell the story with a bit of prompting. My practicum teacher actually told me that she thought the lesson went great, too! She said my pacing was good, and I did a fine job of keeping them busy and moving around as they worked. Overall, I thought that the lesson went really well. n/a
A few samples of our finished projects!
Map of Bismarck North Dakota Map
USA Map