lesson plan created by Staff of Winona ABE - Winona, Minnesota
1. Distribute a map of your town. (Some city maps can be found at the MDOT website.)
*Add a compass rose - North, South, East, West - practice locating the four directions.
*Locate the school.
*Locate the student/teacher homes.
*Ask: "What direction do you live from school?" "What direction do you live from other students?"
2. Introduce vocabulary words and abbreviations (on flash cards) - elicit meanings from the students and write the meanings.
next to
cross street
across the street
on the corner
blocks
on the right
on the left
street (St.)
avenue (Ave.)
3. Distribute a blank map of a block or two around the school.
*Add a compass rose.
*Add street names, buildings, businesses, bus stops, etc. that students can recall.
4. Take a walk outside.
*Use and illustrate the vocabulary words.
*Ask questions using the vocabulary words.
*If it isn't possible to go outside, try rearranging the tables in the classroom as "blocks" to illustrate the vocabulary.
Day 2 -
1. Review
*Compass Rose directions
*Vocabulary words
2. Write a Language Experience Story about the walk the previous day, using the vocabulary words and the maps of the blocks
around the school.
3. Identify the following places in a community:
the bookstore
the hospital
the grocery store
the hardware store
bank
park
doctor's office
movie theater
fire station
restaurant
hotel
etc.
4. Have the students individually or in pairs draw pictures to represent each place.
*Post the drawings on the walls of the classroom.
*Have the students tell the group about their drawing. (Or do a team tour activity with the drawings: One partner (tour guide)
stays with the drawing. The other team member(s) (the tourists) move to another drawing. Tour guide explains the drawing -
the tourists listen and ask questions. Then the tourists move to the next stop on the tour. The procedure can be repeated,
with tour guides and tourists switching places.)
5. Use the map words connected to the map of your area.
6. Create a question and answer sheet for your map.
Day 3 -
1. Review the vocabulary words through pantomime.
2. Complete answering the questions on your map.
3. Partner maps:
*On a blank map, the teacher locates several places. Use the places discussed on Day 2, or add new ones.
*Give the students each a blank map, and guide them to the places using the map vocabulary.
*Divide the class into two groups of students, and have them locate the same places at different locations on a new blank map.
*Partner pairs consisting of one student from each group will guide each other to the new locations of the places, using the
target vocabulary. As the speaker describes the new locations, the listener will fill in the locations on a blank map. Then the
partners can reverse roles.
Day 4 -
1. Share a Minnesota map. (Printable map of your area of the state can be found at the MDOT website.)
*Show towns and the distances between the towns on the map - use towns the students know.
2. Distribute a pretend map (e.g. "Browntown")
*Introduce vocabulary words - make flash cards
how far
distance
trip
to ______ and back
round trip
the drive
*Talk about calculating distances on a map.
*Practice figuring out distances between towns.
3. Together, create a pretend map, naming the towns, connecting them by roads, and writing the mileage between locations.
*Brainstorm questions to ask about locations on the map, using the new vocabulary words. (How far is it from _____ to _____?)
4. Distribute the maps of Minnesota and ask and answer questions, using the new vocabulary.