Fourth grade students at Memorial Elementary had the opportunity to connect with Indiana's geography in a unique way. A giant map of Indiana created by Ken-Simmons and sponsored by the Geography Educators' Network of Indiana was rolled out onto the classroom floor.
Furniture was pushed to the side and students removed their shoes! They were all eager to walk on the giant map of our state, and that is just what we did!
The class practiced mapping skills in a bodily kinesthetic way as they worked in teams to answer questions using the map. Teams proudly placed their team's colored cones on the map to show that they had answered a question about the land of Indiana. From there, students also learned how to use a distance scale to determine mileage between two cities or landmarks on the map. Once students felt confident finding mileage by crawling on the map with the measuring strip, they applied those skills by using the distance scale on a small map to det ermine mileage.
This was a special learning opportunity that resonated with the students learning about Indiana during their fourth grade year. The giant map activities were an engaging and unique way for students to interact with our state's geography and practice fourth grade mapping skills.