First Grade Map Skills

Will you be teaching cardinal directions and map skill to first graders this year?

Do you have a sense of direction? My husband is one of those people who uses North and South when giving directions.  I’m a right and left girl so that makes no sense to me!  😆 Probably because I was never taught map skills or cardinal directions in first grade. So… let’s not let that happen to our first graders today.  Let’s teach them map skills and cardinal directions so they don’t get lost.  Also, so they can talk intelligently when it comes to directions.

Cardinal Directions Whole Group Activity

To read a map, students first need to know cardinal directions.  So let’s start by labeling the classroom with the cardinal directions.

First, using a compass, find the “North” wall of your classroom and place the “N” label there.  Continue until you have all of the walls labeled. (Don’t have labels, you can make them quickly your self, or sign up for the resource below.)

 

Now that the walls are labeled, you’ll need to do a variety of activities to practice using the cardinal directions.

Sign up to get the free resource that’s load with fun activities for teaching cardinal directions.  There’s even an assessment! Click on the GIF.

 

Map Skills Outside the First Grade Classroom

Every teacher knows that there isn’t much time to teach social studies skills, so you have to get creative!  To continue practicing cardinal directions / map skills, try some activities while walking down the hallway.  You could say, which way is north or head south.  You could do similar activities on the playground.  Doing activities such as these can give your students a sense of direction that will be a life-long skill!

Cardinal Directions on a Map

Now that your students have mastered the cardinal directions and compass rose, you can introduce them to maps.  I like to bring in a variety of maps or pull them up for the computer.  Notice how they almost all have a compass rose to show direction. 

 

Look at this map of the United States.  You can quickly see that Canada is north of the US and Mexico is south.  

More First Grade Map Skills

You could use this particular map to discuss many states and cardinal directions.  For example:  Which state is west of Colorado?  Answer:  Utah.  Doing activities like this one, can also allow students to know where each state in the United States is located.  Not a bad skill to have, right?  

First Grade Map Skills Objectives (TEKS)

The student understands the relative location of places. The student is expected to:
(A) locate places using the four cardinal directions; and
(B) describe the location of self and objects relative to other locations in the classroom and
school.
(5) Geography. The student understands the purpose of maps and globes. The student is expected to:
(A) create and use simple maps such as maps of the home, classroom, school, and
community; and
(B) locate the community, Texas, and the United States on maps and globe

These are some really fun skills we have to work with.  I wasn’t sure of the objective for other states, but I hope they are similar to those of my home state of Texas.

1st Grade Maps Skills Teaching Materials

Above, I provided a nice, free resource for teaching the compass rose and cardinal directions.  (Click the GIF above for more information.)  But I have also created a few fun resources to teach map skills in first grade.  As I was creating, I was mindful of the objectives listed above.  Click on any image to check them out!

 Helpful Map Skills Resources

Map Skills Fun is a great way to introduce reading a map. 

You get the following activities:  

• Compass Rose Cardinal Directions Poster
• Compass Rose Intermediate Directions Poster
• My State – Find and Color State on US Map
• Create a Map – 1 each for Classroom, School, Neighborhood
• 4 Compass Rose Worksheets
• Map Key Poster
• 4 Map Key Worksheets
• Find the Treasure – Following Directions on a Map Worksheet
• 7 Working with Maps Worksheets (relative directions)

– neighborhood

– island

– town

– campground

• Answer Keys for ALL Pages

Map Skills Practice and 1st Grade Assessments is a great product to get those pesky social studies grades or use as a homework or morning work assignment. 

 

Map Skills Game Show is a fun and engaging way to practice map skills before you give an assessment or at the end as a fun, final activity. 

 

Halloween Map Skills can be used as a nice little learning center during the month of October.

 

Wrapping Up the Map Skills Unit

So, your students have learned about the Compass Rose, Cardinal Directions, Relative Directions, a Map Key and the rest, now it’s time to celebrate with a fun activity. 

Sometimes the simplest activities work best. 

Give your students a blank map like the one below.  Allow them to create a community and a map key.  Glue to a large sheet of construction paper to display or take home.  Click to download.

Another suggestion for Map Skills Wrap Up

Use the Map Skills PowerPoint Game Show shown above.  It’s so easy to use.  Simply divide your students into teams and play.  It’s also a great math activity since they must keep score.  (adding decade numbers only, use base ten block for the win!)

 

Need an activity for building classroom community?

Thank you for reading!  To save this post to read later, pin the image below. 🙂 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

-Carrie Lutz

Classroom Callouts