Craft Lesson 9: Spatial Maps

Discussion:

Map reading is an essential part of the teaching curriculum. Throughout their school careers, students will be taught how to develop and interpret maps. In this capacity, the picture book, Zoom by Istvan Banyai would be a good teaching aid for discussing the concepts behind spatial maps. For instance, in the early grades children are taught to become familiar with their immediate settings. For example, they learn the layouts of the classroom, the school, and the community. Later, children are taught about the city and surrounding counties, then the states, the nation, and the earth. The teacher could use the snapshots in Zoom to show the children how spatial maps are developed, or the idea behind satellite imagery. Thereafter, the teacher can test the children's map comprehension skills by seeing if they can identify objects on a map.

How to Teach It:

The teacher asks the children to blink their eyes. She will ask them to pretend that their eyes can take pictures. Each time they blink, they take a new picture. Now, the teacher will have one student walk away from the discussion area. The children are to blink slowly as they watch the child walk away from them. The idea is that the object begins to zoom out. The child becomes smaller in size. The teacher then explains the idea behind the picture book, Zoom. The teacher tells the children that this book is comprised of snapshots. Each subsequent picture represents a snapshot of the object in focus as we move away from it. The teacher then shows them the book. She asks the kids to guess what the next picture could be. After the picture walk, the teacher can then show maps of the classroom, the school, and the community. She can test the children's reasoning skills by seeing if they can identify familiar objects, and landmarks on the maps.

Resource Materials: The picture book, Zoom by Istvan Banyai, plus various aerial maps.