News From First Grade, May, 2013
Where in the World are We?
What is happening in our classroom this month.
Where In The World Are We is our unit for the month of May. This unit is intended to introduce students to the concept of the globe and maps being a model of our physical space; an invitation for students to explore specific features of these models in order to understand location of the continents, countries, and oceans. This unit provides students with an initial understanding of our place in the world, phenomenon of night and day cycle, measure of time that can be easily expressed with numbers they already know. In this unit students will be asked to imagine themselves in the completely different world and describe it using their five senses to create a story. This unit is filled with number of interesting hands-on activities, follow along presentations and book readings.
Things to do with your students at home.
Enjoy it!!!
Help with this month homework:
Week 1: The students will be given The World globe handout to take home to color & label the continents and oceans.
Week 2: Students will be asked to draw two pictures that relate to night & day cycle.
Week 3: The students will be asked to make a map of their room; have students create their own special symbols to show each item.
Week 4: The students will be given puzzle math worksheet with subtraction and addition problems to solve at home. Coded answer will answer essential questions of this lesson.
Week 5: The students will write about any place in the world they would like to visit. Why? Draw a picture; indicate what direction(s) you need to travel (walk, bike) to get there from your house.
Explore this month topics
Globe
What is a globe?
Map
What is a map?
Time
How to measure time?
Resources for parents
Recommended books of the month
Sense of Direction by Vicki Cobb
Reading Maps by Kevin Cunningham
Mapping Our World by Martyn Bramwell
How Maps Are Made by Martin Bramwell
Continents by Dennis Fradin
The Pacific Ocean by David Petersen
The Atlantic Ocean by David Petersen
Reading Maps by Kevin Cunningham
Mapping Our World by Martyn Bramwell
How Maps Are Made by Martin Bramwell
Continents by Dennis Fradin
The Pacific Ocean by David Petersen
The Atlantic Ocean by David Petersen