Mrs. Coomber's Kinderland

As I mentioned in a previous post, my kindergarten class learns about community through a quarter-long study based on the central question: What makes our community special? This project fits well with the kindergarten theme in the social studies common core standards: Me in My Communities. Read more here.

To familiarize my students with using a map as a tool, we begin by creating a large map of our kindergarten classroom. We start by practicing the language of location within the classroom. A quick game of I Spy reminds the students of positional words: “I spy someone sitting between Pirate and Dragon.” Then I ask the students to imagine they can fly to the ceiling and then look down at our classroom. We discuss the shape of the furniture and other items in the room (reinforcing previous learning about flat and solid shapes).

Finally, I hand pre-cut shapes to each student, and piece by piece, they create a birds-eye view of our classroom. When the students understand the idea, they begin to suggest items we missed and should add to our classroom map. I send them off with colored paper to cut and create before securing them to our map.

When we are finished constructing our map, we practice using it for specific purposes. First, I demonstrate the route I take from the classroom door, through the room and to my desk. I use my “finger legs,” which of course the students love, and pretend to walk on the map, placing a sticky note with my name on my desk. The students then each get a turn to “finger walk,” demonstrating their own path through the map, and placing a sticky note on their own seat(s).

Finally, we use the map to locate specific places. I create a treasure hunt for the students using the map. I hide tiny treasures around the classroom, marking each spot on the map with a sticky note for each student. The students need to read the map to learn where to search for their treasure in the classroom. Needless to say, treasure hunting is a huge hit amongst kindergarteners, and this year’s class asks me to create a new hunt almost every day.