Tuesday, March 28, 2000
Early Childhood/Elementary
Teaching Map Skills
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Gumbo/K/La - topic
tonite is teaching map skills. Anybody want to share any ideas they use?
Addie k/mo - well,
we are learning about some of the states through our traveling mascots
project.... http://www.geocities.com/EnchantedForest/7914/mascot.html
if you want to see our site.
Beach - Also participated
in 100 e-mails project and mapped where they came from
Gumbo/K/La - That
looks like an interesting project, addie.
Beach - Participated
in mascot exchange with a class in Maine. I'm in NJ
Peachy/NC - Hi, How
do you kinder teachers teach map skills besides the mascot exchange?
Gumbo/K/La - My class
has done a postcard exchange the last few years. Lots of chances for teaching
states.
Addie k/mo - we also
did a flat stanley project which focused partially on map skills.... it
has a website too. http://www.geocities.com/EnchantedForest/7914/flatstanley.html
dorinda - hmmm mapping
skills :) my class is currently doing a TOOLS 2000 unit on Map Skills
Beach - Post N,S,
E,W signs in classroom
Gumbo/K/La - We start
map skills at beginning of year, with neighborhood/community theme.
Beach - Make a legend
chart
Gumbo/K/La - learn
compass rose, make simple map of class, neighborhood....
Beach - They do maps
of classroom and their way to school
Addie k/mo - in general,
i try to show them places on the map or globe when ever they come up in
discussion in class...like we were reading a joy cowley book with an unfamiliar
word (weta, which is like a NZ cricket) and we discussed how the author
was from NZ and found it on the globe.
dorinda - on activity
the children love to do is the K'nex station... they have to build a compass
rose from the K'nex
Gumbo/K/La - dorinda-------what
is a TOOLS 2000 unit? and what does it involve?
Peachy/NC - Beach,
please explain legend chart.
Peachy/NC - compass
rose?
Beach - Map symbols
Gumbo/K/La - sounds
good, dorinda-----how is it done?
dorinda - tools is
a technology driven thematic units which are evry big in florida
McD - thought I would
share a lesson I did with second graders
dorinda - students
work in small groups at revolving stations-- this unit currently had 9
stations
McD - first the students
made a diagram (map) of their bed rooms
Gumbo/K/La - please
do, mcd....
bette/tx - dorinda
for what age group or grade?
McD - then they made
a map of their house
Addie k/mo - dorinda,
are the units mostly social studies? or do they encompass other subjects?
dorinda - :) second
but it can be used by all grade levels
McD - from there
we drew pictures of the outside of you house with any landmarks around....like
churchs, ponds, lakes etc.
bette/tx - dorinda
thanks..
dorinda - all subjects
the tools program is really neat because all the units are written by teachers
who are in training
bette/tx - dorinda
where do i find these programs?
dorinda - you go
to workshops that teach you how to plan and write the unit and you get
happies for your class like a digital camera and computers
Gumbo/K/La - dorinda----what
are some of the other stations?
Addie k/mo - too
cool, dorinda! i like "happies" for my class!
dorinda - in florida,
tools is a
bette/tx - dorinda
who puts on these workshops?
McD - then we put
all of our houses together into towns according to zip code, we put these
on large butcher paper so the students could see ''their'' towns
dorinda - just a
moment, let me find the website
Gumbo/K/La - mcd------good
idea!!!!
McD - then I made
a HUGE bulletin board of our county and I plotted each students house on
it
Addie k/mo - mcd,
that is a neat project. i like how it starts with them and extend out to
their part in the community.
McD - I had major
roads, lakes, ponds, restaurants, churches, the school etc. on that too
Beach - Cool McD
McD - then I put
our county on another bulletin board with ALL the counties on our state
and of course the final was the USA
McD - What do you
think??????....... The kids LOVED it.....and I was only a permanent sub
then.....hehee
bette/tx - McD sounds
great
Beach - Is the TOOLS
2000 a program or software?
dorinda - found it
:) http://www.okaloosa.k12.fl.us/technology/training/tools/elem/index.htm
Gumbo/K/La - very
good, mcd-----really gave the kids a chance to see how they 'fit' into
the community....
Addie k/mo - i bet
that really helped them understand the concept of cities, counties, states,
etc. my kids (k'rs) are always confused about those things. they know that
they are places, but not how they relate to each other.
Beach - Thanks for
the site dorinda
Gumbo/K/La - dorinda----it's
not working.....is is oSkaloosa?
Addie k/mo - thanks,
dorinda, i will have to check that out later.
bette/tx - thanks
dorinda i bookmarked it
dorinda - it's a
program -- meant to allow teachers to plan units
dorinda - nope...
hmmm
Gumbo/K/La - oops-----got
it, dorinda......
McD - It was really
neat because our school district is in a rural area, so the "towns" are
spread out in the county so it was cool to see where everyone lived and
how far they had to travel to school
dorinda - :) okay
bette/tx - dorinda
i took a quick look at the site..but need more time...
Gumbo/K/La - dorinda-----site
looks great.......
Beach - We did a
theme in the beginnig of the year for Social Studies on discovery
dorinda - ^_^ i think
it's a wonderful program... and anyway, its a wonderful collection of thematic
units
bette/tx - dorinda
i am always looking for new ideas
Beach - We did self
discovery like an All About me unit to start
dorinda - oh, :)
has anyone used the site funschool.com?
bette/tx - beach..that
is how i start the yr off. with the All About me units
Addie k/mo - yes,
we have.
Beach - Then worked
on discoverers like Columbus
bette/tx - dorinda
no..is it a good site??
McD - well.....I
have to go, I just wanted to share my ideas with you all
Addie k/mo - thanks,
mcd
Beach - Kids built
a replica of the Santa Maria
dorinda - it has
java games and quizes for students... mostly first and second grade level
dorinda - geography,
math, etc
Beach - Used Math
skills, mapskills, writing, science
Gumbo/K/La - thanks,
mcd!
dorinda - BUT, the
site takes forver on a slow connection...
Addie k/mo - actually,
dorinda, they have from preschool thru 6th grade on there. i have used
it in my classroom. i have never had much luck running it in the lab on
a bunch of computers. it seems that the programs never load.
bette/tx - thanks
for telling us about the slow connnection to that site..
dorinda - really?
i never saw 6th grade! *.*
Gumbo/K/La - does
anybody have any games or activites they've used to teach basic compass
directions?
Addie k/mo - my kinders
had a little trouble with the even the kinder site though. too many choices!
dorinda - i am actually
having my students use the us states quiz on one computer in my classroom...
it takes about a half hour for it to load and for them to play
Addie k/mo - it has
a section that is labeled third thru sixth....i cant remember exactly what
it is called.
bette/tx - my class
just enjoyed seeing a map of the USA and where we lived and picked the
state they would like to visit..
Addie k/mo - once
it has loaded once it doesnt take that long does it?
Addie k/mo - in october
we sung the song "this land is your land" as our patriotic song and talked
about the places on the map....like from the "redwood forests to the gulf
stream waters".
bette/tx - we sang
that song on Friday while looking at the map..they like that song...and
we tried to find which state was in the song
bette/tx - then we
cut out the USA and glued it on construction paper
dorinda - no, it's
the loading that takes forever
Addie k/mo - we need
to do more mapping. we have a couple of questions on it on our achievement
test.
Gumbo - I seem to
be having problems on this end......screen not advancing......
dorinda - mine as
well... which is ridiculous because i have a cable modem
Gumbo - dorinda-----how
do the kids make compass roses out of kleenex?
dorinda - eeeee
dorinda - ^^;; not
kleenex, K'nex
dorinda - these are
sort of like legos or brick blocks - they are very cool
dorinda - it's for
kinetic learning hands on type stuff
Gumbo - yes, I have
some in my class......but guess they could make a ROSE out of kleenex!!!!
:-)
Gumbo - we make compasses
using needles and magnets, and the kids always enjoy it....
dorinda - *.* i'd
love to do that... but with my luck someone would hurt themselves
Gumbo - no, dorinda-----haven't
had any injuries yet......and I'm in the center with them, so it works
great.
dorinda - :) thats
true
dorinda - we have
a globe station where they have to find certain places...
Gumbo - I did draw
a map of class, put it on overhead, and kids had to color things specified
colors----color the block area green,etc.
dorinda - that's
neat!
Gumbo - it worked
really well, and they were able to use the legend/key,etc on their copies...
Linda/2/CA - Hi all--I
am using American tall tales to teach them about the US
Gumbo - linda-----what
kind of mapping activities are you doing?
Linda/2/CA - well--they
have a map of the US and I have same map on overhead--we just finished
reading Paul Bunyan--they find and color the states where he was
Linda/2/CA - then
we talk about the different land forms from the story
Linda/2/CA - I found
the lessons at Core Knowledge
Gumbo - good idea,
linda-------are the kids counting how many states???? (kinders always want
to count everything!!!! :-)
Linda/2/CA - yes--they
are
Gumbo - with that
age, you can really expand the activities and more than just NSEW....
dorinda - well, i
need to leave now :) nice talking with you :)
Gumbo - During our
post card exchange, we put pins in map to show where cards were from, and
kids colored that state on their copies of map...
Gumbo - bye, dorinda!!!!
thanks so much for the site and ideas!!!! :-)
Linda/2/CA - when
we studied oceans and continents, one of the things I had them do every
day was--had a large outline map of continents on the wall--I put the names
of the continents, oceans, and cardinal directiions on post-its notes and
passed them out at random--t
Linda/2/CA - they
had to put them in the right places on the blank map
Gumbo - good idea!!!!
for the younger ones, I could also put continent shape with the name to
match. I bet your kids enjoyed doing that!
Linda/2/CA - yes
they did
Linda/2/CA - one
of the fun things we did was I enlarged the continent shapes and they used
those as templates to cut out of sugar cookies--decorated with frosting,
kisses, etc for the major land forms
Gumbo - Tasty idea!!!!!
What a neat thing to do!
Gumbo - I like to
do a food activity for each theme---the kids really remember them!
Linda/2/CA - yea--you
should have seen them trying to identify the continents when they were
upside down and everything
Gumbo - we do a sailing
thing-----fill up the water table, tape on continents, then kids 'sail'
their milk carton boats.....write what continents they sailed to.....
Linda/2/CA - don't
have a water or sand table
Gumbo - you could
use a rubbermaid container------or get on the good side of a kdn teacher!!!!
:-)
Gumbo - well, I really
do have to go! Nice talking to you----and thanks again for the ideas!!!!!
:-)
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