301’s Map Adventures
Third grade is moving forward with our study of world geography! Today the students got their world map assessments back. I packaged them with their pre-test on top and their post-test underneath, so that they could see proof of how much they’ve learned. Overall, I was really pleased with how the class did! A few students forgot one or two required features (those oceans are tricky), so I indicated what they’d missed, and I told them that their grade is not yet final. Next Tuesday, December 5th, will be the retest, and anyone who got anything less than a 4 is welcome to retake the test to improve their grade. And since my goal is for them to learn this information, anyone who needs to do additional retests can have as many as they need to, until they have a grade they’re proud of.
Today we explored my wide collection of maps, and discussed the different sorts of information various maps can give us: not just directions for how to get somewhere, (by foot, car or mass transit) but also information on tourist sites, precipitation, population, landforms, and more. Tomorrow the students will be selecting a continent to focus on, and after studying political and physical maps of their continent, they’ll be working with a partner to create a relief map of it.
This is something new for third grade, and Ms. Marcy and I are quite excited about it! On Family Friday, we’re looking forward to having you help us to make the salt clay that the children will be using for their maps. Lots of adults to supervise measuring and mixing will be a tremendous help, and students usually love hands-on projects. Thank you so much for the supplies you’ve been sending in!
Looking forward to seeing many of you this Friday, after the PTO meeting!