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Catchy Title: How Do We Get There From Here?
Theme/Topic of Lesson: Using Cardinal Directions
Time Commitment: Two 50-minute blocks
Subject Area(s):
Language Arts
Social Studies
Grade Level(s): 1,2,3,4,Kindergarten
Standards Alignment:
Class Challenge Question: How would you explain how to get from here to there?
Overview:
The study of geography is important to students today because it brings together the physical and human dimensions of the world in the study of people, places, and environments. To understand geography at a basic level, everyone needs the ability to understand how to read maps. Map skills are important for children as they develop their independence because they give students the tools they need to find their way in the world and to locate important information. Learning the cardinal directions is one of the first steps toward reading a map. If a child can use cardinal directions to read a map, then that child has the ability to construct and interpret maps in order to locate and describe places using relative distance.
This is a two-part lesson that incorporates both social studies and language arts skills. The students will learn how to read a map using cardinal directions and how to apply this skill to develop both oral and written directions. Students will have the opportunity to
practice identifying cardinal directions on an orienteering activity on the National Geographic Website. Students will explore how to give good directions by communicating about locations around their school. This would be a good activity to invite in parent volunteers. To accommodate different learning styles, auditory, visual,
interpersonal, and kinesthetic approaches are incorporated into the lesson. To successfully complete this lesson, students must be familiar with the layout of the school, as they will be working in groups to find locations around the school. Students will work
with their teams to communicate how to travel to certain locations around the school using maps and cardinal directions. These groups should be predetermined by the teacher and should be heterogeneously mixed. There is also an individual component in which each student will write directions to explain how to travel from the entrance of the school to the classroom. In order to meet the needs of individual learners, the teacher can provide modifications, such as a prewritten set of directions that need to be pasted in order, that will allow all students to show success regardless of their writing abilities.
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Writing
(K-12) | Maryland Content Standards Indicators
Students produce informational, practical, persuasive, and narrative writing that demonstrates an awareness of audience, purpose and form using stages of the writing process as needed (i.e., pre-writing, drafting, revising, editing and publishing). | | Writing
(K-3) | Maryland Content Standards
Students produce informational, practical, persuasive, and narrative writing that demonstrates an awareness of audience, purpose and form using stages of the writing process as needed (i.e., pre-writing, drafting, revising, editing and publishing). | Maryland State Indicators
3.3.1.3
use relevant descriptions, including sensory details, personal experiences, observations and research-based information to make a topic or message clear to the reader (MLO.W. 1.3., MLO.W. 2.3., MLO.W. 3.3.) | Writing
(K-3) | Maryland Content Standards
Students produce informational, practical, persuasive, and narrative writing that demonstrates an awareness of audience, purpose and form using stages of the writing process as needed (i.e., pre-writing, drafting, revising, editing and publishing). | Maryland State Indicators
3.3.6.2
write descriptions that move through a logical sequence of events (MLO.W. 1.5) | Geography
(K-12) | Maryland Content Standards Indicators
Students will use geographic concepts and processes to examine the role of culture, technology, and the environment in the location and distributions of human activities and spatial connections throughout time. | | Geography
(K-3) | Maryland Content Standards
Students will use geographic concepts and processes to examine the role of culture, technology, and the environment in the location and distributions of human activities and spatial connections throughout time. | Maryland State Indicators
4.1.3.2
construct and interpret maps to locate and describe places using relative distance, map elements including a title, simple grid systems, cardinal directions, compass rose, border, and legend/key, author and date (MLO 3.1.) | Basic operations and concepts
(Gr. K-2) | ISTE Technology Standards
1. Basic operations and concepts
| ISTE Technology Performance Indicators
Use developmentally appro
Use developmentally appropriate multimedia resources (e.g., interactive books, educational software, elementary multimedia encyclopedias) to support learning.
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Learning Objectives:
The Students will:
- Locate places on a map using a compass rose and cardinal directions
- Communicate directions using cardinal directions
- Write directions using a map and cardinal directions.
Assessment
* An informal assessment of student's ability to give oral directions will be taken
by the teacher.
* Students and teacher will be given a checklist to use for editing and assessing
directions written by students.
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Resources
Materials
Per classPer student team/group of 3-4- Compass (check your science supply closet or find these at a camping store)
- Map of school
- Crayon or marker
- One counting chip for each student (Bingo markers, pennies, etc.)
- One plastic or paper cup
- Index card labeled with a different location in the school (office, gym,
cafeteria, etc.)
Per Student- 1 piece construction paper
- Map of the school
(Most schools have maps drawn that indicate fire escape routes. You can
use a copy, white out the escape routes, and enlarge the map for class use.) - Crayon or marker
- "Writing Good Directions" checklist
- Writing Good Directions (View)
Vocabulary
- Compass - an instrument for showing direction
- Cardinal Directions - the four major directions. (North, South, East and
West)
- Compass Rose - a symbol on a map used to show the cardinal directions
Procedures
Students will construct meaning by utilizing a variety of learning styles to communicate
how to travel to and from different locations around their school. Using discussion, the
teacher can pre-assess how well students are able to communicate directions. Students
will have the opportunity to use technology to practice identifying cardinal directions
before they work in groups to use these to locate places in the school. In order to provide
the technology component, one computer with Internet access needs to be available,
although multiple computers in the classroom could be utilized for more individual
practice. Ideally, this computer will be connected to an LCD projector in order to show
the site on a television monitor. Students will have opportunities to work individually,
with a partner through Think-Pair-Share activities, and in heterogeneous groups. This
will provide the students the opportunity to practice communicating directions with peers
and allow them to sequence their thoughts before formally writing directions on paper.
To provide opportunities for success for all learners, accommodations can be made in the
writing component of the lesson by providing a set of directions that needs to be placed in
the correct sequence. This will help students who might have difficulty writing their
ideas. Also, by utilizing heterogeneous groups and providing the chance for all group
members to participate, students of varying abilities will have the opportunity to learn
from each other to develop oral communication and listening skills. High achievers can
be challenged to create their own school maps or find multiple routes to get from one
place to another around the school.
1: Using Cardinal Directions to Read a Map
Daily Challenge Question: How can a map show us how to get from here to there?
Set-up Directions:
To prepare for the lesson, have a copy of the story, The Secret Shortcut, available to read to the students. Prepare a copy of a map of the school and two
sets of 8" x 11" directional cards labeled North, South, East and West. Also prepare a
compass rose to attach to the map. Group the students into heterogeneous groups of three
or four students and gather enough compasses so that each group has one to use. Make
copies of the school map for each group. Also, prepare markers for each group. Make
sure the computer and LCD monitor are on and bookmark the Orientometer activity on
the National Geographic site. You can find this activity by going to the National
Geographic Website at www.nationalgeographic.com. Click on the For Kids link in the
Guides section in the left margin. Then click on the Xpeditions activities. Click on Find
an Activity. Then scroll down the activity list to the Get Oriented activity. Go to this
page, which provides some background information on directions. Click on the
Orientometer activity, which is found directly above the Family - X Files heading. You
can also reach the activity directly using this URL:
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/xpeditions/activities/02/getoriented.html
This would be the day to invite parents to help the students if there are
volunteers available.
Teacher Presentation & Motivation:
Start by asking several students to describe the route they take to get from their homes to
school. Use this as a time to informally assess their understanding of directions and their
abilities to communicate directions in a logical sequence. Ask the students if any of them
have ever used a shortcut to get to school and see if they can identify the purpose of a
shortcut. Read the story, The Secret Shortcut, aloud to the class. After reading, use
Think-Pair-Share to see if the students can think of something the boys might be able to
use to help them find a really good shortcut. Elicit from the students that a map would be
a good tool to help the boys. Have the students share their ideas of how maps help
people find their way from one place to another. Students may share that their parents
use maps to find a store or a friend's house. They might share an experience of helping
their parents use a map to find a vacation spot. They also might share seeing maps on
television that indicate the location of a place in the news.
Activity 1 - Using Cardinal Directions to Find Locations on a Map
Give each group a compass and instruct them to release the needle on the compass, hold
the compass flat until the needle stops moving and points north, and turn the compass
until the needle and the mark for north are in line. Tell the students that this shows the
direction on North in the room. Ask a student to hang a sign on a wall indicating North.
Ask them where South is in relation to North. Have students hang a sign indicating the
direction of South in the room. Continue for East and West. Explain to the students that
these four directions are called the cardinal directions and that these help people figure
out where they are in the world and can help guide people from one place to another.
Collect the compasses before you move on to the next part of the lesson.
Show the class a map of the school. Point out the title of the map. Have the students
identify places of interest in the school for them. Show the class a compass rose. Explain
the purpose of a compass rose. Have a student place the compass rose in the corner of
the map. Then have other students use the compass rose to place directional cards around
the perimeter of the map. Ask students to locate places on the map using directional
words, such as the boys' bathroom is West of the office, the gym is South of the
Cafeteria, etc. These questions can be turned into a game, such as Jeopardy. You can ask
a question such as "The boys' bathroom?" and a student can answer "What is West of the
office?" or "Where is the art room?" with an answer like, "What is North of our
classroom?" Using Think-Pair-Share, have students turn to a partner and describe how
they would get from the room to the office, from the gym to the cafeteria, etc., using
Cardinal Directions. Allow partners to share their ideas.
Activity 2 - Orienteering
Go to the Orientometer activity on the National Geographic Website
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/xpeditions/activities/02/getoriented.html. Click on
the link to the Orientometer. Connect an LCD projector and display the site over the T.V.
monitor. Tell students that they are going to take a class challenge to see how well they
know the directions. Tell them to stand up and pretend that they are standing on the blue
square in the middle. Ask "What color shows North?" Ask students to point in the
direction that shows North on the computer. Yellow shows North, so the students should
point up to indicate that yellow is the correct choice. Double click on the color square
that the majority indicates. This will link to the color square that states that direction.
For example, yellow shows North. If the students select yellow, then double click on
yellow, and the monitor will show the yellow square with North indicated. Continue with
all four directions until the class is able to correctly identify each one. Have them check
their class score against the scoring tool at the bottom of the Orientometer.
Focus for Media Interaction
Focus for Media Interaction: The focus for media interaction is a specific task to complete and/or information to identify during or after viewing of video segments, Web sites or other multimedia elements.
The focus for this media interaction is to have students identify cardinal directions on a
two-dimensional representation found at a website.
Activity 3 - Where Did We Go From Here?
Break class into groups of two to four students giving each group a map of the school.
Have the groups label the cardinal directions on their maps. Then, give each group an
index card identifying a location in the school. Tell the groups to keep their locations
secret. Have each group exit from the room with their map and a crayon or marker and
walk to their secret location in the school. Have them trace the route on the map using a
crayon or marker. Have them return to the room and discuss with each other how to
explain their route using cardinal directions. To facilitate participation by all students,
give each student in the group a chip. After he/she has practiced explaining the group's
route using cardinal directions, have the student place his/her chip in a cup. That way,
everyone can "chip in." When all groups have returned, randomly select a student from
each group to present their group's route using cardinal directions. Tell each presenter to
give the directions but not where they are taking the class. Make sure they do not share
the final destination. Have other students see if they can determine where each group
went by listening to the directions given and following along on their maps. Use this
activity as an informal assessment of how well the students are able to both communicate
and use the cardinal directions.
Activity 4 - Culminating Activity
Have the students face the directions in the room that they labeled in the beginning. Ask
them to stand and face West, North, East, etc. Then have them face certain locations,
such as the office or the cafeteria and have them identify the direction that they are
facing.
Wrap Up:
Ask students to explain how Wendell and Floyd, the two boys from the Secret Shortcut
video, could use a map and cardinal directions to help them find a really good shortcut to
school. A student could share that they could make a map and try to use the directions to
locate the fastest possible route to school.
2: Explaining How to Get From Here to There
Daily Challenge Question: How can we explain to someone else how to get from here to
there?
Set-up Directions:
Cue The Secret Shortcut Video to start right after the orienteering section, which
involves the children in Central Park. The video should begin as LeVar is walking
through the trees saying, "Knowing how to read a map is great." Make copies of the
school map and the Writing Good Directions checklist for each student. Prepare blank
sentence strips and markers for use during the lesson.
Create a "How to Write Clear Directions" guide that you can project using an LCD
monitor that explains how to write a set of directions. Include the following steps: Step
1: Choose a Topic and think about it. (What do you want to explain? What steps need
to be followed?) Step 2: Write the directions. (Do you want to use time words, like first
and last or numbers before each step?) Step 3: Check your directions. (Are all the steps
included? Are the steps in the right order?) Step 4: Proofread your directions for
capital letters, appearance, punctuation and spelling (CAPS). Step 5: Add illustrations
to your directions if you wish. This document can be enlarged and turned into a
classroom poster for your room if you wish.
If you have students that need writing accommodations, prepare a handout with steps
explaining how to get from the front door of the building to your classroom ahead of
time. Place these steps out of order on the handout. Then students that need extra help
can cut and paste these directions into the right order on a separate sheet of paper.
For high achievers, challenge them to explain alternate routes from the entrance of the
school to the classroom. Can they find the longest way? The shortest way?
Teacher Presentation & Motivation:
Review with students what directions they learned yesterday. Ask students to turn to a
partner and explain how to get from the door of the classroom to their desks using the
cardinal directions. Today you will start by showing students the section of the video that
presents giving good directions. CUE The Secret Shortcut video to start right after the
orienteering section, which involves the children in Central Park. The video should begin
as LeVar is walking through the trees saying, "Knowing how to read a map is great."
Activity 1 - The Secret Shortcut
Watch "The Secret Shortcut" video
Focus for Media Interaction
Focus for Media Interaction: The focus for media interaction is a specific task to complete and/or information to identify during or after viewing of video segments, Web sites or other multimedia elements.
The focus for media interaction for this video segment is to have the
students explain how to provide good directions.
Viewing Activities
What will your students be responsible for while viewing this piece of multi-media or video?
Tell the students that they're are going to look for a good set of directions.
Instruct students to pay attention to the directions that they will hear and to
think about what makes these good directions. PLAY the video. PAUSE
after LeVar talks with the jogger. Ask the students what was great about
her directions. They might respond that she included the words left and
right and told LeVar how far he could expect to walk. Again ask students
to pay attention to the directions that they will hear from children and
think about what makes these good directions. Have them show a thumbs-
up sign when they think they hear good directions. When students show
thumbs up PAUSE the video to discuss their responses. RESUME the
video. STOP the video right after LeVar states, "Those kids have what I
call a great sense of direction." There are a variety of children's directions
in this section that include the use of left, right, and landmarks.
Post Viewing Activities
How will students utilize the information they gathered while viewing the multi-media or video?
Discuss the ways the children in the video explained how to get from their
houses to their best friends' houses. "How did the students use directions,
such as left and right, to explain the route?" Several students in the video
explain the routes using left and right directions. "How do students tell
you what to look for on the route?" The students on the tape mention fire
hydrants, hills, and the look of their friend's house as landmarks along the
route. Ask if the students can remember what they learned about
directions from the previous lesson that would help them give good
directions. Elicit from the students the fact that a map and cardinal
directions are useful for this purpose.
Activity 2 - How to Get From Here to There
Using the "How to Write Clear Directions" guide on the monitor for writing a set of
directions, follow each step as you model for students how to write a set of directions.
You will be asking the students to help you give directions from your classroom to
another classroom. You might want to specify which teacher's room. Step 1: Ask
students how they would explain how to get from their classroom to another teacher's
classroom using the map of the school and cardinal directions. Use Think-Pair-Share to
have students determine how to explain the directions. They can use their maps and trace
the route with a crayon if this is helpful to them. Step 2: Have several students share their
ideas and write these ideas on sentence strips. Then, have students place these steps in
order on the board and number the steps. Complete steps 3 and 4 together. Tell students
that now they will be writing directions of their own just like they just did together as a
class.
Activity 3 - How to Get From There to Here
Distribute a school map to each student. Ask students to trace the route from the front
door of the school to the classroom on their school map using a crayon. Allow them to
discuss the route with a partner practicing using the cardinal directions. Then, ask
students to write directions explaining how to get from the front door to the classroom,
using numbered steps.
Activity 4 - Culminating Activity
Give students the checklist "Writing Good Directions." Allow them to check their own
work against the checklist. Let them rewrite or edit their directions using the checklist.
Wrap Up:
Ask several students to share their directions with the class. Discuss the routes that are
available. If there is time available, challenge students to follow each others' directions.
Enrichment Options
Parent-Home Connection
Send home the school maps and directions home with the students. Ask them to have
their parent(s)/guardian(s) follow their directions to find the way from the school
entrance to the classroom.
Field Experiences
Ask students to make a map of their home showing the best route to exit in case of a
fire or other emergency. Have them write these exit directions and place them in a
central location in their home.
Cross-Curricular Extensions
* Language Arts
Students can write creative, far-fetched excuses for being late to school, like Wendell
and Floyd.
* Fine Arts
Students can take photos (digital photos if digital cameras are available) of key
locations around their school and community and add these to a class created map
display.
* Mathematics
Have students measure the distances between certain locations in the building using
both informal and formal types of measurement.
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As a reflective practitioner, note how this lesson could be adjusted after its initial
implementation. How successful were the students? What did the assessment demonstrate
about the students' learning? What skills do the students need to revisit? What
instructional strategies worked and what made them successful? What will you change
the next time you use this lesson? Why?
Author: Beth Olinger
Modified by: Glenda Weikel
Program: National Teacher Training Institute (NTTI)
Author's School System: Baltimore County Public Schools
Author's School: New Town Elementary
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