Maps! It's time to put a unit together that will really grab your 2nd, 3rd or 4th grade students' interest. Where to begin? (heavy sigh here). Rest easy! Read on for a few ideas to really boost map skills for your students while putting FUN into your unit. There's more... download the included great freebie to get you started!
Can't miss ideas to make your unit hit the mark!
- Include storytelling: Learning for millennia has been through stories. Why? It works. It's the way our brain works. So use stories about characters that travel. Plot their paths on a map. For example, think about Alice in Wonderland. Making a map of her adventures really pulls in students! It puts map skills to work!
- Create personalized maps: Once your students have learned about maps, give them the chance to make maps about their own world, or a fictional world from their favorite book.
- Map-inspired Art: Encourage artistic expression by having your students create art pieces inspired by maps. For instance, paint a landscape from a map, design a map-themed mural, etc.
- Create a community map with the class: Showcase points of interest in the community, landmarks, rivers and such. Don't forget the map key.
- Map-based Storytelling: Divide students into small groups and provide each group with a map of a different imaginary world. Challenge them to collaborate and create a story based on their map, complete with characters and plot twists. It's a chance to use map skills in a fun a creative way.
- Map-themed Snack Time: Have a map-themed snack time, students enjoy snacks from different countries or regions. Discuss the locations on a world map while enjoying flavors of the world. This would be really fun if students brought in a simple snack from their heritage.
- Map Show and Tell: Have students bring in or draw their own maps of a place they'd like to visit. During a show and tell session, they present their maps and describe the locations and why they'd like to go there.
- Map Design Challenge: Challenge your students to design a fantasy map for a fictional world, complete with landforms and landmarks. This stimulates critical thinking and creativity...that's another way of saying they LEARN the curriculum.
Want a fun Freebie to drop into your unit? Check out:
