Mapping

Over the past week (since returning from break) we have been hard at work learning more about maps and mapping in first grade! All year we have been referring to the two big maps on our wall (a world map and a USA map) as we have been making blog and Twitter connections in the USA and globally. Then in December we started a unit focused on mapping, which we connected to different major December holidays that happen around the world. Since returning from break we have been very focused on maps of different places (earth, our continent, our country, our state, etc), and the cardinal directions and compass rose (the class thinks that the Never Eat Soggy Waffles trick to remembering the cardinal directions is the funniest thing ever and they have been making up other phrases for it). We will soon start learning about map keys and different types of maps and how they are used (ie weather maps, political maps, street maps, relief maps, etc).

This and last week our class has been adding a map each day to their "lapbook" (the folder they create for each science/social studies unit containing all of their work). As a class we looked at Google maps and Google earth learning how we can start with a map of the earth then zoom in to see our continent, our country, our state, our town, and even our school building, then zoom out again! We had a lot of fun with these tools on our smartboard and I encouraged students to try using them at home to zoom in on their home address! At school we zoomed in to see our school, the Burnham Library (where we had walked on a field trip) and the Village Scoop! Students added maps of the world, North America, the USA, Vermont, and Colchester, and our school to their lapbooks. Today we created maps of our classroom! 

Below are a few photos of students with some of their maps. Our class is having a lot of fun with this unit and I see kids spending a lot of time with our big wall maps figuring out where things are. They are learning so much!

Personalize your own free slideshow design