Kindergarten Fall History — Family, School, Community Helpers, and the First Sense of Past, Present, and Future
Lesson 10 20 min hist.gK.f.lesson_10

Where am I? — A map of our school

Skills targeted
Objectives
  • Students can locate own classroom on a school map.
  • Students can describe a path from one place to another using >=2 spatial-relation words (near, next to, behind, etc.).
Vocabulary
mapnearfarnext tobehindin front ofherethere

Lesson plan

Warm-up

3 min

Daily YTT chant; quick stand-and-point: 'Where is the door? Where is the carpet? Where is the window?'

Teacher moves
  • Use the words near/far/next to as you point
  • Establish that maps SHOW where things are

Direct instruction

6 min

Today we'll meet a MAP. A map is a picture-from-above of a real place. I'll show you a map of OUR school. Then we'll find our classroom on the map.

Key examples
  • From-above view — like a bird sees it. Different from how we see when we're inside.
    model This is our school. Here is our classroom — see this room? That's where we are RIGHT NOW. Next to us is the hallway, near the playground.
    prompt Display school map on document camera
Checks for understanding
  • What is a map?
  • Find our classroom on the map. Point to it.
Media
MG-4 Map
Classroom map of our school — drawn from a child's eye view at child-height, labeling our classroom, the front office, t

Classroom map of our school — drawn from a child's eye view at child-height, labeling our classroom, the front office, the cafeteria, the playground, the library, and the nurse. Arrows show 'from our room to the office'. Hand-drawn watercolor style; near/far labels included as a sentence-frame reminder.

M-K-F-GEO-10-A Map
24x36-inch hand-drawn watercolor map of the school, rendered from a child's-eye top-down perspective. Labels in 28pt san

24x36-inch hand-drawn watercolor map of the school, rendered from a child's-eye top-down perspective. Labels in 28pt sans-serif: 'OUR ROOM' (highlighted yellow), Front Office, Cafeteria, Playground, Library, Nurse, Gym, Bathrooms. Each room labeled with both word and photo. Compass rose with simple arrows for 'door side' and 'window side' instead of N/S/E/W. Routes drawn in dashed lines between key destinations.

Guided practice

7 min
Tasks
  • Place 'Me' sticker on own classroom on personal map
    scaffold Map is large with rooms labeled by picture as well as word
  • Draw arrow from classroom to front office. Then trace the path together as a class walk (real legs).
    scaffold Teacher leads the walk; children carry their maps
Media
MG-4 Map
Classroom map of our school — drawn from a child's eye view at child-height, labeling our classroom, the front office, t

Classroom map of our school — drawn from a child's eye view at child-height, labeling our classroom, the front office, the cafeteria, the playground, the library, and the nurse. Arrows show 'from our room to the office'. Hand-drawn watercolor style; near/far labels included as a sentence-frame reminder.

M-K-F-GEO-10-B Manipulative Physical / non-image

11x17-inch simplified version of MG-4 in black-and-white. Sized for the child's desk. Sticker placement areas pre-marked with light grey dots. Accompanied by sheet of small 'Me' stickers (with portrait) and arrow stickers for path-drawing.

Formative assessment

1 min
Exit ticket
  • Point to our classroom on the map. Point to the playground. Tell me: is the playground NEAR or FAR from our classroom?
scoring Both pointings correct + correct near/far = mastery; partial = practicing

Closure

Moves
  • Display school map at child-height for the rest of the term
  • Preview: tomorrow we'll meet our neighborhood

Homework

5 min
Tasks
  • Draw a tiny map of your bedroom or kitchen. Show where YOU sit.

Exercises in this lesson

hist.gK.f.geo.self_in_place.ex_02
On the school map, draw an arrow from our classroom to the front office. Then tell me ONE place you pass on the way.
 trace path on map · diff 2

Differentiation

Scaffolds
  • Map with photo of each room
  • Pre-placed 'Me' sticker
  • Walk the path with teacher one-on-one
Extensions
  • Find TWO paths to the office (long and short)
  • Try a path to the library
English Learners
  • Bilingual spatial-vocabulary card
  • Echo-pointing technique
Ieps 504s
  • Larger map
  • Teacher carries map for child
  • Mobility-accessible path traced explicitly

Teacher notes

Map-as-representation is genuinely hard at K. The class-walk is the embodied scaffold — children must SEE the path in 3D to associate it with the 2D drawing. Schedule this when the office and other rooms are quiet.