Needing Some Direction In Life....

Mrs. Deb hosted our CoOp three weeks ago (yikes...I'm way behind on posting!) & it was a big morning talking all about directions. North, South, East, West. Maps. And why they're important!

I love that Deb always, always puts so much effort & thought into her lessons. One week, when discussing Monarch butterflies, we arrived to find Mrs. Deb decked out in 4ft wide butterfly wings!

So, for our lesson on this day, Mrs. Deb became a pirate. Reese asked why she was dressed like a pirate, & she said it was because they were the best navigators! If I don't have my GPS, I'm so very lost :)

We looked at a real compass to determine North, South, East, & West. Everyone figured out which direction their houses faced. I only knew our house faced South because our satellite dish points towards the front of the house, and the dish must point South for proper reception!

Mrs. Deb is fantastic at knowing her directions, especially when driving...

We looked at different maps. A world map, a US map, a Texas map. Mrs. Deb pulled out a Disney World map too & we loved that! I think the map below was a map from the zoo...everyone took turns identifying water, roads, and different items in the key.

Then we went to the kitchen for some large-scale map fun! Mrs. Deb had put a compass rose on the map & everyone identified N, S, E, & W.

Then they took turns with their cars driving from point A to point B, and describing which direction they were driving as they followed to road's turns.

Reese thought it was neat to be able to get on the kitchen table, and you can see Reese & his buddy looking at the compass rose to figure out which direction he is driving his white truck.

I taught map skills when I was a 1st grade teacher, and this morning was WAY more full of exciting activities than I could have ever done with a group of 22 wiggle worms! Thanks Mrs. Deb for such a fantastic morning!!