Unit 2: Geography 

Driving Question: 

• Where am I in the world?

Essential Questions:

• How can we learn about the world around us?

• What is a community?

Supporting Questions: 

• What is a map?

• How can a map help us?

• Who is a part of a community?

• How do we find our community on a map?

• What makes a place special? 

• What are customs and traditions?  

Prior Knowledge 

Measure prior understandings of basic directional terms in relation to the student’s relative location by engaging the class in a brief version of the game Mother May I. Use different verbal commands which require students to demonstrate their knowledge of terms such as, right, left, forward, and back. Using a simple map of an imaginary classroom, ask students to respond to the set of directional questions. Conclude the pre-learning assessment by asking students to verbally describe additional places on the classroom map, using terms such as across, next to, between, near, and far.  

Launch Task 

Read or listen to the book Me on the Map by Joan Sweeney. Ask students to describe what they notice about each of the maps. What is similarities and differences? Assist students to create a class list of why maps are important and how they can help people in different situations and jobs. Encourage students to create their own illustrated flip book of different locations in their neighborhood and community, including their home, their street, their city, and their state.

Instructional Strategies 

• Suggested strategies for reinforcing the Social Studies Practices.

 Instructional Resources 

• Instructional Resources

Collaborative Engagement Idea

• Fairy Tale Maps
  An inquiry lesson from the Utah Education Network, encouraging students to use descriptions of physical environments from children's fiction and nonfiction books to create a map of where the story happened. Use the sample of Little Red Riding Hood to measure students' understanding of terms associated with relative location.

Evidence of Learning: Formative Assessment Ideas

• Assess students’ understanding of maps as the representation of a place by providing examples of maps and asking students to explain how different maps can show different aspects of a place. (Oklahoma Academic Standard PK.2.1)

• Assess students’ understanding of the concept of community using the book All Are Welcome by Alexandra Penfold and Suzanne Kaufman. Invite students to draw and/or write about ways a classroom is a community. (Oklahoma Academic Standard PK.2.3)

• Measure students’ knowledge of the basic elements of culture, using the book You and Me Together: Moms, Dads, and Kids Around the World, by Barbara Kerley. Engage students in a classroom discussion identifying customs and traditions that make up elements of culture. Assist students in developing a Venn Diagram, using pictures and words to describe how the cultures presented in the book are similar and different. (Oklahoma Academic Standard PK.2.4) 

Unit Closure Idea 

Mapping the Classroom, a lesson from National Geographic, invites students to practice using the language of location and apply that language when creating a map of their classroom. Students use their maps to locate hidden items in the classroom and practice interpreting directions by letting their fingers "walk" and explore their surroundings. 

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