Let+Students+Map+the+Story

Let Students Map the Story Gina Albano What is it? By providing students with laminated desk maps or blackline masters, students can track the progress of the story. Students can draw icons along the route that reflects events in the story or simply draw lines indicating the best routes. In the end, students should be encouraged to draw conclusions about the patterns and markings on their maps. Strengths:  · Allows students to track the progress of the story  · Invites students to follow characters journeys  · For kinesthetic learners, modeling clay can be provided for them to represent items and place them on the appropriate places on the map.  · Blackline masters of maps can be found on the internet for free!  · Pattern maps identify patterns according to a particular topic or theme. Ex: population density, natural resources, agricultural centers, family origins, etc.  · Great engagement for students! Limitations:  · Each student needs to be provided their own individual map.  · This strategy could be time consuming due to the complexity of the topic.

Ann Higby

Strategy: Let Students Map the Story! **Description:** This is a strategy where each student s given a laminated desk map and a dry erase marker. As the class goes through the story they can track their progress on their maps using the dry erase marker. They may also use their dry erase markers to draw icons along the route on their maps that reflect the story. For example, the textbook discussed using the story //How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World// in order to see where all the ingredients came from around the world such as wheat from Italy, eggs from France, apples from Vermont, etc. With this the students can either draw pictures or symbols of each of the ingredients in the area they came from or track what they believe would be the best route around the world to get each of the ingredients. The textbook also says that for more kinesthetic learners they can use modeling clay to mold into objects to place around their maps. In some instances for certain stories interacting with their maps can create certain patterns that students will be able to draw conclusions from about the time period or why certain routes were taken. **Strengths of mapping the story:** This strategy allows students to be interactive with their maps throughout the lesson and stay engaged. It also helps the student, as well as the teacher, track the students’ progress. **Weaknesses:** Sometimes depending on the story it can be difficult to create a useful map. For example, when I was trying to create a map for the Columbus story it was very hard to find an accurate map because the world is not the same as it was in 1502 and it was impossible to find one that was labeled with the countries I was trying to identify from the story. **Points I want the lesson to make:** Columbus’s Voyage (Section “If he wasn’t interested in the Bahamas, what was Columbus looking for in the first place?”) · Columbus was searching for a direct route to China and the Indies, but ended up in the Bahamas · The Orient was loaded with spices and gold · Europeans desired gold and precious jewels · Cinnamon from Ceylon · Pepper from India and Indonesia · Nutmeg from Celebes · Cloves from the Moluccas · Japanese silks from Japan · Indian dyes, cottons, and precious stones from India