3 ideas for your reading maps lessons

I don’t know about you but teaching history is never easy. From never having time, to never finding curriculum that fits my lesson, and once again…never having time. What if you had 15 minutes a day for 5 days? Would you be able to teach about reading maps and interpreting maps? Let’s explore 3 different ways that you can incorporate this into your lessons!

15 Minutes of History

I never have time to teach history. There’s that age old saying, that if you don’t know history, you are doomed to repeat it. I have made it my mission to teach history or social studies to my students. Even if it’s only about maps.

This particular lesson is part of the 15 Minutes of History lessons which was created in the summer of 2024 by me. Use your lesson time to teach all about significant key words or vocabulary words from your lesson.

I also love to show a PowerPoint to my students that show off the different toes of maps. The kids are always so engaged when it comes to this lesson. I love showing the difference between a political map and a climate map. Then I will also show them their state and explain what our climate looks like. One year, we had our local meteorologist come in at the same time we taught about weather, conversion, and maps. He taught our students how they are all connected. That week was so much fun and we were able to really solidify our students learning.

Cubes

I have to say, I love these cube projects. I am definitely biased because I am the creator of the cube projects but still, they are amazing. The cubes are simple to put together and allow students to explore their creative side.

Each cube has 6 sides with different things. There are different types of maps on each of the sides of the cube. Your students will research different maps and make maps that are relevant to that specific day. I give them a blank map and we research the current climate. They can design the map with different climates. Let them explore different types of maps while also conducting research!

Reading Maps Notes

I am a firm believer that students should have notes in grades 3-5. It is not just for them to to learn but this is setting them up for successful study habits. One of notes that I use in my classroom are flip notes. Sometimes the standard old notes page can be boring. Add a little cutting, stapling, and coloring and you have a wicked awesome notes page.

You can quickly create this foldable within your classroom. You grab 2 pieces of paper and split them in half the short way. Then I have them stack them with each other and draw the cut out parts. From there, the students can add their very own information to each card. They can write about each map, they can create their own maps for an unknown world, or they can just use a preprinted map that they glue in. Either way, it will work. Staple it together and now you have an easy flip book for reading maps.