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Social Studies Teachers Chatboard

How to teach map skills?

by Christina

Dec 20, 2010

Hello,

Its my first year teaching grade 8 (lower level, please keep in mind).

I do have a class set of atlases but they are all different kinds so there are alot of different pages, pictures etc. And I have very little materials and supplies and no projector, etc.(isolated first nations community).

What do you think are vital skills/techniques/words or terminology to teach kids about using atlases or maps? And then how do you teach them map skills (making their own maps etc.)?

Any ideas or suggestions? Thanks

Lynde I also teach middle school, but not geography. So, I'm not really a expert on the basic map skills of latitudes/longitudes, compass rose, scale, map legend, and basic directions. (I think those are the issues they teach in most history textbooks.) So, I leave the per-se teaching of those items to the geography teacher. But, I do try to teach map-re...See MoreI also teach middle school, but not geography. So, I'm not really a expert on the basic map skills of latitudes/longitudes, compass rose, scale, map legend, and basic directions. (I think those are the issues they teach in most history textbooks.) So, I leave the per-se teaching of those items to the geography teacher. But, I do try to teach map-reading skills every chance I get as a way of reinforcing my content. What I get the most success from is providing a map outline, already completed with some basic geo-features or well-known cities. Then have the kids complete the map with other geo-features and historical sites. I also give them questions to answer--what would be the fastest way to get from X to Y without going through the desert? If you were in X place, traveled north 100 miles, then headed east for another 50, where would you be. These kinds of questions are the beginnings for when they're ready to build maps on their own. I don't work with the different kinds of map projections--I've never seen a history textbook that uses them once the textbook teaches the different ones in Chapter 1. So, why bother. The Geography Class will attend to these issues. I, too, teach under-performers and on a reservation, so I do these activities together as a whole class. I also don't have time to type up the activities and get them run off--plus our school is running out of paper--so I write the questions on the board--saves me tremendous amounts of time. Just go up and down the aisles checking that every student is getting the correct answer. Sometimes I pair kids up. All of these constitute modifications by the way-make sure you document in your log- book. Make it fun. Tell a story--Josh Brave Heart is going to meet his BFF in Tangiers (or at the International Pow-Wow in Rapid City. How far woulod he have to travel to be able to have lunch in Alexandria, and do they serve pizza in Alexandria anyway? How could he get to Rapid City, and still stop off at Alexandria for a pizza. The kids get into the swing of it. If you need/or really want to teach map skills from the ground up, have the kids free-draw their neighborhood, then have them start re-doing it to scale. Or give them directions and they have to follow the directions as they draw a map--walk 5 paces and plant a flag; then turn to the east for 6 miles and .... Also, you can use playdough, or etc. and have them make a 3-D map. For the atlas, I've had the students take a country, generate 5 questions from the atlas map for that country and then get up in class an have the rest answer the questions. Only have 3- 5 questions,m though--low performers get overwhelmed with any more than than, and you only have so much tiime for the activity anyway. If you ahve shy kids, have them write their questions down on poster paper to use as their prompts for when they ask the class their questions.

On 12/20/10, Christina wrote: > Hello, > > Its my first year teaching grade 8 (lower level, please keep > in mind). > > I do have a class set of atlases but they are all different > kinds so there are alot of different pages, pictures etc. > And I have very little materials and supplies and no > projector, etc.(isolated first nations community). > > What do you think are vital skills/techniques/words or > terminology to teach kids about using atlases or maps? And > then how do you teach them map skills (making their own maps > etc.)? > > Any ideas or suggestions? > Thanks

Dec 21, 2010

R. I teach W. Geo, and here are a few of the skills we work on

1. Parts of a map (title, key, map scale, compass rose, lat/long lines, labels/symbols/colors). Every map has these, so you can have the student use post-its to label the parts on their atlases. Some students have trouble understanding map scale, large vs. small. Walk the room to ...See MoreI teach W. Geo, and here are a few of the skills we work on

1. Parts of a map (title, key, map scale, compass rose, lat/long lines, labels/symbols/colors). Every map has these, so you can have the student use post-its to label the parts on their atlases. Some students have trouble understanding map scale, large vs. small. Walk the room to check on understanding.

2. Latitude, longitude, prime meridian, equator, hemisphere. Here agaain, some students struggle with remembering latitude and longitude. I've found that a word wall for these terms is useful year-round.

3. Have students practice reading lat/long and finding loacations. We do a whole class activity where we practice together. Then they have a list of coordinates and cities that they find. To review later in the week, I give each student an index card with either a coordinate or a city. They use their atlas to find its match, and then they find their partner. To modify, I will add the continent, country, or atlas pg. # on the index card.

4. Have students create their own world (we do this after we learn about landforms and climate) you can be really precise and give them the hemisphere or coordinates you want them to be at. Or you you can have them design their own place. They have to include the parts of a map, and make sure that their latitude/longitude lines fall in the correct parameters (90 and 180). Of course in color and with as much deatail as you want them to show.

5. Different types of maps, and what the information they show means. Know the difference between a physical and political map. Given that you may not have a uniform set of atlases, you can find basic info in most of them, you will have to be specific with what page number goes with what atlas. You can point out population density maps, land use maps, climate maps, vegetation maps. Teach them to always read the map title and key/legend to know what the map is about.

Per the type of projections, I teach my kids that not all maps are the same. Each projection offers a distortion, so not all maps are useful for all purposes. You may want to keep it brief since you have lower level students.

I hope this is useful:)

On 12/21/10, Lynde wrote: > I also teach middle school, but not geography. So, I'm not > really a expert on the basic map skills of > latitudes/longitudes, compass rose, scale, map legend, and > basic directions. (I think those are the issues they teach > in most history textbooks.) So, I leave the per-se teaching > of those items to the geography teacher. But, I do try to > teach map-reading skills every chance I get as a way of > reinforcing my content. What I get the most success from is > providing a map outline, already completed with some basic > geo-features or well-known cities. Then have the kids > complete the map with other geo-features and historical sites. > I also give them questions to answer--what would be the > fastest way to get from X to Y without going through the > desert? If you were in X place, traveled north 100 miles, > then headed east for another 50, where would you be. These > kinds of questions are the beginnings for when they're ready > to build maps on their own. I don't work with the different > kinds of map projections--I've never seen a history textbook > that uses them once the textbook teaches the different ones > in Chapter 1. So, why bother. The Geography Class will > attend to these issues. I, too, teach under-performers and > on a reservation, so I do these activities together as a > whole class. I also don't have time to type up the > activities and get them run off--plus our school is running > out of paper--so I write the questions on the board--saves me > tremendous amounts of time. Just go up and down the aisles > checking that every student is getting the correct answer. > Sometimes I pair kids up. All of these constitute > modifications by the way-make sure you document in your log- > book. Make it fun. Tell a story--Josh Brave Heart is going > to meet his BFF in Tangiers (or at the International Pow-Wow > in Rapid City. How far woulod he have to travel to be able > to have lunch in Alexandria, and do they serve pizza in > Alexandria anyway? How could he get to Rapid City, and still > stop off at Alexandria for a pizza. The kids get into the > swing of it. If you need/or really want to teach map skills > from the ground up, have the kids free-draw their > neighborhood, then have them start re-doing it to scale. Or > give them directions and they have to follow the directions > as they draw a map--walk 5 paces and plant a flag; then turn > to the east for 6 miles and .... Also, you can use > playdough, or etc. and have them make a 3-D map. For the > atlas, I've had the students take a country, generate 5 > questions from the atlas map for that country and then get up > in class an have the rest answer the questions. Only have 3- > 5 questions,m though--low performers get overwhelmed with any > more than than, and you only have so much tiime for the > activity anyway. If you ahve shy kids, have them write their > questions down on poster paper to use as their prompts for > when they ask the class their questions. > > > On 12/20/10, Christina wrote: >> Hello, >> >> Its my first year teaching grade 8 (lower level, please keep >> in mind). >> >> I do have a class set of atlases but they are all different >> kinds so there are alot of different pages, pictures etc. >> And I have very little materials and supplies and no >> projector, etc.(isolated first nations community). >> >> What do you think are vital skills/techniques/words or >> terminology to teach kids about using atlases or maps? And >> then how do you teach them map skills (making their own maps >> etc.)? >> >> Any ideas or suggestions? >> Thanks

Dec 24, 2010

Kev The vital terms to know when using a map are "driving directions, and printable version."

Honestly, I'm not sure why we teach map reading any more [Full disclosure, I'm not sure why we ever taught it really.] It really is a relic and there's no reason for kids to care about it so why would they?

On 12/20/10, Christina wrote: > ...See More

Dec 29, 2010

jason On 12/29/10, Kev wrote: > The vital terms to know when using a map are "driving > directions, and printable version." > > Honestly, I'm not sure why we teach map reading any more [Full > disclosure, I'm not sure why we ever taught it really.] It > really is a relic and there's no reason for kids to care about > it so why would ...See More

Jan 5, 2011

Kev On 1/05/11, jason wrote: > On 12/29/10, Kev wrote: >> The vital terms to know when using a map are "driving >> directions, and printable version." >> >> Honestly, I'm not sure why we teach map reading any more [Full >> disclosure, I'm not sure why we ever taught it really.] It >> really is a relic and there's ...See More

Jan 6, 2011

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