Maps
Standard SS2.6
The student will demonstrate map skills by constructing simple maps, using title, map legend, and compass rose.
Essential Knowledge/Skills
A map includes three parts:
1. Title – Tells the name or kind of map
2. Map Legend – Shows a list of shapes and symbols used on a map and an explanation of what each stands for
3. Compass Rose – A symbol that shows the cardinal directions: north, south, east, west
Read Aloud Books
North, South, East, and West – Hi-5 – Season 2 Song of the Week
The student will demonstrate map skills by constructing simple maps, using title, map legend, and compass rose.
Essential Knowledge/Skills
A map includes three parts:
1. Title – Tells the name or kind of map
2. Map Legend – Shows a list of shapes and symbols used on a map and an explanation of what each stands for
3. Compass Rose – A symbol that shows the cardinal directions: north, south, east, west
Read Aloud Books
- Mapping Penny’s World by Loreen Leedy
- There’s a Map on My Lap: All About Maps by Tish Rabe
- Follow That Map! A First Book of Mapping Skills by Scot Ritchie
North, South, East, and West – Hi-5 – Season 2 Song of the Week
Resources
Spooky Town Worksheet
Lakeside Campground
Practicing Map Skills
My Neighborhood
Four Corner Book
Spooky Town Worksheet
Lakeside Campground
Practicing Map Skills
My Neighborhood
Four Corner Book
Compass Rose
Color, cut, and create a compass rose.
Color, cut, and create a compass rose.
Community Map Making
Students will create their own town, city, or community. They must include the three major parts of a map: title, compass rose, and map key.
Materials
Building Pieces for Community Maps
Map Key for Community Maps
Students will create their own town, city, or community. They must include the three major parts of a map: title, compass rose, and map key.
Materials
Building Pieces for Community Maps
Map Key for Community Maps
Nystrom Maps
Students will explore Nystrom maps with dry erase markers.
Students will explore Nystrom maps with dry erase markers.
We use little toy men to follow cardinal directions to different places on the maps.
Twister Board Community
The coordinate plane is a skill students will not need to master in second grade; however, it is one of the best tools for teaching direction skills and how to use the cardinal directions to get from one place to another. This is an essential skill of reading maps and understanding geography. I have my class create a community map grid using a regular Twister board.
To begin, I introduce students to the x and y axis and label these on the board.
I model and allow students to practice “naming” different colored dots by their coordinate (example: A, 3). Students understand this best by holding one hand on the x axis and the other hand on the y axis and then pulling them together, along the row and column, to find one particular dot.
To further drive this point home, we play a quick game called Secret Code Grid. Every letter of the alphabet is plotted on the coordinate plane. I start out easy with short words, like cat, dog, mom, or dad. I give students the coordinates for the secret word, and they must use the coordinates to find the letter and make the secret word.
Once they can solve these shorter secret words, I allow them to move onto the deciphering the mystery sentence and then writing a secret code for their name and/or a secret code for a word of their choice.
Secret Code Grid Game Board
Twister Board Community
The coordinate plane is a skill students will not need to master in second grade; however, it is one of the best tools for teaching direction skills and how to use the cardinal directions to get from one place to another. This is an essential skill of reading maps and understanding geography. I have my class create a community map grid using a regular Twister board.
To begin, I introduce students to the x and y axis and label these on the board.
I model and allow students to practice “naming” different colored dots by their coordinate (example: A, 3). Students understand this best by holding one hand on the x axis and the other hand on the y axis and then pulling them together, along the row and column, to find one particular dot.
To further drive this point home, we play a quick game called Secret Code Grid. Every letter of the alphabet is plotted on the coordinate plane. I start out easy with short words, like cat, dog, mom, or dad. I give students the coordinates for the secret word, and they must use the coordinates to find the letter and make the secret word.
Once they can solve these shorter secret words, I allow them to move onto the deciphering the mystery sentence and then writing a secret code for their name and/or a secret code for a word of their choice.
Secret Code Grid Game Board
To practice using the cardinal directions, students must tell the directions from their house to a friend’s house and to a community store or business. Each student completes a half-sheet that has them detail their destinations and the cardinal directions they will take to get there.
Twister Student Sheet
Twister Student Sheet