Sunday, April 21, 2013

Continents, Maps, and Globes... Oh, My!

My weekends have been full of Common Core math training, and then Kindergarten readiness testing this past weekend.  We asked for parents to give us their e-mail addresses, and we are e-mailing them the "Getting Ready for Kindergarten" pack I made.  The parents were really excited to help their kiddos get ready for kindergarten.  I'm really excited to see the growth.  If you would like more info about that awesome pack, check out the post.

In my free time (lol), I have been working on a unit that introduces maps, globes, and the continents.  Arizona kindergarten standards for maps and globes include:

  • Recognize the differences between maps and globes.
  • Construct maps of a familiar place (e.g., classroom, bedroom, playground, neighborhood).
  • Identify land and water on maps, illustrations, images and globes.
  • Locate continents and oceans on a map or globe.
I designed my unit with these standards in mind.

There are anchor charts on all of the continents, oceans, and information on the difference between maps and globes.  My printer has been acting funny lately, so I just open my files and show them using my document camera (which is connected to my computer).  The kids really get to see what is on the page, I save ink, and I don't have to worry about trying to find the charts next year.  :)  It's a win-win-win.

I made three easy readers to go with the unit.
"Maps and Globes" talks about the difference between maps and globes.
"I Can Find the Continents" has the students locate and color the various continents and the ocean.
"I Can Find the Globe" has the students cut and paste little globes while practicing spatial relationships.

There are three main worksheets.
There is a worksheet (which has the same information as the "I Can Find the Continents" easy reader) that has the students locate and color the continents and ocean.
There are a few versions of the sheets where students make a map of a familiar place.
There are a few versions of the sheets where students describe locations based on other locations.  One version uses cardinal directions, and the other uses kinder friendly words such as "to the left of".

I made this craft with options.  I love options, and it drives me nuts when I find an activity I like, but it's not exactly what I want.  I have different verbiage for our Canadian friends (province instead of state), and I have several different versions of the "our city" including "our town", "our township", and others. 

 I am also all about throwing colored paper through the copier, so I made three different options.

One version has the printed circles with the clip art on them (the earth picture is the example).  The benefit would be there is no extra cutting required after the circle is cut.  Each state is represented with its own clip art state in either version with the clip art.  
The second version requires you to print the circle on colored paper, and then the clip art is on a separate sheet that can be printed on white paper.  This is the version that is shown in the picture above.
The third version has blank boxes for the kids to write and draw themselves.


So, in celebration of finishing this unit, I am giving the "I Can Be a Cartographer" page as a freebie. 
Click here to download.

Classroom Freebies Manic Monday

If you are interested in purchasing this pack, please visit my Teachers Pay Teachers store 

Have a GREAT week!

8 comments:

  1. Your unit for Maps looks awesome! We'll need remember it for next year when we teach maps!

    :) Tamra and Sarah
    First Grade Buddies

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  2. I love this freebie! I found you through the linky. I would love to have you drop by my blog and visit!

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    Replies
    1. I have stopped by before, and I'm heading over there now. :)

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  3. Love the freebie! Thanks for sharing!
    Ѽ Lori
    Teaching With Love and Laughter
    luvyorkies@gmail.com

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    Replies
    1. Holy smokes! Blogging royalty came to my blog. After all of the freebies that I have gotten from you, I'm just happy to give a freebie to you.

      Thanks for stopping by!
      Carolyn

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