As forewarned in a recent email, I've been thinking of a real-life and useful classroom project that will give us experience and practice with reading and making maps (our monthly theme for January). This is what I've come up with:
For HOMEWORK, each child will be making a large map that will show the route they travel to school. This can be a walking route, bus route, or (most common) car route. Before they begin, however, they should bring a notebook and pencil with them several times on the trip. Encourage and help them jot down names of important streets, landmarks, parks, etc.
After completing their map, your child should mark the route they take from home to school with a colored pencil. Also needed is a compass rose * and a map key * that shows what any symbols mean. Before bringing the map to school, your child should show it to a friend or family member and describe the route out loud - they might find out at this point the modifications are needed. This will be due on Friday, January 20th.
* Please note that concepts like the compass rose, symbols, and map keys will be taught at school next week.
When I have all the maps back at school, we will use all the individual maps (along with a city map) to create one large class map which will show each student's route from home to school. If it turns out as cool as I think it will, this map will be used to teach other children mapping skills, as well as for a great visual display in our classroom and for the open house.
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